01-Feb-2015, 11:06
It occurs to me that maybe this is all absolutely normal? An MC cartridge has a very low output, vastly lower than you would get from any other source. Hence the gain on the phono input is vastly greater than for any other input. So there will be some noise. I tried this on my set up, and with relatively high sensitivity speakers and the amp set to -9dB you can hear the normal hiss. It is not loud as such, but yes, it's noticeable. Actually playing vinyl at -9dB would be very high volume indeed, normal volume with my set up and vinyl would be maybe -17dB. Long term at -9dB I would probably go deaf assume the police didn't arrive first to confiscate my gear. So maybe this is just one of those things, the noise floor is higher with vinyl than for digital. It is generally reckoned that the phono stage is better when set to 96kHz, rather than 192kHz (set in the advanced phono stage settings), this is because the 96kHz setting is a little quieter and does not offer any perceptible loss in sound quality. Might be worth a try if you happen to be set at 192kHz.
Do you actually notice the noise during normal vinyl playback? If not, maybe there is nothing to worry about. Although I know myself that it is very easy to get a little obsessed with these things. HiFi can mess with the mind!
Do you actually notice the noise during normal vinyl playback? If not, maybe there is nothing to worry about. Although I know myself that it is very easy to get a little obsessed with these things. HiFi can mess with the mind!
