connecting sony ps-t1 turntable for audacity

Audacity 3 Help Forum Windows
1

I am running windows 8.1 pro and audacity 2.2.2. I am at a loss. I hope I am just missing something but I simply cannot get my old Sony PS-T1 turntable to speak to audacity properly. I realize that this is not a top of the line turntable and is 30 years old but it plays perfectly on a sound system and works fine for me.

Here is the scenario.
I replaced my old receiver a number of years ago and the new one does not have PHONO IN inputs. No preamp. The turntable also does not have a preamp. I figured this out after trying to initially connect. Of course I just dumped 2 old receivers last year and they both had the preamp built in. I was able to test the turntable on a friends old receiver with preamp and it works perfectly. So it is not the TT. The HP J2900 tower I am using does NOT have any rca inputs. Just microphone input, blue audio input and usb ports, both 2.0 and 3.0.

I bought a Behringer UF0202 preamp to USB but that doesn’t work. The sound comes through but very faint and pretty distorted. I played with all the combinations of the input settings with nothing seeming any different. I also bought an adapter with 2 RCA to an 1/8" plug (3.5mm)( stereo ) and used directly to audio or microphone input with same success. The sound is there but at maybe 10% and appreciable distortion. Also in conjunction with Behringer as well with no change.

I hope I am just missing a setting or maybe it is something with windows. I was hoping I could get some help here. I have hundreds of pristine vinyl that you can’t even find anymore and would love to get them onto CD’s. All I need is some quality sound getting into audacity to make that happen. Didn’t think it would be this difficult. Can anyone help me out?
Thanks in advance!

2

The Behringer should work (assuming it’s not defective). It uses the Microsoft-supplied USB audio drivers so it should be plug-and-play (although the Windows setting can sometimes get messed-up).

Make sure you’ve selected the USB device as your [u]Recording Device[/u].

Then if you can record but you can’t hear what you’re recording, make sure you’ve got the correct Playback Dvice selected (typically your regular soundcard) and make sure you’ve got [u]Software Playthrough[/u] enabled.

The HP J2900 tower I am using does NOT have any rca inputs. Just microphone input, blue audio input…

… I also bought an adapter with 2 RCA to an 1/8" plug (3.5mm)( stereo ) and used directly to audio or microphone input with same success.

None of that will work. The mic input has a preamp but there is no [u]RIAA Equalization[/u] so you’ll get a lot of high frequencies and no bass.* It’s the wrong impedance (which will reduce the signal and probably mess-up the frequency response even more), it’s usually a low-quality preamp, and it’s sometimes mono.

The blue line-inputs will work with a “tape output” from an older receiver that has a built-in phono preamp or you can buy an analog [u]phono preamp[/u].

The [u]ART USB phono interface[/u] can be used as an analog phono preamp and it has a gain/level control which is a nice feature because you can adjust the level before it hits the ADC so there’s less chance of clipping (distorting) your ADC.


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  • It’s possible to apply the RIAA EQ after recording but I wouldn’t recommend that solution, especially if you want the best possible quality.