I decided to digitize my most favorite vinyl recordings. I'm really a newbie in this area, and gave a try with my existing hardware: Micro Direct Drive DD-1 w/ a Shure cartridge, Behringer MicroPhono PP400 preamp.

I didn't expect the level of artifacts so high. They sound like analogue overloading, and are most noticable in loud vocals and sss-sounds. What element of the chain is most likely to blame?

30s sample, 15 bits, 735 kB Musepack: http://rapidshare.com/files/34328513/001_e...ipping.mpc.html

Check the alignment and the downforce.

I can hear a strong distortion in the left channel.

Sounds like a damaged tip. Have a close look at it.

I would be checking connections cause something ain't hooked up clean there. And you'll want to boost the gain when recording, that's way too quiet. I have to assume that you get decent sound when playing it through your speakers, yes? That would rule out a physical problem with the stylus.

This is the signal level that comes out from PP400, it cannot be adjusted (except digital multiplication). I could live with this SNR if there weren't the abovementioned distortions. Playing with the downforce didn't seem to have an effect. What I noticed is that the quality gets worse nearing the center of disc. Could the changing orientation of the stylus be the cause or its the fault of the records (my memory doesn't serve well about how they sounded ten or more years ago).

Jeez, I sure miss vinyl! Put a CD in the tray; press play. Done.




The quality always gets worse towards the center of the disk. There is less space in the arc to store the sound. Simple geometry.

The peak level is about -14dB. If you're using a decent soundcard with a noise floor below about -80dB, you can get away with this recording level and normalise later.


The distortion sounds like mistracking to me. This could be that your turntable is badly set up. Since you've already established that downforce doesn't seem to have much effect, the most likely problem is simple cartridge misalignment. Check it with a protractor, such as this one: Click to view attachment Also check the condition of the stylus, as Pio2001 suggests.

Alternatively, the distortion might be due to the LP having been played on a badly set up turntable in the past, which has caused permanent damage. In that case there's nothing you can do.

LP distortion does get worse as you move towards the centre of the record; this is in the nature of the medium. But it should never be as bad as in your example.

You were right. The stylus was in misaligned. I did another recording after I removed the headshell for examination. It sounded much better. Now the problem is that I don't have a clue how to adjust the cartridge step by step.

Would I need to align the cartridge differently for transfering the beginning and the end of disc?

Use the protractor cliveb supplied for cartridge alignment. In a recent thread on transferring LPs to CD-R, I listed links to four of five sites that have detailed, step by step, instructions on cartridge and tone arm setup.

I dediced to compare the output of another cartridge. Are any of the products available here good? I realise they are mostly for DJs and therefore with compromised quality output.

DJ cartridges are no more compromized about quality than studio monitors.

DJ means two things : they feature a stiff moving part, thus require a heavy tracking force and anti-skating (around 2 - 4 grams, vs 1.5 in hifi), and a spherical tip in order to play forward and backward.

Many models should be available with hifi tips (often called elliptical).
The heavy tracking force might lead to faster wear of the records, however, a sono magazine that tested DJ cartridges found them to have very variable impact on record's wear.
The test was doing moving the record forth and back many times in a given zone. So the result can depend on the way the tip behaves in the backward direction.
I myself compared the effect of a Stanton Trackmaster cartridge (5 grams) vs a Grado ZC (1.5 grams). Letting it read the endless loop at the end of new records, the Stanton lead to an audible rise of background noise after about 15 revolutions. The Grado did not lead to any audible rise in background noise after 50 revolutions.
The Stanton had the benefic side effect of eliminating the biggest clicks after one or two passes.

Beware that sometimes, hifi decks are not capable of handling more than 3 grams of tracking force.
Technics SL-3100 and Rega Planar 3, for example, can't set the antiskating high enough, and the Planar 3 even start to wow around 3 grams !

NEVER use a DJ cartridge built for heavy tracking force with hifi tracking force. The tip must always stick to the groove in order not to damage it.
Too weak a tracking force may let the tip locally leave the groove sides for short times, them damage it as it gets back in contact with it.

There are a great many hifi type cartridges on the market. Properly set-up, they perform very well. The lighter tracking force, combined with the better stylus shape, leads to very little wear over many plays. Why pursue a DJ cartridge if DJing isn't your goal?

Maybe you're right, I'll look for another store that sells hi-fi stuff.

Some of the Shure DJ needles have great anti-skipping. They're pretty useful if you want to do a oneshot of a vinyl that's fairly scratched and gets stuck in a lock-in groove.

Plus, DJ needles are pretty easy to find at any Guitar Center or practically any Indie shop (at least around here anyways) so if you need a "quick fix" going out and buying a Shure SC35C for like $30-40 w/ cartridge isn't a bad deal at all IMO.