Entry Level. Should I upgrade my cartridge or get a pre amp?

I have an Audio Technica LP 120. Am using the AT95E that it came with. My setup is line out auxiliary to speakers, or to PC mic for recording. Doesn't seem like the best sound compared to what I able to hear from other youtube vinyls being played.

It doesn't seem like I get good volume from my record player in my PC. Here is a loudest clean recording I could get with audacity.



I would like to have higher volume, more crisp highs. more space between everything. I have been looking at a lot of cartridge videos.

I am interested in the Ortofon 2M Blue.

I like to listen through speakers, headphones, and record without a analog to digital converter for now.

Do you recommend upgrading a cartridge or getting a pre amp to get a louder crisp sound? If I get a pre amp, I would mod my LP 120 to bypass the internal pre amp.

 

You will get more volume with the 2m Blue. It's output is 5mV opposed to your AT which is only 3.5mV.

Are you using an amp at all or are you always running everything through the PC? I know nothing about PC audio but there could be something in that system causing your volume issues.

 

When you say you run line out auxiliary to speakers, what speakers? Are they powered speakers with built in amplification, or are the speakers hooked up to your PC?

When recording with a PC, aren't you, by definition, doing analog to digital conversion? Even if it's done in software, the analog wave forms need to be converted to ones and zeros to be stored on your hard drive.

 

They are powered speakers.

Yes I know my PC does analog to digital, but I have seen many use hardware to do it. I am trying to improve volume and sound.

I don't have a low volume issue, as you see in my video. It's not bad, I just want more juice. And more space and clarity. Especially in the high ends.

The PC is able to add gain. I don't know what kind of a difference having a pre amp would have, compared to new cartridge with more mV.

But compare my recording up top, to this video link below. And wow, its louder and clearer

That's why I want to know if I should upgrade my cartridge or pre amp first. I'm thinking cartridge because of the higher mV.

 

Ok now I understand. Either one will get you better performance. I'd probably start with a better cartridge, then phono preamp and then a new turntable.

The system in that video is definitely a few steps up from where you're at.

 

Do you just want the best quality audio through your speakers (and maybe headphones), or do you want to capture high quality needle drops on your PC? The solutions to these two different goals will likely be different. Granted, a better cartridge and phono stage will improve both, but for the latter, you will want a better way of converting analog to digital to store on your PC.

I don't personally keep up with all the different AT turntable models, but I know the built-in preamp in some of them isn't all that great. You didn't mention a budget, but since you are considering an Ortofon 2M Blue, I assume you have about $250 to spend, possibly more. Personally, I'd look at getting an external phono stage and bypassing/disabling the built-in unit on your turntable. That looks like the weakest link in your analog chain. The ArtDJ Pre II is a very inexpensive phono stage that has a built in gain control, complete with a clipping indicator to let you know you've gone too far. Or you can look for a new, or used, phono stage in the $250 - $300 range. That will clean up your analog path.

As far as your digital path, I'll leave that for others, as that's not my thing. Perhaps a phono stage with a built in USB output would solve both your issues in one unit. Just something to consider, but again, that's not an area I'm familiar with.

 

I'm thinking of modding my LP 120 and getting something like the ArtDJ Pre II. And/then cartridge for now.

Then something like this after for pc recording.

https://www.amazon.com/Behringer-UMC204HD-BEHRINGER/dp/B00QHURLCW

I need to get an RCA male cable, and a ground cable. Could someone help me pick an RCA cable so I can solder it as the video below. Not sure if the internals of the RCA cable are universal.



^ timestamp supposed to be 16:36

I would love to hear more of your opinions and thoughts

 

You're really going beyond my knowledge. I'm not a modder or a PC audio guy.

I think you can buy the RCA you're looking for at KABusa. They specialize in Technics 1200 but offer cables and other things for turntables that might interest you.

Good luck! Hopefully someone else can help along the way.

 

It is still not clear to me when you are playing (not recording): does the PC have anything to do with it?

Maybe your AT just doesn't have as much output as the speakers want for input. But changing from 3.5 mV to 5 mV cartridge is only a tiny difference, maybe 2 decibels, a tiny tick of the volume knob. Schiit Audio and probably others have inexpensive little preamps that might help. An outboard phono preamp could deliver better sound and maybe more volume level but I'm not expert about those.

Does your AT have USB output? There was a model that did.

Mostly-being a loudspeaker design engineer-I wonder what speakers you have since your profile is empty. Usually spending more money on speakers yields the most sound improvement, and in this case maybe different speakers with more sensitivity could obviate changing stuff on the LP side which might not fix your problem.

