recording direct from turntable

i'm wanting to record my collection to computer......my soundcard (emu 1212m) has two 1/4" Balanced Inputs , i'm not sure what to do with the ground cable on the turntable if i want to record directly in though. can anyone help me out, i don't have a dj mixer so that's not an option, is it ok to do it without the ground cable?

cheers, mark

No, the level of the signal will be way to quiet (you need a phono preamp to reach line level) and you'll get plenty plenty hum if the turntable isn't grounded.

If you were local I'd happily lend you my 1820m dock which has phono in and would plug directly into the 1212m. Where are you?

glad i asked b4 trying. I'm down in cornwall so a bit of a trek for the 1820m dock (nice bit of soundcard that), thanks for the offer though :-) gonna either wait till i get another dj mixer or get a seperate phono preamp now i've had the suggestion, nice 1

[denaris]

http://www.dv247.com/dj-equipment/behrin...amp--34412 - cheap and cheerful.

http://www.hificorner.co.uk/nad-pp-2.html - v nice to have (check it's got a ground connector).

I think you can ground a turntable on a radiator or metal window from experience.

Been thinking about getting this
http://www.radialeng.com/di-j33.htm.

That and a better stylus before I start the mammoth task of archiving my vinyl for use with Traktor. Might as well try and get the best capture possible from the vinyl. (I don't plan on doing it twice)

Also the better the converters ie your soundcard, the better the end result.

http://www.dv247.com/dj-equipment/behrin...amp--34412 - cheap and cheerful.

http://www.hificorner.co.uk/nad-pp-2.html - v nice to have (check it's got a ground connector).

I think you can ground a turntable on a radiator or metal window from experience.

nice one, they look suitable for the job, yeah the radiator trick works well but i need the more stable option of ground connector or things will get messy when i turn the heating on

Been thinking about getting this
http://www.radialeng.com/di-j33.htm.

That and a better stylus before I start the mammoth task of archiving my vinyl for use with Traktor. Might as well try and get the best capture possible from the vinyl. (I don't plan on doing it twice)

Also the better the converters ie your soundcard, the better the end result.

that's a nice bit of kit with a nice price tag to go with it, not sure how good my converters are myself but emu seem to think they're pretty good

that's a nice bit of kit with a nice price tag to go with it

Yeah, all depends on what your budget is I suppose. I mean some of the Audiophile nutters out there will spend 5-6 grand on a pre amp alone!!... but they are nutters

Its also handy to use a belt drive tt; this will reduce platter/motor noise.

5-6grand, wow that's mental, think i'd rather just spend the money on doubles of everything, to those nutters who can afford that, nice ;-). Never would have thought a belt drive would be better than a 1210, if only i'd kept my 1st set, thanks for the tips all, much appreciated

[denaris]

Markg what stylus / cartridge are you looking at for Technics? A more hifi orientated one?

If you've got the ability to amplify moving coil carts this one comes very highly recommended on a Technics. I'll dig out another article specific to the SLs over the weekend

http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/denon-dl103_e.html

[denaris]

Its also handy to use a belt drive tt; this will reduce platter/motor noise.

Surely you run the risk of introducing too much wow & flutter with a belt drive?

Its also handy to use a belt drive tt; this will reduce platter/motor noise.

Surely you run the risk of introducing too much wow & flutter with a belt drive?

True, from what i've read its pretty neglible with a good belt drive. Only really "heard" the motor before the music. Been archiving my own records lately as well. Stanton t80 >stanton mixer>onboard sound. Sounds pretty good.

Markg what stylus / cartridge are you looking at for Technics? A more hifi orientated one?

If you've got the ability to amplify moving coil carts this one comes very highly recommended on a Technics. I'll dig out another article specific to the SLs over the weekend

http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/denon-dl103_e.html

Not sure yet mate, probably a more hifi orientated one but there are so many options
cheers for the link, will have a read up on the denon

[denaris]

Surely you run the risk of introducing too much wow & flutter with a belt drive?

