Phono Stage with Two Line-outs

If I understand your requirements correctly, the new Musical Fidelity MX-VINL may very well meet your requirements precisely. It supports two separate switch-selectable phono inputs, one balanced (Mini-XLR/DIN) and one unbalanced (RCA), and also features two outputs, again one fully balanced XLR and one unbalanced RCA, both of which are powered at the same time. It also features selectable MM/MC cartridge loading (which I find to be essential) and an external power supply. Retail is $999.

I've found no reviews of the MX-VINL yet, but it looks like a sweet unit and an excellent value. It is generally available in the US. FWIW, I've been using its predecessor, the MF M1-ViNL in a demanding and highly analytical studio application for several years and I've been very satisfied with its performance. I suspect you'd have to spend several times the price of the MX-VINL to obtain any appreciable improvement in overall performance.

Hi lp2cd,
I think you’ve got something there. I’ll have to check into the output specs of the MX-VYNL and check compatibility with the inputs on the W4S and Tascam, but I do have balanced and unbalanced inputs on both, so there’s an excellent chance that may just be the ticket. Thank you for your input.

By the way, are the outputs on your M1-VINL also simultaneously active? I may want to get one of those.

Linn Linto has 2 line outs.  And I think it sounds very good too.  

Linn Linto has 2 line outs.  And I think it sounds very good too. 

It would not be suitable, though, for use with a high output cartridge such as the OP's DL-160, as its gain, input impedance, and input capacitance are all only suitable for use with LOMCs.  Also, often (and probably more often than not) components providing two sets of line-level output jacks drive both sets of jacks from the same output stage, and simply jumper the two sets of jacks together inside the rear panel.  Which would be little different than using a pair of the splitters I linked to above on a single pair of output jacks.

Regards,
-- Al
 

Interesting suggestion by LP2CD, which does indeed look promising.  The one question I would have, which would not be a show-stopper regardless of the answer, is if the XLR and RCA outputs are driven from separate output stages.  That is not stated anywhere in the manual or at the website, and in many cases components providing both kinds of outputs simply wire the signal pin on the RCA connector directly to one of the two signal pins on the XLR connector.

That wouldn’t be a major issue in this case, assuming the unit’s unspecified output impedance is not unusually high, but it would be nice to know if the two sets of connectors are separately driven.  If not, the consequence would be that the balanced connection would be slightly unbalanced, as a result of the differing loads on its two signals.  Which in turn would to some degree reduce the noise rejection and perhaps other advantages the balanced connection would otherwise be able to provide.  That would be especially true if the balanced connection were used for the main signal path and the RCA connection for the recorder, given the recorder’s low 10K input impedance (the W4S preamp has a 60K input impedance).

But regardless of that answer, as I said the MX-VYNL looks like a very promising candidate.

Regards,
--Al