Recording vinyl - what am i doing wrong?

badnicki · Post by **badnicki** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 1:45 pm

Hoping someone can help me decipher where I'm having troubles:

I have an old JVC turntable hooked up to an Apex ATPI1 turntable preamp and into my M-Audio Fast Track Pro. When I used a Mono/TS 1/4-inch cable to connect from preamp to fast track I only received a signal with one channel, which didn't surprise me.

But now I have a shielded y-adapter - rca to 1/4-inch stereo - and I am getting a crap signal again only in one channel and I am at a loss.

I am assuming it is possible to record vinyl in stereo...am I wrong?

I'm also new at this and appreciate any help I can get. thanks.

sweetjesus · Post by **sweetjesus** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 1:48 pm

you will need two seperate cables. one for each channel.

the cables where the large jack looks like a stereo is actually whats called a balanced signal and will have a lower noisefloor (more volume).

are you going into two seperate physical inputs on on your fast track pro?

badnicki · Post by **badnicki** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 1:51 pm

no, I've only got the one RCA output and the one "stereo" line in. I wish I had RCA inputs...I assume that would solve my problem? Hmmm...might be time for an audio interface upgrade.

zsazsa · Post by **zsazsa** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 2:47 pm

you can use cinch to jack plugs, works fine.
http://www.kentonuk.com/cables_adaptors ... 1-pj1.html
changed the URL so Longjohns screen is big enough

laird · Post by **laird** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 3:20 pm

Try switching the rca plugs on the turntable and see if the crap signal now jumps from the left channel to the right.

(and using that mono 1/4" to rca cable you used first, only one output will work).

It could be a bad output on the old turntable itself.

longjohns · Post by **longjohns** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 3:37 pm

badnicki wrote:no, I've only got the one RCA output

one jack, or one pair of jacks?

laird · Post by **laird** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 3:51 pm

heh heh, longjohns, are you thiking this turntable is old enought to be mono?

the thought crossed my mind, but a mono rca to mono 1/4" jack, plugged into a stereo input gives you the same signal on both channels, right? and this guy is getting 1 OK signal, and one bad one... which makes me think he means a pair of jacks?

badnicki · Post by **badnicki** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 1:26 am

sorry, what I mean is that I have one pair of RCA outputs from the preamp and two 1/4" balanced stereo inputs...I didn't know you could get an adapter that would have RCA on the one end and two 1/4" on the other so I'd have 2 channels going in. I think that's probably the only solution...I was suprised that the Y adapter didn't fix the situation but I guess I have a lot to learn still...

longjohns · Post by **longjohns** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 1:38 am

badnicki wrote:sorry, what I mean is that I have one pair of RCA outputs from the preamp and two 1/4" balanced stereo inputs.

You're still a bit confused there. Those inputs are not stereo.

You could consider the two together to equal one stereo input

But you now seem to know the cable you need - it's actually a very handy cable and you shouldn't feel bad about buying one

I'm not surprised that you got a crap signal off that Y-adapter. My understanding of what would happen at the input of the Fast Track is that it would add the Left signal to a phase inverted R signal (or vice versa)

One idea of a balanced signal is to send two copies of it down the cable 180deg out of phase to each other, so that RF interference will cancel out when they are brought back together

So who knows what you'd end up with sending two different but similar signals down into a balanced input jack - probably something quiet and sounding like a phaser. (?)

Damn I hate that URL up in this thread, it really fucks up the display

badnicki · Post by **badnicki** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 2:07 am

ahhhhhh...ok, yes, I see. you're right, depending on the record, i either get a weird phaser-type sound out of the signal or just the left channel going. I suppose it could make for some interesting effects, but for now i'll be happy to figure out how to record the damn vinyl cleanly and play with it later.

thanks for the help.