 

@dodger24
without knowing what speakers and soundcard you have it would have hard to suggest if a cartridge update will get you the audible differences you seek.
you can try the blue and a seperate preamp, both of which will be an upgrade but it may turn out to be a gamble if the rest of your system is going to hold it back.

 

Parasound just came out with a $199 phono preamp. I'd look into that.

 

The two things you need in a phono cable are good shielding and low capacitance. Some phono cables come with an attached ground wire, or you can just run a separate wire for the ground. The ground wire does not need to be shielded, or particularly thick. I just use whatever 14 or 16 gauge wire I have on hand. Rather than use a captive cable, I prefer to install RCA jacks on the back of the turntable. That way I can use whatever cables I want. I did this mod to a Technics SL-1401 that needed the phono cable replaced:







For me, the most time consuming part was I needed to completely disassemble the entire turntable. The top deck of the Technics is a cast aluminum alloy and when I drilled the holes for the RCA jacks, I didn't want any metal shavings to get into any of the moving parts or possibly short out something on one of the PCBs. In the video, the top deck of the Audio Technica appears for be made from some type of plastic. If so, that wont require a complete disassembly.

By installing RCA jacks, I can now use any interconnect cables I wish. I made my own using the same low capacitance, double shielded cable that Blue Jeans Cable uses in their LC-1 interconnects and some Canare FC-09 RCA connectors:



If that all seems like too much work, you can just go with a captive cable. The ones from KAB USA should do the trick. Just avoid cheap, generic interconnect cables. They will likely be poorly shielded and very high capacitance.

 

I don't have a volume problem with my powered speakers. I use line out from turntable to speakers, and to pc auxiliary when I record.

I should have explained, I want my audio files to have more volume.

My motherboard is tuf gaming z390-plus gaming. I don't have a dedicated sound card.

When I line out to PC mic, on Windows I can increase "Recording Volume." To a certain point, until it gets distorted. The highest volume I can record in, is as shown in my video.

I'm thinking pre amp, and analog to digital converter will fix this.

Edit: Thanks for all your replies.

Please do give thoughts and opinions if you have any.

 

ok I see the problem. PC mic is not suitable at all for this. But lets clear up a couple of things first. I did a real quick check on that mobo and looks like it does have line-in. So are you referring to line-in as mic or are you really using the mic input ? You need to use the line-in input.
I assume your LP120 is the version without USB ?
You either need a line-in input on the soundcard/mobo or a usb output from the turntable to rip vinyl.
hope this helps. any questions feel free to ask.

 

That's a nice job, and it's obvious you do good work, though if I was gonna take it apart and build my own cables, I'd probably skip those 24+ extra connections and just solder the cables directly to the tonearm board

Convenience does have a big appeal, though.

 

Ya I'm using the mic input. Which is the line in ya.

 

24+ extra connections? I count five (Left Signal, Left Shield, Right Signal Right Shield and Ground). I cut the original cables near where they were attached to the PCB and soldered them to the gold plated connectors. The main reason I replaced the original cables was because they had gone bad (intermittent connection in one channel). In addition to allowing me to use any cables I want, it also lets me keep them as short as possible. I'm running a pair of double shielded, ultra low capacitance 18" interconnects between the table and the phono stage.

I don't believe in using cables longer than necessary, especially phono cables. I'd rather have those gold plated RCA jacks in the signal path than an extra 2.5' of cable (original cables were 4' long). If I ever do rearrange my system (or sell the turntable), I can use cables of the required length. Yes, it's convenient, but I don't think the RCA jacks negatively impact the signal. There are also RCA jacks at the other end of the cable where they attach to my JC3 Jr. phono stage. Should I also open that up and solder the cables directly to the PCB?

 

Well, the 4 signal lines each look to have 6 connections between the tonearm wires and the RCA cables that could be removed with directly soldering the cables to the tonearm PCB, that's all I meant. I was just having some fun, so don't take it too seriously, like I said above, nice job.

A removable headshell adds at least 16 connections too, but we live with it

 

Well I got the ArtDJ Pre II and modded my LP-120.

It sounds amazing. I made a comparison video what it sound like going from LP 120 phono out to ArtDJ Pre II to my Rig Kontrol 3 to PC, then one with bypassing the built in preamp and switch strait to the ArtDJ Pre II, to RK3, to PC.

I think it sounds way better modded. More spacey and crispy like I wanted. Def more high end.



I love having the nob on the preamp. Another major plus of not using the built in preamp.

 

Awesome!