Turntable Phono or Line Out

[Klipspringer]

Here's a question for you golden ears:

So I'm thinking of getting a Stanton STR8 or Numark TTX deck to do some nifty sampling/scratching pitch shifting reverso stuff & etc for some real time recording into my DAW.

Now these decks have RIAA eq'd pre amps built in, but they also have regular phono out. Do you think there's much of an audible difference between the line outs and the phono outs into a preamp or cheap DJ mixer?

I think they also have S/PDIF out thingies too. I have a MOTU Ultalight that has an S/PDIF input .. would that be a good option?

PS

I have a semi functioning Linn Sondek so I sort of know turntable stuff and I realize in some circles the above decks are all crap, but I can't do live tricks with the Linn so it's basically useless

[Shy]

If the turntable has a higher quality phono preamp than the mixer or whatever, then sure, line out may sound better. If not, then maybe it would sound worse and phono output to the mixer/whatever's phono input would sound better. Also, maybe there would be no audible or significant difference, who knows. In short, no way I can say for sure, you just have to check it.

[Klipspringer]

Yeh ... I think it was kind of a lame post myself now! So if I get one of these TTs with both line and phono out I might splurge on a DJPre-2 preamp and listen for myself.

Still deciding on how much cash I can justify for this though ... fun research. Never knew about the RIAA eq thing until recently.

[C00kie]

Do you think there's much of an audible difference between the line outs and the phono outs into a preamp or cheap DJ mixer?

As long as there's exactly one RIAA EQ in the chain (you don't want none and you don't want two) well... hard to say.
You'd have to listen and compare, and if you pay close enough attention you will hear a difference and you will pick a favorite.

I think they also have S/PDIF out thingies too. I have a MOTU Ultalight that has an S/PDIF input .. would that be a good option?

That depends on which AD converter is better: in the turntable or in the MOTU.

[Jim Y]

Historically, the best TT's have relied on an external pre. This is probably due to the problem of successfully keeping the motor and switching noise out of the pre-amps electronics and the danger of a ground hum between the pre and external power amp.

In the traditional TT, the pickup up is directly wired to the phono jacks and isolated from the decks own AC ground. The pickup and the audio cable screening then relies on a ground connection from the connected external amp. As there is then no direct common connection with the TT's own AC supply ground, the chances of a ground hum loop at this sensitive point are remote.

That said, it probably perfectly possible with good design for an internal pre to be "good enough", but doubtful if it could exceed the quality of the traditional separate approach with high performance components.

You can at least easily compare the noise performance by recording some audio with the pickup arm lifted and measuring the noise level.

As COOkie points out, I'd have doubt over the decks internal converter which could well be a generic 16bit affair and probably not as good as the typical recording interfaces converters. You will probably also be limited to a fixed sample-rate via the TT's s/pdif output.

As your use seems to be creative rather than getting pristine transcriptions, I'd probably go with the simplest convenient option - which depends on you.

And after all that, I'll add that I use a perfectly ordinary Sony deck with an internal pre. It's a little hissy, but I run the recording through noise reduction software and end up with nice, detailed recording that still sounds like vinyl to me.

Jim

[Klipspringer]

This is all great information ... thanks peeps!

So I went to a used electronics store that has a really good reputation and saw a couple of 1200 MK2's for sale. Cheaper than the new decks I was thinking of too, so it might be that I'm going for the preamp option anyway!

Thanks again!