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[Michael Czeiszperger <michael AT czeiszperger.org>]

On Jul 24, 2006, at 11:10 AM, zman wrote:

> I don't see
> where you get that the gain being different would adversely affect the
> sound unless it was so hot it was distorting.

Turntable output isn't close enough to line level:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line-level

If the turntable doesn't have a built-in preamp, its just putting out  
a very low signal in the 5mV range, while a consumer-level input is  
expecting -10dB.  On top of that there's an impedance mismatch which  
induces a nasty filtering effect that would be difficult to get rid  
of by post-processing.

Yes, you can just turn up the gain, and I'm no audiophile by any  
stretch of the imagination, but most people would agree that it  
sounds terrible.

That's why they sell turntable pre-amps, which match the signal  
levels and fixes the frequency response:

http://www.zzounds.com/item--ARTDJRPRE

BSEE '87.

___________________________________________________________________
Michael Czeiszperger
Chapel Hill, NC
michael AT czeiszperger.org