Ableton's Ultility as a phono preamp

trypset · Post by **trypset** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 4:26 am

I saw it mentioned somewhere else but I thought I would post it again.

When I bought Ms. Pinky I was mainly wanting the vinyl and the VST. I did however buy phono preamps....BBE FJB-200's, and was very dissapointed. The power to them is not constant and the grounding and build quality is poor. They send a very unreliable signal.....

So in Live I plugged my 1200's directly into my Edirol FA-101 soundcard, set a Utility plug before the Pinky VST, adjusted all the dB settings and I have it working better than I did with the pre amps.

I know this isn't for everyone but it is working great for me and requires less to setup and bring to a gig. Thanks!

TheMightyAlbatross · Post by **TheMightyAlbatross** » Wed May 12, 2010 7:34 am

word, I'm looking forward to testing this out

monosylabik · Post by **monosylabik** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 3:56 am

You'll also need to add the RIAA EQ curve that a real preamp adds. I made an EQ8 preset for this purpose, it probably isn't 100% accurate, but gets the job done.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2497376/RIAA_curvish.zip

Cvg · Post by **Cvg** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 8:22 pm

Has anyone had success using a USB deck with no external mixer in ableton? I have my numark TTX usb running into a track in Ableton with the Pinky VST. The signal meter shows good signal, but the record icon is not spinning. My thought was to use ableton and my apc as the mixer. This set works fine for me in the Maxi stand alone, but not in the VST. Thoughts?

Post by **dlpinkstah** » Mon Jun 28, 2010 10:48 pm

Prolly just a signal routing problem in Ableton.

Pinky VST requires (1) stereo pair of audio input and (1) stereo pair of audio output channels. In Ableton audio preferences, select your audio device, and then under “Input Conﬁg” be sure to disable all mono inputs. Only enable stereo input channels. Similarly, under “Output Conﬁg” disable all mono outputs, leaving only stereo output channels. Instantiate Pinky VST on an empty audio channel. Do not insert any effects before Pinky VST (except perhaps the preamp as discussed previously in this forum). In the audio track where Pinky VST lives, under “Audio From”, select the STEREO input pair corresponding to the inputs to which youʼve connected your turntable or CD player. Select Monitor-->In, and under “Audio To”, select the STEREO output pair corresponding to the outputs to which youʼve connected your DJ mixer/sound reinforcement system.

Also be sure to read all the way through the "Quick_start.pdf" file that comes with the Pinky VST.

trypset · Post by **trypset** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 1:46 pm

just wanted to add

barely used 1200 MK5 with Shure M44g's....run into 2 stereo pairs of an Edirol FA-101...run into ableton.

on each track in ableton there is an EQ* with an RIAA curve supplied in another thread, and then Pinky VST is set to -55db.

My error metric is .2-.3 constantly. Is this spot on?

Post by **dlpinkstah** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 6:48 pm

Error metric of 0.2 - 0.3 is pretty good. Sounds like it's working fine!

dennisrcao · Post by **dennisrcao** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 8:51 am

hi there, could anyone send me an ableton 8 file that you made that successfully amplifies the output so that the max4live ms pinky object can read it with little error? I've been messing around with the utility and EQ parameters but I don't think Ive got it quite adjusted.
I would like to test this compared to a phono preamp and see which I like better.

This would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

trypset · Post by **trypset** » Sat Feb 19, 2011 1:46 pm

look 3 or so post above this one

Ableton's Ultility as a phono preamp

Utility vs phono preamp?