Summer Fun: S.D. Curlee Restoration

[ramone57]

I have a Presonus Firebox interface.  tried using with a turntable and couldn't get rid of a ground hum.  it's quiet as a church mouse in normal usage.   

[Dave W]

This is part of the reason I have thought about the USB option as they roll in at around the £50 mark... I've never been what you would call a "buff" when it comes to hifi, hence my love of the MP3 format - the portability and the convenience far outweighs any other issues...

Those interfaces are USB devices. If you already have a decent turntable with a magnetic cartridge and diamond stylus, you'll get audibly better results by using that with an interface.

If you do get a USB turntable, be sure to buy a diamond stylus right away to replace the sapphire stylus most of them come with.
 

[dadagoboi]

the Behringer interface will handle a line out from a tape deck or  receiver and also a direct box signal, I know that for certain.  They're $30 in the US, probably half that on Ebay used.

[Dave W]

Yes, because they use a line level input. You can't connect a turntable directly without going through a phono preamp at some point.

[Psycho Bass Guy]

(70mph in a Merc Vito is my sound environment, with aircon - aka "wind the window down and drive faster")

Philips makes some VERY nice inexpensive in-ear earbuds that do a great job of blocking out noise. I have them for Pandora on my phone and I must say, they sound nicer than the $6k Genelec studio monitors in the control room at work.

[dadagoboi]

Yes, because they use a line level input. You can't connect a turntable directly without going through a phono preamp at some point.

A Thriftshop 70s Sansui 661 receiver does that for me.  One of the last with a wood veneer on plywood case, sounds great with AR-2 speakers.

[SKATE RAT]

i really need to get one of these USB turntables.

[Highlander]

... be sure to buy a diamond stylus right away to replace the sapphire stylus most of them come with.

Noted ta...

[Psycho Bass Guy]

I have a Presonus Firebox interface.  tried using with a turntable and couldn't get rid of a ground hum.  it's quiet as a church mouse in normal usage.   

Didn't see this before.  The problem is that your phono preamp and turntable need to have a physical ground connection to either the case of the Presonus or the ground post on your computer's power supply.

[Psycho Bass Guy]

A Thriftshop 70s Sansui 661 receiver does that for me.  One of the last with a wood veneer on plywood case, sounds great with AR-2 speakers.

You lucked out. That Sansui is a hi-fi collector's item.

[dadagoboi]

You lucked out. That Sansui is a hi-fi collector's item.

Major purchase for me...$7.  It's a great sounding amp, even makes CDs sound good.

[ramone57]

Didn't see this before.  The problem is that your phono preamp and turntable need to have a physical ground connection to either the case of the Presonus or the ground post on your computer's power supply.

yeah, I tried  grounding the turntable to the Presonus but didn't try grounding to the pc.  I'll give it a shot.  thanks

[Psycho Bass Guy]

If your computer is plugged into a power strip, make sure your plug the preamp into either the strip or the same outlet. You can also just run the preamp/turntable ground to the ground pin on an unused plug on the strip.

[ramone57]

yup, they're both running off the same power strip.  when I had the turntable hooked up, it was only to get one song from vinyl to the digital domain, so it wasn't that big of a deal.  if it was more of a long term thing, I would've tried different ground connections.  time was short and I just decided to live with it.  I've got a bunch of stuff I can't find on cd or itunes to convert but no time to do.  when I get around to it I'll try grounding to the power strip.  thanks, PBG!