Excessive gain when recording from turntable

Special Interest Groups Recording Techniques
1

I’m trying to record from my Michell Gyro SE turntable using Audacity but I have a problem where the sound is badly distorted because the gain is too high. I have tried setting the level for line in to the lowest setting in Control Panel and nothing I change in Audactiy will fix. I should note that when I record from any other source the recordings sound perfect.

My setup is:

Michell Gyro SE → Trichord Research Dino phono stage → T+A V10 amplifier

I’m recording from the ‘Recorder’ (ie Tape Out) from my V10 amp to the line-in of the onboard Realtek AC97 soundcard on my server.

Will a dedicated soundcard like the M-Audiophile 192 fix this problem?

Many thanks.

2

Check he specification of your sound card. It sounds like the input is a microphone input, not a line level input. If this is the case, then any sound card that has a line level input should fix the problem.

3

Thanks for the reply. Its connected to the line in but I’ve determined the problem. The gain for my phonostage is overloading the soundcard. I think I’ll buy an external soundcard like the Edirol UA25X which allows you to attenuate the signal.

4

Trichord Research Dino phono stage.

One of those will slide right into the Line-In of a Mac or a deskside PC. No further fuss. If you want much better performance on the PC, then yes, you need the analog to digital converter.

I note that the ad for the phono stage claims variable gain…

A quick trip through the instructions may eliminate the need to spend more money. If you have the preamp set for moving coil and you actually have a moving magnet type cartridge, the output signal will be significantly too hot.

Koz

5

Pay attention to what Koz says above first - but if you do feel the need to execise your credit card, then consider also the cheaper Edirol UA-1EX which too has a gain control.

I use one connected to my old Technics TT fed through an ART preamp and then into a UA-1EX - produces consistently good results.

WC

6

I’ve tried all the gain settings on the Trichord Dino the gain is either too high or too low.

I’m actually thinking about getting a Edirol UA-5 instead of the UA-25EX because the new current models don’t appear to have phono/RCA input connectors or 3.5mm jack unless I’m mistaken.