Phono Stage with Two Line-outs

The Tascam is a CD-RW5000, which is getting a little long-in-the-tooth, but still works quite well. I use it to make CD's for the car and I'm not too picky about ultimate fidelity, so will probably continue to use it 'til it quits. When recording from a CD I, of course, do that directly via coax.

I had thought of using splitters, but I'm never sure when it's OK to do so. That would be worth a shot now that I know I won't blow anything up! I noticed that the Jolidas also have a high and low output.

Well, that gives me a bit more to work with. Thanks Al.  

I found the manual for the recorder here.  As you can see on page 23, the unbalanced analog input is spec’d based on a nominal input level of -10 dbV, which is about 316 mv, that in turn allowing 16 db of headroom relative to the 2 volt clipping level of that input.

The 39 db gain of the Quasar’s low level output will boost the 1.6 mv nominal output of your cartridge (under the standard test conditions) to 143 mv.  Particularly loud transients on some recordings may of course exceed the standard test conditions significantly.

143 mv is about 7 db less than the 316 mv the recorder is nominally spec’d to work with.  The manual for the recorder indicates that when the input level control is at the 2 o’clock position the signal level is neither boosted nor cut, so I would expect that you could raise the position of the control enough to provide 7 db of additional gain.  I have no way of being certain, though, as to whether the recorder’s noise performance would still be good at that higher setting, although 7 db of additional gain doesn’t seem like a great deal.

So I think that there is a reasonably good chance that approach would work out.  But if it doesn’t, using a splitter on the Quasar's high level output, such as this one, should work well in this particular case.

As I said initially, though, I have no knowledge of the Quasar’s sonics.    

Good luck, however you decide to proceed.  Regards,
-- Al

I appreciate your efforts, Al. That splitter looks like a much better way to go than the typical y-cables I had in mind. Thank you very much.

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.