I honestly can’t see a reason to use this instead of the line in…
1). Isn’t it lossy that way? Kinda ruins the point of digitizing.
2). I gotta fiddle with the USB until I actually am holding it the right way
I just don’t really comprehend the point for it. Maybe someone can enlighten me?
No, it’s not lossy. It “streams” a PCM 44.1 or 48k uncompressed signal via USB to your computer, which treats the turntable as a sound device, and then you capture it in real time in software like Audacity, Adobe Audition, etc. What you then do with the file is up to you. If you want to keep it as FLAC, WAV, or something else is up to you.
Not sure what you mean by point 2. If the USB connection is loose in your computer try another port or adapter?
So there’s literally no difference between that input and line input? Cool.
Point two was just a joke. I always have to fiddle with USBs to get then the right way to go in 
Gotcha.
I’m not sure I’d say there’s NO difference. I would think a digital output direct making a non-stop flight to your recording device/computer would be a purer way to go than routing it thru another input (or more) and then digitizing it later. But unless something is wrong like a ground hum or level problem, you probably wouldn’t hear the diff so I guess in that sense, yes, they are the same.
Ok, wonderful. I’ve just been ripping it to audacity directly from the line input
Thanks a ton Doug!