Is this thing on? wrote:I try to cut-out any circuitry that will 'colour' the sound before it gets recorded.
...but all circuits and thus all units, color the sound, to a degree, for better or worse. Especially if we're talking conversion (ad/da or vice versa). A good amp will color much less than a good compressor, as an example. But, I agree, less is better. Often you can't really skip the amp though, unless the signal is already at optimal level, which usual turntable outs aren't.
And pre-amps ( on the whole ) are only there to get the signal to a power amp without deteriorating, not really needed if you just want to record a sound.
Honestly, there's some truth in this, but not as clear as maybe it should be. Pre-amps are actually definitely needed for recording, in most cases, or you wouldn't have a usable level to record. Not only that, but they're often needed when matching gain stages, and/or matching line or mic levels for optimal s/n ratios. Power amps don't really have much to do with it, in most cases. Imagine trying to send unbalanced rca signals from a turntable without phono preperation or a condenser mic without 48V into a -10 or +4 system, stripped with no amp (Opamps. Preamps, or any kind of amp). You'll end up with something just above (or level with) the noise floor, that cannot be brought to a clean ratio, at all.....and when dealing with phono amps, you'd probably be lucky to get even that. You will not get optimal gain (headroom and nice s/n ratios), instead you'll get a low signal (if even audible enough).....with a cloud of induced noise. God forbid one tries to normalize such a signal.
And shielded rca connectors won't combat such noise, induced by low levels (and thus poor s/n), especially since the shielding does not stop inducted noise due to them being inheritage unbalanced -- and even if they were balanced and using the finest cable in the world, that still wouldn't stop op-mechanical-noise in your track caused by poor recording levels.
