Recording Vinyl But Getting Distortion

[prosser99]

Hi - I've got my USB turntable going into a sound card (UCA202) into my laptop. I'm using equalization. And between the equalization, the input volume on Audacity, the Gain, the input volume of USA turntable (which is completely off), my waveform is filling up too much and I'm getting distortion. I have to set the Audacity input volume to almost nothing. Once I do, I start adding EQ. I first add base and then mid range. (The treble seems to be real high.) I'm getting close to some great recordings but would appreciate any advice. Thanks for your time, Prosser99

[kozikowski]

What's the reason you're not plugging the USB turntable directly into your computer?

Koz

[prosser99]

You know I was wondering about that and never tried it. So I tried it right now and got nothing. But I got another problem. I'm trying to record the Allman Bros who had two great guitar players. They allways played in opposite sides of the mix. One would be on the left side and the other on the right. And I'm only getting %50 of one of the tracks. It sounds like its in the background. The other guitar part is twice the volume. Would really appreciate any help with this. Thanks, Steve

[waxcylinder]

Start off with a read of this article from the Wiki: http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/USB_turntables

... I'm trying to record the Allman Bros who had two great guitar players. They allways played in opposite sides of the mix. One would be on the left side and the other on the right. And I'm only getting %50 of one of the tracks. It sounds like its in the background. The other guitar part is twice the volume. ...

This could be caused by a poorly fitted catridge - make sure that all 4 connectors are pushed home securely and cleably onto the pins of the cartridge (do this very carefully - a pair of fine-nosed needle pliers is a good tool for this) - and make sure that the cartridge is also screwed home securely onto the arm. And check the USB connectors/sockets - try a gentle wiggle of the plugs, and/or try a different USB port on your computer.

WC