The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hello everyone!

A while back, I got a turntable for my Birthday. The Numark TTXUSB. I'm very happy with it, and last week I started to transfer some 78s via USB to my computer, and to my surprise, the USB worked very well (I'll leave a couple of examples below), until I got to E for Edison. I reversed the ground leads on my cartridge and tried to record it. From what I can hear it sounds ok, but it's very low, so I tried to amplify the sound in Audacity. I have done the same with 78s to make them a bit louder, but the only thing that got amplified when I did it with a Diamond Disc was the surface noise. Anyone that knows what I can do to make sound louder so I can actually hear the recording? Any help will be greatly appreciated!

An acoustic Brunswick:
https://www.box.com/s/223cc9d9434622f27b75

An electric Columbia:
https://www.box.com/s/bc46ee681f0889e65107

Are you using a stylus of the proper shape?

I'm using the stylus that came with the cartridge (Shure M78S).
Not sure what the specifications are, but I think it is a 2,5 mil.

Paal.

Paal,

A 2.5 mil should be OK for diamond discs, sometimes I use even a small LP stylus, sometimes a 4 mil stylus. The low levels are a problem for the reasons you mentioned. I've had great results using two programs to help with this: Click Repair and De Noise, you can google them and get a free trial. Diamond Discs can be tricky also because there is sometimes a "thump" that can be heard from Edison's usual variations in quality control. De Noise has helped me a lot with that. Give it a try and see what you think, it takes some practice, but once you get used to both programs, I think you'll really be pleased with them (works great with regular 78s too!)

Sean

Sean,

I tried an LP cartridge, and I could actually hear the music clearly. I didn't rewire it as all the wires are hidden inside, so I tried to switch to vertical cut digitally, like Norman posted here on the forum a few years ago. And it actually sounded rather nice!
It's late evening here, so I'll try out the software over the weekend! I know I have some DDs that could use some filtering!
Thanks!

Paal