I want to use a digital recorder for ripping vinyl. Is this a good idea?

[Blumlein 88]

Lineout does not have a pre amp it simply sends the raw signal out to whatever source its attached to. No adjustment to be made. Volume has no effect.

But does the avr have a phono input and is that what you are using? Are you sending the avr output to microphone inputs or line/instrument inputs?

What you are describing does not add up. Something in the middle is not right. So a good idea is to skip the avr for recording and connect TT to recording device.

 

[eliwap]

But does the avr have a phono input and is that what you are using? Are you sending the avr output to microphone inputs or line/instrument inputs?

What you are describing does not add up. Something in the middle is not right. So a good idea is to skip the avr for recording and connect TT to recording device.

NO it only has a line in. What I'm doing is a perfectly legit thing to do. The traditional purpose of line out is to attach a recording device to the receiver. That's its main purpose.

I'm not going to pull the TT off the shelf to disconnect cables to attach it the recording device and lose the ability to monitor my recordings. TT connected to AVR I can listen to what's being played and recorded every time I want to record something. That's just plain silly and prone to potentially destructive accidents.

This is the last thing I will write on this subject. My setup and connections are exactly as they should be. I dealt with the short coming that I have faced and produced excellent high resolutions recordings free of clipping. The reality is that vinyl never had to confine itself to the constraints posed by 16 bit digital audio and quite frankly neither do I unless there is no other choice. Nor do I want to confine myself to the engineering of recordings so that they can be reduced to 16 bit without the degradation because they already had their gain reduced and so the quality of the recording have been pre degraded and thats a real shame. If the gain on the records are high then they are high. That's why descent preamps have the ability to reduce gain. However reducing gain drops detail from the playback. 95% of my transfers worked flawlessly at 24 bits. A few did not. And I'm taking care of those now thanks to some thoughtful advice and pointers other then "you must be doing it wrong" based on preconceptions based on assumptions that experience, at least in this case, contradicts. I'm pleased with the results. That's what counts.

 

[Moderate Dionysianism]

'I can't be bothered to unplug cables and take my TT off the credenza; ergo, there can be no flaw in my setup. In ya face, 16bit digital audio!'

This is pure gold. Kudos to folks trying to talk sense into the OP. Waste of time & pixels I'm afraid.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Okay, so the Yamaha RN 303 does have a MM phono input. The European RN 303D does not. I suppose the OP has the 303D. Which still does not explain the issues he described. May he goeth in peace (IIB).

 

[Leporello]

The reality is that vinyl never had to confine itself to the constraints posed by 16 bit digital audio and quite frankly neither do I unless there is no other choice. Nor do I want to confine myself to the engineering of recordings so that they can be reduced to 16 bit without the degradation because they already had their gain reduced and so the quality of the recording have been pre degraded and thats a real shame. If the gain on the records are high then they are high.

My oh my. Nothing to do with 'gain' at all.

 

[Ageve]

The reality is that vinyl never had to confine itself to the constraints posed by 16 bit digital audio and quite frankly neither do I unless there is no other choice.

I know it’s been repeated several times, but there is something wrong with your setup.

The ”high gain” setting on your turntable is obviously too high, causing digital clipping on the recording. If the sound quality gets worse at lower gain, it’s caused by the budget RIAA preamp in your turntable, not by the digital recorder, regardless of bit depth.

The resolution of audio stored on a vinyl record is nowhere near that of 16-bit PCM. Classical recordings from 1978 or later are almost guaranteed to come from a digital master anyway, and the early ones are all 16-bit (a few may be lower).

 

[Apesbrain]

The ”high gain” setting on your turntable is obviously too high, causing digital clipping on the recording.

Not an uncommon problem with turntables having onboard phono pre-amp. The output is already clipped before it reaches the recorder. Doesn't matter whether connected via analog or USB so long as the phono section is active. Particularly an issue if the original cartridge has been replaced with one having higher output. If possible, a solution may be to replace the cartridge with one having lower output; I seem to recall a cheap A-T MM that was down around 3.5mV which would probably work.

Anyway, OP has solved the problem to his satisfaction so let's move on.

 

[krabapple]

This is the last thing I will write on this subject. My setup and connections are exactly as they should be.

Nope. Something is wrong.

I dealt with the short coming that I have faced and produced excellent high resolutions recordings free of clipping. The reality is that vinyl never had to confine itself to the constraints posed by 16 bit digital audio and quite frankly neither do I unless there is no other choice.

Also wrong. 16 bits imparts no constraints to vinyl, nor to properly digitizing vinyl.

Nor do I want to confine myself to the engineering of recordings so that they can be reduced to 16 bit without the degradation because they already had their gain reduced and so the quality of the recording have been pre degraded and thats a real shame.

More indication of a lack of comprehension.

If the gain on the records are high then they are high.

The 'gain on the records' is never so high that it requires more than 16 bits to digitize.

That's why descent preamps have the ability to reduce gain.

I don't know of any phono preamps that reduce the signal from the TT, do you?

However reducing gain drops detail from the playback. 95% of my transfers worked flawlessly at 24 bits. A few did not. And I'm taking care of those now thanks to some thoughtful advice and pointers other then "you must be doing it wrong" based on preconceptions based on assumptions that experience, at least in this case, contradicts. I'm pleased with the results. That's what counts.

But on ASR what counts is getting the science (the reasons) right. You have not.