Cart and preamp comparison.

I recently upgraded some equipment and figured it'd be fun to do a comparison. Above you have two recordings of the drums from ZZ Top's It's Only Love. One recorded through a Cambridge 550 mm preamp that has been paired with an Audio Technica AT440Mla cartridge. And the other through a Schiit Mani mm/mc preamp paired with a Denon Dl-110 cartridge. Both recording were ran from the turntable, to the preamp and through my MPC 2500 and then transfered to my computer via compact flash. I looped the recordings to alternate between A and B, A being the first one, B being the second. I have listened to these recording through my computer speakers and I have listened to them through my headphones and I must strongly urge you to use monitors before casting your vote. I will reveal which recording is which after a day or so. Have fun.

I only listened through headphones but I prefer A. The balance seemed a bit wonky between the two, with the panning moving left to right.

That would be because with the Cambridge I had the wiring backwards. I should have just wired it backwards for the Schiit as well when I recorded it, but I didn't.

Schiit and Denon was the first one Cambridge and At440 number 2.