Turntable to Digital to get a long run.

Hi All,

this post might expose large holes in my hifi knowledge but here goes....

I have a revived passion for my old records but I have REALLY bouncy floors. Even my windows rattle if I step too hard. I've not tried much isolation yet as it will have to be really effective to work at all. The wall my amp/TV/Speakers are against is stud and so will probably not isolate as much as will be required to remove foot fall problems if I wall mount there.

Plan A is to wall mount with as much foam/springs/rubber etc as possible and hope.... but plan B may also work and be more aesthetic (wife friendly).

I have a really solid wall on the opposite side of the room I could put a shelf on, but I cannot move my Onkyo AV amp and 20m of analogue cable be way too long.

My solution? I use a good ADC to cover to digital then use run a long digital cable (HDMI/COAX/Optical) into my amp? Surely the amp converts the phono analog into digital internally at some stage anyway so if I do it externally and feed it a digital signal what's the difference?

thoughts will be greatly received....

Cheers.

The amp will have analogue pass through for the phono stage so it won't convert a signal going into the phono-stage to digital. But there is nothing wrong with what you are doing, the conversion to digital and back is highly unlikely/impossible to be audible in any way. Don't forget that this has already happened with any record pressed after 1980 (and some before) as the cutting head uses an A2D convertor, true analogue 'purity' is only available from older recordings and pressings.

Cheers Martin, I also figured that because the amp is not valve, it must be essential digital anyway?

There are loads of cheap ADCs on the market - I know DACs vary hugely in quality as do Phono amps but is it the same with ADCs? or is the process simple enough to be handled by less sophisticated kit?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Utterchaos

Cheers Martin, I also figured that because the amp is not valve, it must be essential digital anyway?

There are loads of cheap ADCs on the market - I know DACs vary hugely in quality as do Phono amps but is it the same with ADCs? or is the process simple enough to be handled by less sophisticated kit?

---

No it isn't anything to do with it using valves or not. An amp like the Onkyo is no different from any other solid-state amp. It just has analogue to digital and digital to analogue converters built in. IIRC the Onkyo has a 'direct' switch that will bypass these convertors entirely if you are using an analogue input, say from a tape deck or turntable. In that situation there is no digital conversion going on at all.

I'm not aware of any digital amps on the general market (no doubt somebody will find something obscure to prove me wrong :)). Even Class D/Tripath type amps are not digital, although some seem to think they are.

Class D are no more digital than FM radio for instance, where the waveform envelope is created by a rapidly oscillating/switching signal. SMPS power supplies use something similar too.

Which goes to perfectly highlight my miss-understanding of how Amplifiers work! - I figured transistor=on/off=Digital

So.... my goal should be to stay analogue and try to isolate the deck.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I think it is a hangover from the 1980s when almost everything had 'DIGITAL' plastered all over it as though it meant something profound. Now if it also had 'TURBO' writ large in several places then you were really rocking.

Notice how many headphones (especially cheapo ones) have 'digital' written on them. It's bollocks!

Indeed. In the 1980s I had some Studio Power speakers that were 'DIGITAL', at least according to the writing on the front panel.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by walpurgis

Notice how many headphones (especially cheapo ones) have 'digital' written on them. It's bollocks!

---

I disagree, they are either on your head, or off. :ner:

Incidentally... I just did the "Jurassic Part" test with a glass of water next to my TT. Definitely shockwaves from the smallest of foot falls. But on my TV, which is wall mounted.. none :) so wall mounting looks like It might be ok!

You don't have to use a solid exterior wall to wall mount a turntable. There are suitable fixings available for dry walling.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CageyH

I disagree, they are either on your head, or off. :ner:

---

:rolleyes:





:)

I had footfall issues and a wall mount did the job nicely.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Utterchaos

Incidentally... I just did the "Jurassic Part" test with a glass of water next to my TT. Definitely shockwaves from the smallest of foot falls. But on my TV, which is wall mounted.. none :) so wall mounting looks like It might be ok!

---

Lots of people have turntable shelves attached to stud partition walls and have no problems. Just make sure the thing is secure and can take the weight. If, like me, you are not handy at that sort of thing, get a man in. Can be intrusive to the listening experience if it all comes crashing down halfway through a side. Expensive, too.

Wall mount did wonders for me too. Cost me less than £20 for two angled brackets, a piece of Ply and some heavy duty fixings.

The fixings will probably cost less than 20m of cabling anyway. Problem sorted! (I hope :D)

If you want to put a TT shelf up on an interior wall, I'd suggest going the 'overkill' route. Use the biggest and heftiest fixings you can find. Go in B&Q or wherever and ask what they advise. Cheaper to buy good fixings than replace a smashed TT when the shelf falls off! :)

you will always get footfall with a non solid wall but it doesnt mean it will not work. ive done it in past. some decks obviously are more prone to vibration. if you can put a big baseboard up first it will help as the multi point fixings will spread vibration, and be easier to fit the shelf to it.

Put the TT on the solid wall and use a phono stage next to it. Most will drive 20' of cable no problem (I presume 20M is a typo? If not it's still no problem to drive the cable).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Arkless Electronics

Put the TT on the solid wall and use a phono stage next to it. Most will drive 20' of cable no problem (I presume 20M is a typo? If not it's still no problem to drive the cable).

---

No typo I’m afraid. Will need to go up into attic space, across room and back down. Interconnectors will cost a bit at that length too!!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Utterchaos

No typo I’m afraid. Will need to go up into attic space, across room and back down. Interconnectors will cost a bit at that length too!!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

---

No more than £10-20 if you make some up from cheaply available mic cable, TV coax or similar.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Arkless Electronics

Put the TT on the solid wall and use a phono stage next to it. Most will drive 20' of cable no problem (I presume 20M is a typo? If not it's still no problem to drive the cable).

---

This is correct.
If you're still considering having an A/D converter next to the turntable, I wouldn't advise it. An ADC might be fine when fed with a 1V signal but you would be putting more like 5mV into it, or 0.5mV if you're using an MC cartridge. Most of the bits in the ADC will spend all their life sitting at 0!