True, from what i've read its pretty neglible with a good belt drive. Only really "heard" the motor before the music. Been archiving my own records lately as well. Stanton t80 >stanton mixer>onboard sound. Sounds pretty good.[/QUOTE]

My question around going mad on equipment for recording records in, certainly in my case, my records have been played loads, in clubs, crap needles, greasy fingers etc and not to mention early tunes are badly produced per se is it really worth buying a really good cartridge, phono stage etc?

I think a decent £30-50 cartridge (non-DJ) would suffice and, say in your case Mark, the Traktor soundcard should be ample.

IMHOBLAHAFAIKETCWANKPHOTEK

IMHOBLAHAFAIKETCWANKPHOTEK

Some good advice here...?

I think a decent £30-50 cartridge (non-DJ) would suffice and, say in your case Mark, the Traktor soundcard should be ample.

Yep that could well be the way to go. Just figured it is worth looking at the diff options, pros and cons etc first. Some good points being raised in this thread so far, keep em coming

yeah... depends on how perfect you need it to be really i suppose...

I've been lucky enough to borrow a mates 1210 with a little 'dj' mixer before now which was perfect for sampling straight into my external soundcard, but then i've also used shitty Tandy decks through cheap amps plenty of times for the same thing - which prob negates having decent quality at the soundcard end of things anyway. Never really a stickler for pristine audio to be honest, and i often find the 'warts and all thing' to be a bit more interesting, sound-wise (such as a little warble/pitch movement etc)

Good luck with getting things sorted mate

ps as i don't own a deck anymore, i've been looking around and some of the direct USB ones are now really cheap, thinking about picking one of them up myself - anyone used one? Not aspiring to be Masters At Work or anything, just into grabbing weird noises and stuff off old scratchy records with minimum fuss

I use a 1210 w/ a m35x cartridge, a cambridge phono pre-amp, and my s5000. The pre-amp signal comes out right under 0dB when set to "+0db". no noticable added noise, so i don't bother with a mixer. my dj cartridge however is much louder, and noisier.

[denaris]

sound-wise (such as a little warble/pitch movement etc)

For samples that is no problem. For mixing with the tunes afterwards that isn't good!

USB ones will be fine for sampling stuff. Although probably be very clean sounding, so make sure you get a load of dust on the needle to sort that into Maff sound

[denaris]

@Mark - been looking into cartridges that fit the bill for this and come across much cheaper alternatives to the Denon that would do the job perfectly.

Grado Prestige Black £55 http://www.audioaffair.co.uk/index.php?a...c5b7c9fbdc
http://www.gradolabs.com/reviews/cart_blk_1.htm
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/frr.pl...Cartridge-
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/frr.pl...Cartridge-

Shure M97xe - £75
http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/shure_m97xe_e.html (freq charts and all sorts)

Budget Choice
Audio-Technica 95e - £30/£35 http://www.acton-gate-audio.co.uk/produc...uctID=2153
http://www.soundhifi.com/AT95e.html
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=82107

Audio-Technica 92ecd - £25
http://www.google.co.uk/products?q=audio...hl=en&aq=f

Judging by all that the Grado is the best all rounder and Grado are a very trusted hifi brand. But the AT95e gets some very good reviews as well. £20 cheaper but surely the extra £20 is worth it?

Over to you! Trying to convince myself I need one now. Just don't listen to music on vinyl unless DJing. But to record tracks in it's got to be a good investment.

Good researching Wilsh

Yeah the Grado does look a good one overall for the quality and price plus as you say they Know their stuff when it comes to all things stylus. Will do some reading on it!
£55 aint bad at all when I consider that I'm planning to rip as much of my vinyl as possible (must be somewhere in the region of 4000 records ). Also you only need one, it's not like you need to buy a pair for mixing or anything.

I reckon I will end up getting some sort of preamp too at some point but a good stylus is first on the list.

Some serious kit here-
http://www.needledoctor.com/

$9,500.00 Tonearm, anyone??