help please

[struggling]

I am trying to use Audacity to record vinyl onto the computer and then onto an MP3 player (via itunes). When I record some music it sounds very strange, but it is recognisable as the record playing on the turntable. The music sounds tinny, but is playing at the correct speed. I have a Pro-ject phonobox II USB that I have tested and this is sounding fine. I guess the problem is with some settings within the Audacity software. Can anyone help?

[waxcylinder]

Are you passing the signal though a pre-amp which has a phono stage? This is needed for the RIAA equalization to be applied. Without this the music has a tendency to sound thin, bass-less and tinny.

When vinyl is mastered RIAA pre-amphasis is applied to prevent the neeedly travelling too far and jumping with large excursions on loud and bassy passages. When playing the vinyl thr reverse RIAA equalization must be applied - this is normally done in the phono stage of a pre-amp.

WC

[struggling]

yes, I am passing the signal througha pre amp. I have tested the pre amp and this is working fine.

[waxcylinder]

And you have got the pre-amp set to deliver a line-level output?

Otherwise it will not pass the signal through the RIAA equalization circuitry. Some of these pre-amps have settings that enable you to switch between phono/line.

Can you give some more details of the setup you have - TT, preamp soundcard etc. then we may be able to offer more insight.

WC

[struggling]

on the preamp there are no switches to give an option to miss the RIAA circuits. I have also tested the preamp through my own speakers via the normal amp and it is working fine.

My set up is as follows:
NAD 533 turntable
Pro-ject Phono Box II USB
XP home
AC97 audio chip set

maybe I need to but a new sound card?
Thanks for your help

[waxcylinder]

Ok a further thought. You're not oversaturing the input signal to Audacity are you? Are the recording meters going into the red? Do the wavforms hit the top and bottom of the display?

I note from the specs on t'interweb that the Project device does not have a volume/gain control - and I don't believe or expect that the NAD TT has one either. In which case if you are going into clipping you have a problem in using the USB input - as when USB devices are used Audacity hands over control of the sound levels to the USB devive and the Audacity slider controls become inoperative.

You can work around this by feeding the analog signal from the RCA outputs of your Project preamp to the line-in on your PC (provided that is that you have a line level input - many laptops for example do not). This of course bypasses the ADC and USB services circuitry in your project device thus making it just a pre-amp (and thus wasting your expenditure) - plus you will be relying on the quality of your onboard soundcard for the ADC conversion.

Or you could build an inline gain control - see Mikeymike's this thread: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5080

It is possible that the ADC services or the USB services on your Project device are broken - the pre-amp sounds to be working ok from your tests with your amp/speakers. Testing this by using the analog method described above will let you ascertain this. And if it's broken you should be able to send it back for a replacement or your money back (depending on consumer law in your country).

And as you say the other alternative is to use a different soundcard. I personally use a combination of an ART pre-amp http://www.artproaudio.com/products.asp ... =13&id=109 and an Edirol UA-1EX soundcard http://www.roland.com/products/en/UA-1EX/ (producing excellect results from my Technics TT/SME arm - after I treated it to a home service and a new cartridge) After I bought that combination ART brought out a combined device - similar effectively to your Project device BUT with a gain control - see this webpage: http://www.artproaudio.com/products.asp ... t=9&id=128

WC

Update: I seem to remember a posting on the forum from a while back with someon else having problems with the Project device / Audacity combination. IIRC that was down to an oversaturated signal and the lack of gain control.

[struggling]

the project people recommend the audacity software in their instructions. The wavefroms do not clip the edges of the monitor so I think that the level of input is OK. I will have a look at the devices you mention.

thanks.