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Difference in sound using different carts when digitizing vinyl record?

Hello A'goners .......

I hope I am posting it in the right forum!

Here is my question - this is a hypothetical situation - if I digitize my vinyl record  while the record is played using any cart (cart #1) and then again play and digitize the same record using a different cart (cart #2), am I going to hear any sound difference typically attributed to two different carts? Everything else remain same in both cases i.e. the turntable, phono stage, DAC, preamp, amp, speakers, and all cables. The software to digitize is the same with identical setting. 

Did anyone of you do this or similar experiment? I am curious to know.

I bought a Sweetvinyl Sugarcube SC-1. I am wondering because of the conversion to A to D and then again D to A, it there a possibility that the sound differences from different carts are not so significant anymore?  Right now I do not have two carts, so can not do the experiment myself and report the results here. That is why I am asking the question and hoping to get some reasonable answers.  Please pardon my lack of technical knowledge.  

I would appreciate if we stay focused on the topic while discussing this. I do not want a debate of why I or anyone wants to convert analog to digital or one format is better sounding than the other.

Thanks and have a good day :)
 


128x128confuse_upgraditis
chakster's avatar
chakster
2,482 posts
 
@wcfeil

In fact an excellent table/arm and average cartridge will outperform an average table/arm and excellent cartridge all day long.

@inna

Yes, table itself is the most important element, then arm, then cartridge. And the interaction between them all, of course.



No way. Your arm or turntable has nothing to do with vinyl grooves. If you can not get the information from the vinyl groove (with a decent stylus profile and cartridge generator) then better tonearm or better turntable motor will not help you at all.

And if you already have a decent turntable and tonearm then change an average cartridge to a decent cartridge and the difference will be more than EVER before. Cartridge is the most important, but i’m not talking about some awful turntables here or plastic tonearms. Surely the arm and turntable is also important, but not as much as the cartridge. As an average turntable we can speak about old Technics SL1200mkII for example (with it’s average $150 tonearm), but put a decent cartridge on this turntable and it will be the biggest improvement.





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sleepwalker65's avatar
sleepwalker65
486 posts
 
@chakster I agree with you. The biggest limiting factor is the cartridge and stylus profile. My experience with going from a very good low end MM cartridge with bonded elliptical stylus (AT95E) to a mid-range MM cartridge with nude mount line contact stylus Audio-Technica (VM540ML) on the SL-1700mk2 (same motor/platter/tonearm, but vastly superior chassis) is exactly as you stated.

@orpheus10 the notion that a twice processed signal has in your words “absolutely no difference” after being sampled, digitized, stored and the converted back to analog makes no sense at all. How do you account for the staircase effect?
chakster's avatar
chakster
2,482 posts
 
@wcfeil 

You're a rookie 

Yes, i am a rookie, this is my amateur system with SP-10mk2 + Reed 3p + Glanz 61 and here is some more turntables and arms that i'm using. I have enough tonearms and carts to say that the cartridge is more important (but i don't use shite tonearms, maybe this is my problem). But my collection of cartridges is pretty big to say how important is the cartridge and how big is the difference between an average cart and a decent cart. In my opinion it is such a stupid idea to use bad cartridge on a good tonearm to believe that the arm is more important. However, i've never said that a good cartridge is the most expensive one (same about tonearms or turntables). Good luck    

wcfeil
464 posts
 
Well, when you’ve owned over 100 tables, 75 arms, and hundreds of cartridges over a 60 year span then we can talk. 

I forgot more than you’ve learned. 

I won’t debate you further. It’s obviously wasted time. 
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