Hi,
I have an Hitachi HA-6800 tuner connected to my sound card. The sound quality ok, but not great.
Should I be using some sort of interface filter, or ??
Thanks,
… john
Shouldn’t really. I have the Technics ST-X902L from my wife’s old component system (now the only surviving member of the system!) connected to my external soundcard and thennce to the USB input of my PC. This setup produces excellent off-air recordings - the external soundcard has a gain/volume control to manage the input signal level to the soundcard.
Your description of your recorded sound is a little vague - can you be more explicit please. Are you for example getting clipping when you record - i.e. do the blue waveforms touch the top and bottom of their window when you record?
Can you connect the Hitachi to speakers/headphones or an amp or a mini system - if so, what is the sound like there?
WC
Hi WC,
I’m afraid I’ve made a serious typo. It’s a Hitachi HA-6800 “amplifier”, not a “tuner”. I do have the tuner that goes with it (FT-5500) but that’s not what I’m writing about. I bought this amp at a yard sale, thinking it is a really good one, but it doesn’t produce any better sound than my cheap old Realistic SA-155. I’m not trying to record anything… yet. That’s about it. I was thinking that connecting the amp directly to my “SB live” sound card, may not be the best senario, that maybe there should be something in between, to filter or ??? the signal before it reaches the amp.
… john
PS. One, unrelated question. Does the external sound card reduce the hum, which seems to be caused by having the card in the computer?
Once again, shouldn’t be a problem. Until it failed, I used to use another of the components from wife’s old Technics system - the amp.
I used that with my Technics DD TT plugged in to the phono input on the amp and plugged the RCA record outs (designed for feeding to a tape deck for recording) plugged into my sound card. This also worked well - at least until the amp died and I then replaced it with a small phono preamp from ART.
Even if the Hitachi was a better spec than your cheaper Realistic amp, given that you bought it in a yard sale you probably have no idea of its provenance or how it has been used. Unless your good with meters and soldering small parts the Hitachi may be destined for another home … Your ears should tell you which is the better device (using good headphones or speakers that is).
With regard to hum, if you are using a turntable to record vinyl from, right? Then it is important to ground the turntable. Along with the pair of wires terminating in red & white RCA plugs there should be a little thin black wire, normally terminated in a spade connector. There should be a grounding post on your amp somewhere - or you cold earth it to the amp’s metal chassis or possibly even the case (with CARE - do unplug it all from the mains first!)
WC
John,
I thought I remembered an earlier similar posting from you - you’re obviously a fan of yardsales (and old amps) …
Do we assume correctly that you never got the Sansui to work?
WC
Hi WC,
Thanks again for the help. I’ll definately do the ground thing. Right now the hum is noticeable, through the speakers, at 2 (out of 10 on the volume dial). However… I rarely need to go above 1 for satisfactory loudness. I’m just talking about the signal from the sound card now, no turntable. Yes… your right. I couldn’t get the Sansui to fly, so I scraped it. Steve suggested that I offer for parts on the forum, which I did, but not one wanted it.
Ahhh yes… yard sales. My wife and I do this every Saturday morning in the summer. It’s great fun. It’s amazing what you can get for next to nothing, and meet people in the process.
… john
Hi,
I seem to have some distortion in the left side of both A and B channel. It sounds like a vinyl, when it has reached the end of the record…clickclick clickclick clickclick, and the sound is distorted. Anyone have any idea what might be causing this?
Thanks,
… john
I have discovered the reason for the distortion on my HA-6800. Basically, it was that I had the speaker volume set to high in the sound card settings. When I reduced it to the default, about half of what I had it set at, the distortion disappeard.
I also had it connected to the wrong port on the soundblaster. This didn’t show up until I turned the volume up to about 25%, as a static like sound. Now I don’t hear this at all, regardless of how high I turn up the volume. And the sound quality is now VERY GOOD.
Thank you all for your help.
… john