I am just getting started ripping 78RPM records. I am following the amazing and extremely extensive advice in the wiki but one thing isn’t made clear and that’s how to make a rip using a ceramic cartridge.
I have a very nice sounding Sonotone 3509 cartridge on my Garrard turntable that I use solely for 78s. I plug it into my pioneer line level input (can plug into tape, cd, DVD, and VCR and still get the same sound) and then run a line out directly into my computer’s line in.
What I am not sure of is if I have to apply any turnover or rolloff to the recording as I understand a ceramic cartridge applies RIAA EQ on the fly. The recordings sound pretty thin recorded directly but I want the best most accurate rips as possible. Can anyone give me any advice from experience? Thanks.
I understand a ceramic cartridge applies RIAA EQ on the fly.
They’re “RIAA Adjacent.” RIAA has lumps and bumps in the curve as it was designed around commonly available electrical components at the time. Ceramic or “crystal” cartridges have one continuous curve.
However, it may not make that much difference because 78s were frequently pressed without benefit of RIAA because “Our custom curve sounds better than theirs and therefore you should only buy our records.”
Koz
[u]Equalization of older records[/u]
I have a very nice sounding Sonotone 3509 cartridge on my Garrard turntable that I use solely for 78s. I plug it into my pioneer line level input (can plug into tape, cd, DVD, and VCR and still get the same sound) and then run a line out directly into my computer’s line in.
A ceramic cartridge should have a high-impedance load (1M or more). Vacuum tubes were “perfect” for that, or there were special high impedance solid stage circuits for ceramic cartridges . I believe that gives you a (theoretical) straight-line rolloff at about 6dB per octave which approximates the RIAA curve. Of course, it’s not a perfect straight line because these cartridges are not that good (and the RIAA curve is not supposed to be a straight line). Some stereo systems probably had some additional-customized equalization, but I’m not aware of any standard.
From what I recall a lower impedance not only lowers the signal, but it kills the bass. A typical line-input has an input impedance of 10K to 100K.
I have a very nice sounding Sonotone 3509 cartridge…
…The recordings sound pretty thin
What??? Nice sounding or thin?
but I want the best most accurate rips as possible.
Your best bet is to equalize by ear. “Accurately” reproducing the sound from the record is one thing. Accurately reproducing the performance is impossible but you might be able to improve on the original sound of the record.
Thanks @kozikowski I’ll play it by ear then.
@DVDdoug LOL, “good sounding” for a ceramic. Much better than the other one I have in a BSR-clone changer. I did a resistor mod where I was ablt to use it with a phono preamp but it didn’t sound good to me. I will EQ by ear to what sounds good to me. Thanks all for the help.
I did a resistor mod where I was ablt to use it with a phono preamp but it didn’t sound good to me.
That sounds like “fun”, but since we all have computers with free software-equalizers it’s a lot easier to to use the software.
Since the ceramic cartridge has that “natural” roll-off, simply attenuating and running the signal through a preamp would double-up on the RIAA EQ, leaving you with all bass and no highs. But… A load (lower resistance) seems to reduce that natural roll-off so maybe the right value (parallel) resistor would kill that “natural RIAA” and bring the signal down to the level of a magnetic cartridge. Maybe just the right resistance (or maybe some series & parallel resistance) would work-out.
But if I was building something, I’d skip the phono preamp and I’d start with a “buffer amplifier” (high input impedance, low output impedance and little or no gain). Then, I might tweak/filter it depending on the results.
But in reality, I wouldn’t do any of that… After I got my 1st magnetic cartridge, I never looked back… If I wanted to digitize 78’s I’d get a 78 RPM turntable with a magnetic cartridge and a 78 stylus. 
Or if I had just one or two records and I didn’t want to buy the equipment, I’d use one of the services that digitizes records.
…A few years ago I heard a cabinet-type, acoustic, wind-up gramophone. I sounded a lot better than I expected and it put-out a lot more volume than I expected!