What Do You Think of This Device: Parasound Zphono-USB


I was looking through an Audio Advisor sales catalog and came upon this device (see link below) that allows records played on a turntable to be saved as digital files on a computer.  I knew that there are turntables that are equipped with a USB cable to facilitate that, but I suspected they might have reduced sound performance as compared to a conventional TT with RCA plugs, so I bought a TT with the latter.  But I have interest in converting my record albums to lossless digital files that could be stored and played from my Bluesound Vault 2i.

My questions are concerning the quality of the files to be made from the Parasound device to my PC, and then transferred as files to the Vault.  I would prefer to store the files on my PC as FLAC files, but I’m not sure if I can do that.  If I saved them to the PC as WAV files, then can they be converted to FLAC files when saved to the Vault?  Or if they must remain WAV files, is that still a good file for sound quality with playback from the Vault?  Do you think this Parasound Zphono-USB will do what I am wanting it to do, and do you see any down-sides to purchasing it for that purpose?  Thanks in advance for your advice.

https://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PAZPHOUSB&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjYulzb6y6QIVmovICh3...
bob540
The Parasound Z components are some of the most underrated I've ever come across.  Great sounding and performing. I have no experience with this particular unit though.
Thank you Erik for your response.  I plan to order the Zphono-USB, as most reviews of the product and your comments have been positive.  The cost isn’t that much and it gives me something else to play with.  Happy Listening!
storage is pretty cheap now, so why convert to flac? why not leave as wav?
and if you are worried about meta data, you can add meta data to the wav files you created so your audio player will see them.

best

You’re in Audiogon.... have you thought of buying a used phono preamp? Nothing against the Parasound Z, I have a stack of their Z components, and they are OK for what they do (and cost) but there is much better and if going used, you save some bucks.

For example, not getting too exotic:

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lisa2749-ps-audio-gcph-mm-mc-phono-preamplifier-no-remote-25151-phono

Then you can get a nice AD/DA