Live phono input to channels C and D has terrible sound quality
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Live phono input to channels C and D has terrible sound quality Posted on: 10.07.2012 by Sanjuanita Ramaley Whenever I switch a deck (C or D) to a live input and then run any sort of audio signal through said deck, I have 3 options.1. Set it to THRU. Means I can't use anything on the mixer (EQ, fader, filter, x-fader), and it sounds bad. 2. Set it to USB and set the input type to LINE. The level is way too low to work with, but at least it doesn't sound bad. 3. Set it to USB and set the input to PHONO. The level is good (sometimes too hot), I can use the mixer, but it sounds like...am I allowed to swear on this community ? Whatever, it sounds AWFUL. Hard clipping like nobody's business. I can bring the level down on the input device and turn the gain on the channel on my S4 way up, and that fixes the clipping but even then the highs are mushed and it still sounds impassibly bad. Now I know the difference between line and phono. Line is for hot signals, such as an instrument like a guitar or keyboard. Phono is for mic level inputs, like microphones and, well, most other things. DAW audio outputs, other S4s, etc. What I cannot understand is why I can't get an input to sound good. Is this just a problem with the S4? Have I no choice but to accept my crappy audio conversion? HALP? PLEEZ? | |
| Sanjuanita Ramaley 10.07.2012 | Whenever I switch a deck (C or D) to a live input and then run any sort of audio signal through said deck, I have 3 options. 1. Set it to THRU. Means I can't use anything on the mixer (EQ, fader, filter, x-fader), and it sounds bad. 2. Set it to USB and set the input type to LINE. The level is way too low to work with, but at least it doesn't sound bad. 3. Set it to USB and set the input to PHONO. The level is good (sometimes too hot), I can use the mixer, but it sounds like...am I allowed to swear on this community ? Whatever, it sounds AWFUL. Hard clipping like nobody's business. I can bring the level down on the input device and turn the gain on the channel on my S4 way up, and that fixes the clipping but even then the highs are mushed and it still sounds impassibly bad. Now I know the difference between line and phono. Line is for hot signals, such as an instrument like a guitar or keyboard. Phono is for mic level inputs, like microphones and, well, most other things. DAW audio outputs, other S4s, etc. What I cannot understand is why I can't get an input to sound good. Is this just a problem with the S4? Have I no choice but to accept my crappy audio conversion? HALP? PLEEZ? |
| Sanjuanita Ramaley 12.07.2012 | The solution you're talking about requires a D/A conversion, so I'd need not only a DI box but a separate USB or FireWire audio interface or sound card to send the master out of my DAW to. |
| Sanjuanita Ramaley 12.07.2012 | I haven't been using the RCA outs on the S4 because that's the master out. I am sending the audio from a DAW into one of the channels of Traktor. It's fine, I seem to have gotten it to work by cranking the hell out of the gain at just about every stage. Which wasn't working before, but whatever. |
| Lauretta Loonam 12.07.2012 | Not entirely sure why you would be running those mini headphone outputs back into your S4 rather than using the RCA ins/outs on the S4... but regardless, after being an A/V tech for many years, the only solution to crap sound from mini headphone jacks from a laptop is to stick a DI (direct input) box in the middle. It kills pretty much all the ground hum coming off the laptop and cleans it up quite a bit. Now of course you're not going to get professional grade audio out of consumer grade mini headphone jacks, but if you can't use proper connectors/soundcard then get a DI box and you have the best alternate solution. I have to do that all the time when running presentations off client laptops cause they almost never have proper soundcards on them. A DI box is cheap too, like $40 and probably less if you get the behringer version. That's my two bits, take it or leave it. |
| Sanjuanita Ramaley 12.07.2012 | That I get. But when I set it to line level I can't get enough gain. And I know about the 1/8" out not sounding top notch, but I've seen Glitch Mob play sets out of just their headphone jack on Ooah's MacBook and it sounded perfectly fine. Plus, I've tried this trick with a friend plugging his S4 into mine, just sending master out the RCA jacks, and same problem. |
| Lauretta Loonam 12.07.2012 | Ok well that could well be the problem. The computer output is gonna be line level, definitely not phono. As for using an 1/8" headphone jack for audio... well yeah that is also gonna be a problem. If you absolutely have to use an 1/8" headphone output from a laptop you can clean that up with a DI box. |
| Sanjuanita Ramaley 11.07.2012 | Huh. Interesting about the phono signal. You learn something new every day. But I'm not talking about a TT. I'm specifically referring to when I run the output of someone else's mixer into one of my channels, or when I run the audio output of my computer via the headphone jack on my laptop to one of my channels via 1/8" to RCA so that I can control the master signal of a DAW through Traktor. |
| Lauretta Loonam 11.07.2012 | Well the main thing missing for a proper phono input is a ground. Did you ground your turntables somewhere else? Other than that I'd figure it would be bad cables or dirty needle or something. Also I don't believe you quite understand phono inputs based on your description there.. yes the signal is boosted which is similar to a mic input but they are boosted very differently. Also DAW/computer/practically everything is line level. Phono is specific type of preamp to recolor vinyl only... cause of the way they cut/boost frequencies when pressing records. A microphone is boosted as well, but without the extra EQ stages to go through. |
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