HELP!!!

[Beleto]

i'm using an ion turntable to record vinyl to mp3 and the sound quailty isn't
as clear as it should be. i'm pretty sure i did everything right so i'm trying
to figure out why other people's recording of the same records sound better.
Is it the cartrige/needle or is there too much or too little weight??
how many grams should the weight of the cartrige be??

listen to this and see if u can tell what i'm doing wrong

http://limelinx.com/files/0260e2b11ba49 ... c9b632e27c
the first is my recording & the second is other ppl's recording of the same record i found on the net

please help me!!

someone told me they don't sound too bad for an ION TT, does that mean the turntable itself
isn't that good? what if i bought another headshell would that improve the quality of the recording?

[steve]

Link does not work.

MP3 encoding will reduce the sound quality - WAV doesn't.
If you select a couple of seconds and "Export Selection" in WAV format, that will be sufficient.

[Beleto]

i encoded them as WAVs then i convert em to mp3 but the quality of the WAV is the same.

[billw58]

It seems you've been having a lot of trouble getting that ION USB TT to work.

http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?t=8114

http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?t=18571

From your previous posts we can guess that you are using Audacity 1.2.x on a Windows PC.

What does the LP sound like while you are recording? Are the Audacity input levels meters reaching 0 dB? (this is bad) Recording too loud will cause irreparable damage to the recording.

You seem concerned that the weight is not set correctly. What does your turntable manual say about setting the weight? Which model of ION turntable do you have?

When you go to the Windows sound control panel is there a volume control for the turntable?

I'm recording something with Audacity right now, but in a few minutes I'll be able to open and listen to the MP3 file you posted.

-- Bill

[billw58]

Managed to download that mp3 after clicking through a lot of garbage ...

Your recordings are mono. You are getting the left channel of the LP recorded in both channels of Audacity. This is exactly what Steve pointed out to you on December 4 in this post: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?t=18571 . Otherwise the recordings sound fine. You definitely do not have problems with recording volume or with the cartridge weight.

Since you are using a USB turntable and we assume that you are connecting it to your computer via USB, we can surmise that the problem is in how the cartridge is wired - that is, how the wires that run inside the tone-arm are connected to the cartridge. Alternatively, there could be a wiring error somewhere else inside the turntable, the cartridge itself could be faulty or there could be some other fault. There is even the possibility that you have made some setting in the Windows sound control panel that causes it to send the left input channel to both channels of Audacity - a Windows expert will have to chime in here.

If this turntable includes RCA cables and you are using those to connect to your computer, then we have other issues to investigate.

Please tell us how you are connecting the turntable to the computer - using the USB connection or using the turntable's RCA connectors. At this point, specifics of the make and model of computer, which operating system (XP, Vista, 7), and specifics of your sound card and any settings you have made there will be very helpful.

-- Bill

[Beleto]

What does the LP sound like while you are recording? Are the Audacity input levels meters reaching 0 dB? (this is
bad) Recording too loud will cause irreparable damage to the recording.
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i cannot hear it while it's recording only when it's finished.
i'm not at home & that's where i did the recording, but yea i think it does reach 0 dB. Both of the meters do.
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You seem concerned that the weight is not set correctly. What does your turntable manual say about setting the
weight? Which model of ION turntable do you have?
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i don't know the exact model, it's like an ION iTTUSB and the manual said it should be around 4 grams
''it says a minimum of 3 grams and no more than 5 grams for optimum performance''
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When you go to the Windows sound control panel is there a volume control for the turntable?
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there is but it doesn't show up until i plug it in and it's at home.

[Beleto]

Windows Vista Home Premium Version 6.0 (Build 6001: Service Pack 1)

i'm using the USB cable that came in the box.

i don't know exactly what kind of sound card i have, in device manager, under sound & video controllers there is:
High Definition Audio Device
Total Recorder WDM Audio Driver

and when i plug in the turntable it uses something called USB Audio Codec as the default device/dr.iver

i use total recorder to record sound that comes from windows media player. if any setting were changed that may be what did it.

[billw58]

OK, you're using the USB cable so the sound card doesn't matter. You are recording a stereo track in Audacity, so your settings in Audio I/O Preferences appear to be correct.

We still haven't verified that you are getting a stereo signal from the turntable into your computer. Do you have any other software on your computer that can record from the turntable? If so, try it. Record 10 seconds of WAV then import that WAV into Audacity and compare it to what Audacity records. If they are the same, then the problem is definitely not with Audacity. It is then time to start tracing the signal chain from the cartridge through to your sound control panel to find out where two channels are becoming one. Note that this is not a case of the left and right channels being mixed together - Audacity is definitely receiving the left channel audio from the LP on both of its input channels.

I'm out of ideas. Hopefully one of the Windows elves can step in here, since you may need to dig deep into the sound control panel.

-- Bill

[steve]

Most (all?) USB turntables have a pair of analogue "phono" sockets that can be connected to a hi-fi amplifier. If you are able to test the output from these connections you will be able to determine if there is a problem with the cartridge, or cartridge wiring.

I also notice that there is quite a lot of background noise (like interference). The only recordings that I've heard from ION turntables are the one that you have posted, and another that was posted recently on the forum - both had the same kind of noise - perhaps the noise is a limitation of the turntable.

[steve]

The only recordings that I've heard from ION turntables are the one that you have posted, and another that was posted recently on the forum - both had the same kind of noise - perhaps the noise is a limitation of the turntable.

Correction - the other was from a "Pro-Ject Debut III USB Turntable" http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 12&t=22354

At the price I'd expect better sound from the Pro-Ject turntable - perhaps it's a fault?