I cant figure out whats wrong with my sound

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-- I cant figure out whats wrong with my sound

Posted by billu on May-31-2002 15:20:

I cant figure out whats wrong with my sound

Im having a problem with my sound...im going out from my mixer to my computer... the sound is fuzzy, its not clean... especially when the vocals have "S" in them or symbols in the songs...sounds kind of distorted... its not anything with the master volume and my cartridges are strait... im using Technics Turntable and Gemini PDM 10 mixer... this problem is annoying me sooooooooooo badly!!!!!!!! can anyone help me out... even when i plug my headphones into the mixer and listen thru them, i still get the same sound.... and i know its not he ground wire....what could it be!?

i would really appreciate ANY help you could offer, thanks

Posted by Pjotr G on May-31-2002 15:27:

is that the case with both TT's? sound like a messed up needle...maybe clean it a bit or buy a new one.

Posted by billu on May-31-2002 15:30:

i bought a double pack needle.....i've switched both and etc... they both sound the same

Posted by Pjotr G on May-31-2002 15:32:

ok then i dunno

Posted by DJ Chrono on May-31-2002 16:58:

I had this problem too, but then I found out that I was using a non-gold plated RCA cable to go out to my computer.. so I replaced it with a gold plated one, and the sound was fine.

Posted by DJ-Kuza on May-31-2002 17:58:

I have the same problem with only 1 of my decks. So it's either bad grounding on the TT itself, or it's an amplification problem. Might be the mixer gain is bad or soemthing like that. Keep your levels down and that's almost all you can do.

Posted by Dj Zinni on Jun-01-2002 18:43:

If its not your carts or needles, then I would first make sure your gain controls arent cranked because that can cause distortion, secondly It could be your cables are starting to wear and you might need new ones. or it could even be your speakers being unable to handle the highs ??????

Posted by Kid_Lax on Jun-01-2002 19:46:

im guessing that its either your connection to the mixer (in which case if you can replace the wires from your TT's then i would do so, orit could be that inside your mixer jack there is dirt, etc. fucking up the connection)

or you have the gains cranked up, in which case turn the gains down and turn the master volume up

or your mixer could just be fucked?
how old is it/how much use has it had?

maybe its the connection in your tonearm? (i don't really know anything about this though, just a thought)

Posted by Max2LC on Jun-01-2002 19:53:

GROOOOOOOOUND CABLES

Posted by Dj Flesch on Jun-02-2002 14:30:

The first time i recorded a set I spun, I had the same problem. It was caused by plugging my mixer into my "mic in" jack instead of my "line in" jack. Make sure that you are going from either your "record out" or "master out" from your mixer to your "line in" on your sound card! Also, you will want to check the volume levels on each of the lines. There is ususally a volume icon in your system tray if you are using windows. If you are not using the mic in and are infact in the correct line in, then it sounds to me like you could be overloading the signal. Does the sound quality sound like abosolute crap or is the bass full and there are just background hisses etc. If the later is true then you can use programs like soundforge to take those noises out. Or you can start by getting a new soundcard. I'd highly suggest the Soundblaster Extigy or the Soundblaster Live. I've used both of them for recordings and I've noticed absolutely no quality loss. I also have gold plated everything though, so it may be worth your investment to upgrade wires too depending if you have the money for them!

Posted by Dj Flesch on Jun-02-2002 14:31:

reading back, I thought you said that you plugged your headphones into the sound card and it still sounded like crap. Try plugigng them into your soundcard and see what some music sounds like.

Posted by billu on Jun-06-2002 01:45:

hey, thanks for ur help.....i really appreciate it.... but so far, i replaced the turn table with a new one......and still the same problem...i plugged the table directly into an amp (No mixer) and i still got the same sound....so it eliminates any faults in the mixer and table....so imthinking it may be the needle or someshit...i have a pair of Stanton Trackmaster 2 RS..... i've tried both needles and this happens with that sound still.... i dont know what to do
on the technics tables u have two weights...the big one (placed as close as possible)with the numbers and the small one that screws into the bar... i take the small one off and all the sudden its clearer. But if i do this it will ruin the records right? please help

Posted by Dj Flesch on Jun-11-2002 00:08:

nod, I'm sure the balance of the weights on the needles will affect that. You don't want to too light otherwise it will skip, and you don't want it too heavy because it will kill the lifespan of your record. You may want to doubly make sure there is no dust on your needle tip or your vinyl because that will cause sound problems. I don't know if the weight of the needle will affect the actual sound, but it stands to reason because more pressure on the needle will dampen and/or distort the vibrations in the needle which reproduce the sound.