For several years now I have been using audacity to transfer 16 inch radio transcription discs and 78s. Recently, I’m noticing that the final product in Audacity isn’t sounding as clean and is lacking bass. It sounds fantastic from the speakers attached to my turntable, but when I listen back in audacity it almost sounds like lack of equalization. I do realize that that transcriptions do not utilize RIAA equalization and it can vary, but I’ve had great success in the past. The only change to my system has been a new computer. My equipment is as follows:
Audio-technica ATLP120 with Nagaoka MP 110 and 2.0mil stylus connected to new Dell XPS 15 via USB. The Dell does computer only has USB c slot, so the USB is connected to a Dell USB adapter. Is it possible there’s a connection issue with the USB? It doesn’t sound “bad” in audacity, just slightly off. I’ve tried various styli, checked all connections, including the wires in the headshell. This only started happening since upgrading my computer. Any ideas as to what the problem might be?
Audio-technica ATLP120 with Nagaoka MP 110 and 2.0mil stylus connected to new Dell XPS 15 via USB.
And that hasn’t changed, except the USB is connected to a different computer?
Make sure all [u]Windows “Enhancements”[/u] are turned OFF. These are supposed to help with communications by evening-out the volume and reducing noise but they make high-quality recording impossible.
If that doesn’t help, Are you recording in stereo or mono?
Try this - Record in stereo and then [u]Split Stereo to Mono[/u]. Then delete one of the tracks and export.
If that sounds better, most-likely your left & right channels are out-of-phase and that’s most-likely caused by a mis-wired phono cartridge.
Problem solved! I disabled the “audio enhancements” for line in recording and for playback. Sounds fantastic now. THANKS.