Hi- The Bellari vp530 is a good unit. I don't remember their models exactly, but they make phono preamps with USB and tube output. At least one with both.
As far as the RIAA curve: if you are going digital, there is a lot of software around that will apply the RIAA curve for you to your file, and good software will do it better and more accurately than just about ANY hardware phono preamp. So what I recommend is: get a phono pre that gives you the option of turning off the RIAA curve for recording purposes - Bellari actually makes one like that (you can of course use it for vinyl playback with the RIAA curve turned on). Then: 1. Record without the RIAA curve 2. Get rid of or reduce major pops, clicks, and noises. 3. Apply RIAA curve with software. 4. Listen. If you think it sounds good you are done with the audio forensics. What's left is tagging, splitting tracks, etc. If you thing the file needs further processing, do it. I personally find that automatic tools can work well if you apply very light processing. Example: I don't try to get rid of all the hiss, I just try to reduce it so it isn't so noticeable. Same for pops and clicks. I just try to reduce volume with automatic tools, not eliminate them. I find that with this approach I don't ruin the sound of my recordings, only improve them. Software: Adobe Audition is good. I use Diamond Cut. It does a great job applying the RIAA curve, by the way. The interesting thing about transferring vinyl to digital is that if you do a good job, the resulting digital tracks sound like analogue. Sort of shows that "digital sounding" recordings are due to something other than the inherent nature of digital. -- firedog GIK Acoustics Room Treatments. Tranquil PC fanless server running Vortexbox OS; SB Touch slaved to Empirical Audio Pace Car; MF X-DAC-V3, MF X-150 as pre-amp, Grant Fidelity B-283MKII buffer>ClassDaudio SDS-470 amp; Devore Gibbon Super 8 Speakers; Dual 506 + Ortofon M20 (occasional use); sometimes use PC with M-Audio 192 as digital source. SB Boom in second room. Arcam CD82 which I don't use anymore, even though it's a very good player. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ firedog's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=11550 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=93265 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
