recording vinyl clipping!

[petebrackley]

Hi hope you can help!
I am trying to record from my hifi pre amp to my laptop using audacity
I get the sound thru ok but its distorted and while watching the levels they seem to be clipping the sound?
even when there is a gap between tracks there is a background noise which I can't hear on my stereo?
this noise is still there when i remove the needle from the stereo too!
it seems to pulse with interference but not like a radio more like an electrical cycle as its regular and unchanging?
Is this a clipping effect due to the levels being too high? I can't seem to get them low enough or is it just a poor quality cable / connection?
cheers for any future responses
Pete

[steve]

The clipping is probably because the signal level is too high for the input.
The noise is probably because the recording input on the laptop is low quality (extremely common on PC laptops - even really expensive laptops).
Also, laptops are prone to picking up interference from their power supply. If you have this problem then running the laptop on batteries will improve it.

If your pre-amp has an adjustable output level, I'd recommend the Berringer UCA 202 as an inexpensive upgrade to your laptop. There are also plenty of more expensive options, but I've got a UCA 202 and the sound quality is very good for the price and a great deal better than the built in sound card in my laptop. One limitation of the UCA-202 is that it does not have any level controls, so the recording level needs to be set on the device that is feeding it (your pre-amp).

[DVDdoug]

Is this a clipping effect due to the levels being too high? I can't seem to get them low enough

Yes. If you are getting clipping, the level is too high, or more-likely, the gain (in the soundcard/soundchip) is too high. High gain also means that the noise is boosted along with the signal.

Does your computer have line in? Most laptops only have mic-in. (Microphones put-out a lower level signal.) And, the mic preamps built into most computers/soundcards are usually fairly low-quality for gaming/communications and not suitable for high-quality music.

[SpadesFlush]

It might also be radio frequency interference picked up by the cable between the hifi and the preamp.

I had this problem but I was able to attenuate the RFI by putting ferrite traps on the cable.

[petebrackley]

Thought I had replied but can't see it here
Thanks to Steve, SpadesFlush & DVDdug
It could be all of the above and i guess it will be a process of elimination:
1 I will run the laptop on batteries first may even dig out the old midi tower pc with a proper line in!
2 I have tried to adjust the input levels via Audacity and via the control panel / soundcard menu but still too loud unless I am doing it wrong? I have not tried to adjust system volumes, I have only gone thru manage audio devices so will this make a difference?
3 The cable from the pre amp is via the tape in/output as it does not have a headphone socket! (Naim) so i guess the Berringer UCA202 is a non starter?
4 The ferrite clips sound interesting too, where might i get some? and i guess they attach direct to the cables?
Cheers Pete

[steve]

Thought I had replied but can't see it here

Sadly, due to the huge volume of spam posts to the forum we have had to introduce manual approval of posts which means that there will be a short delay before posts appear on the forum. Sorry about the inconvenience, but at least you don't have to wade through mountains of spam to find genuine posts.

Let us know how you get on with the options that you can try easily and if necessary we can take it from there.