For discussion about setting up your studio and advice on the gear and equipment within it.
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By Xandre Wed Feb 07, 2018 5:55 am
Hey y'all, wondering if anyone can help me out here...

I have a pretty typical DJ setup going on but the sound seems to only be coming from the R side, it also lacks bass. I'm using a brand new Numark M2 mixer so that shouldn't be the culprit and I also bought a new stylus. I never bought a new cartridge, though! My turntables are 17 years old. I'm running a long RCA to RCA cable with an RCA to single TRS 1/4" jack converter into a Line In on my Mackie 1402 VLZ Pro. Everything in my DAW is set up correctly but the sound is still very subpar.

At this point I'm suspecting it might be my old turntables. Anyone know how long they should last typically? I'm also suspecting the issue might be a need of new turntable cartridges. As I said, I replaced the styli but not the cartridges and they are very old. As a longtime amateur/bedroom DJ, I feel I should know what's wrong, but so far the poor sound issue has persisted. Any tips would be dope, thanks.
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By Sharris Wed Feb 07, 2018 8:02 pm
I would do some trouble shooting, like test 1 or 2 things at a time....... it could be the cables as well........maybe start with hooking the turntables up to the mixer & use headphones in the mixer.....then you can at least mark a few things off the list.....maybe also try hooking something else up to the mixer, if it works you would know somethings wrong with the turntable or the cable going from the tt to the mixer. I normally start with trying out different cables then go from there, 1 by 1 to narrow down the possibilities.
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By Sharris Wed Feb 07, 2018 8:06 pm
I'm not saying that your old turntables are not the issue, but I still have a set of turntables I bought 20 years ago & they sound fine.
By vout Sun Feb 11, 2018 12:45 am
From your description it's not clear how you have everything connected. Assuming that the Mackie is your main mixer connected to your DAW, then it should be stereo rca out from the turntable to stereo turntable input on the Numark M2 (input set to Phono) then a stereo rca out from the Numark (Master or Record outs) to two jack line input channels on the Mackie panned L & R. Turntable outputs are unbalanced so you should not need balanced (TRS) connectors anywhere on that signal path.