Mixxx documentation has long recommended using a phono preamplifier before analog-to-digital conversion for timecode vinyl control. I am questioning whether a phono preamp that undoes the RIAA equalization of vinyl records is really necessary or if any preamp that provides sufficient gain will work for timecode. Please correct me if I am misunderstanding anything here.
RIAA equalization is applied to music vinyl in the process of cutting the vinyl. The equalization does not change how a DJ's manipulation of the playback of a record affects the audio signal coming out of the turntable. It is this manipulation of the playback of timecode that Mixxx interprets. Furthermore, the Serato timecode is just a 1 kHz sine wave, which happens to be where the RIAA EQ curve is flat. Even if it weren't for that coincidence, EQing a pure sine wave wouldn't matter because EQ adjusts the relative amounts of different frequencies in a signal. So, for the purposes of timecode control, RIAA EQ seems irrelevant and a turntable playing timecode could be hooked up to any sound card input that has plenty of gain. Of course, if a music vinyl was recorded through a sound card input without RIAA EQ, that EQ would have to be applied digitally after recording to make it sound good (which Audacity can do easily). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Command Line: Reinvented for Modern Developers Did the resurgence of CLI tooling catch you by surprise? Reconnect with the command line and become more productive. Learn the new .NET and ASP.NET CLI. Get your free copy! http://sdm.link/telerik _______________________________________________ Get Mixxx, the #1 Free MP3 DJ Mixing software Today http://mixxx.org Mixxx-devel mailing list Mixxx-devel@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/mixxx-devel
