Phono preamp suggestion

T

Thermaltake

New member
Hi, I bought myself Technics 1210 MK2 turntable, and I must say what a beauty, It's like new, rubber still smells like it :D

I need a little help.
I am connecting right now my turntable to mixer beringer xenyx 1204 via 2track RCA, but sound is kind of low, that's why I need help for some good preamp if someone can suggest me one, nothing too expensive.
I would connect it then on mixer via 5/6 channel with 2xRCA to 2x6.4mm mono. So It would go from preamp RCA outs to my mixers 5/6 channel. I got my sound card already connect on 7/8, so I can't use those.
I was looking at ART DJ Pre II, what do you say about that one, is it ok ? Can I get some better one for similar price maybe ?


Thanks
 
The Art DJ Pre II would be fine. There are heaps of phono preamps around, and they are all going to be broadly comparable these days, so just pick one from a price range that suits you.
 
gecko zzed said:
The Art DJ Pre II would be fine. There are heaps of phono preamps around, and they are all going to be broadly comparable these days, so just pick one from a price range that suits you.
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Never tried one but yes, Art stuff is very good. One alternative that others might consider? A modest hi fi amp or receiver?

These can often be found in S/H and charity shops and the good brands, (in no part'ord) Sony, Hitachi, Marantz, Yamaha, Philips, Denon, were so well made they are likely still at 'as new' spec.

An amp gives you the phono inputs with the necessary RIAA correction and you take a feed to record from the Tape out RCAs. Such an amp has other advantages. Can be a switching centre for other gear, a synth say and also gives you totally zero latency monitoring of those inputs, on some gash speaker if you have them, on cans if not. Also very handy if one wants to dub OR tape or cassette.

Dave.
 
Agree that an old hi fi can be a cheap and effective way of getting a phono preamp into the system.

I didn't look at the specs of the Art phono amp, but I assumed that because it was billed as a 'phono preamp' that it (and others similarly labelled) would have RIAA adjustment.
 
gecko zzed said:
Agree that an old hi fi can be a cheap and effective way of getting a phono preamp into the system.

I didn't look at the specs of the Art phono amp, but I assumed that because it was billed as a 'phono preamp' that it (and others similarly labelled) would have RIAA adjustment.
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Pretty safe assumption Gekks! If anyone needs to copy over some, shall we say, "less challenging material" such as battered old 45s there is Behringer variant of the UCA 202 that is switchable from line (at neg ten) to high gain with RIAA EQ. NOT the quietest device so don't use it to copy once played direct cut discs using a Shure V15ll! But actually good enough for the average 70's teenagers rough ass disc collection* I don't recall the exact model # atmo but will look it up (actually got one somwhere!) if anyone wants to know.

*Some years ago my daughter, then nearly 40 wanted her punk and Paul Weller singles transposed to CD, no longer had a R/Player. Many hours of dubbing did dad put in and they cleaned up quite well with Sony Soundforge of which you could download the demo for a month for free! Drove me nearly mad!

Just remembered, bit of possibly lost technical information. Lot of the cheaper turntables were fitted with ceramic cartridges. These really need a very high input impedance > 1meg or they sound very tinny. However, if you feed a ceramic into a 'low Z' RIAA input, by some devious 'tronical means id ALMOST gets corrected and you can tweak further with DAW EQ.

Dave.
 
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I have Santon 500 cartridge default one that came with turntable SL 1210 MK2. Don't know pf for that cartridge but I assume it's like on v3 250pf so I would have to use that 100pf button on art phono preamp.
 
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You might check the Music Hall Mini Plus Phono Preamp. Its got a switch to change the capacitance, a rumble filter, has a headphone output and can handle both MM and high output MC cartridges. It runs about $150.
 
Thermaltake said:
Is it better than Art DJ Pre II ?
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If you are going all 'Audiophile' and messing with 'tuning caps' (don't forget cable capacitance!) it might be as well to try to find a frequency response disc? I don't know if Shure's infamous Audio Obstical Course is still available? Not even sure if it had frequency sweeps on it?


Dave.
 
Thermaltake said:
Is it better than Art DJ Pre II ?
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I can't say. I haven't used it, just looking at something that covers lots of bases, and is a quality name product. Music Hall is fairly well regarded for making high quality affordable gear.

I'm still rocking my old Rega Planar 2 in to an AudioSource preamp from years ago.
 
I have an ART phono preamp, don’t know if its that exact model but it works great.
 
Thermaltake said:
I know. I was just aking for some help If I can get something a bit better for few dollars more or maybe same price.
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The Stanton 500 cartridge seems to be more 'DJ/ Broadcast workhorse than Audiophool (This Stanton 500 cartridge - any good?- Vinyl Engine) so looking for a better pre amp than the Art seems a bit pointless? There also seems to only be 'aftermarket' styli available now for the 500 and that seems to limit ultimate sound quality.

A technical review I found (sorry, lost link) shows the Art having lower noise than a more expensive pre amp and similar distortion, 0.01% at 5mV/sec which in the rubbish world of vinyl distortion is nothing at all!

Stop worrying, get the Art and sit back and glory in all that black disc mush and clicks!

Dave.
 
ecc83 said:
The Stanton 500 cartridge seems to be more 'DJ/ Broadcast workhorse than Audiophool (This Stanton 500 cartridge - any good?- Vinyl Engine) so looking for a better pre amp than the Art seems a bit pointless? There also seems to only be 'aftermarket' styli available now for the 500 and that seems to limit ultimate sound quality.

A technical review I found (sorry, lost link) shows the Art having lower noise than a more expensive pre amp and similar distortion, 0.01% at 5mV/sec which in the rubbish world of vinyl distortion is nothing at all!

Stop worrying, get the Art and sit back and glory in all that black disc mush and clicks!

Dave.
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I am a producer so yes more DJ cartridge is what I want. But also sometimes for listening to good old vinyl sound :)

Thanks for explanation, I appreciate it.


One more question, what connecting is better, connecting preamp directly to my RME FireFace 400 soundcard or in my mixer behringer xenyx 1204 ? I think If I connect it in mixer I won't be able to record vinyls for samples, right ? And one more thing that is bothering me, If I connect ART with my FF400, how will I be able to listen some beats on my PC and record turntable simultaneously ? I mean I can only mute that channel where turntable is connected to or on PC while it's in use so that there won't be any interference.
 
"But also sometimes for listening to good old vinyl sound" (no accountin' I 'spose!)

Err! Do you mean you will use a much better cartridge for 'pleasure'?

Re where to send the output of the Art pre? Why not both destinations? A couple of splitter cables and you can feed both mixer and RME. If that causes problems, a switch box?

Dave.
 
Thermaltake said:
One more question, what connecting is better, connecting preamp directly to my RME FireFace 400 soundcard or in my mixer behringer xenyx 1204 ? I think If I connect it in mixer I won't be able to record vinyls for samples, right ? And one more thing that is bothering me, If I connect ART with my FF400, how will I be able to listen some beats on my PC and record turntable simultaneously ? I mean I can only mute that channel where turntable is connected to or on PC while it's in use so that there won't be any interference.
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I recommend connecting the preamp directly to the Fireface. It has plenty of line-ins that you can use.

The whole point of an inteface is that it allows you to record stuff and monitor what you've already recorded simultaneously. I concede that some interfaces are easier to use than others, and I expect you have a bit of figuring out to do with the Fireface. Its physical controls are somewhat lacking (e.g. I can't even see a headphone level control), so you will have to dig into its software.
 
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