Hi new to forum. A few months ago I upgraded from an
Echo Mona to a Forte. At the time I wanted something that could be used with a laptop for possible mobile recording.
Mostly I recording vinyl (needle drops) @ 24/96. 192 is too much processing with no auditable difference.
First I tried the
Echo 2. It was very noisy when connected to preamp but recorded well. In the end I didn’t like the clunkyness of the controls and exchanged it for the Forte. I am familiar issues with noisy usb cards. When I plug it in to my Preamp it creates a kind of mild ground loop noise and a swishing or ocean sound that can be heard when at loud levels or if ear is near tweeters during quiet parts.
I recently made some big analog upgrades VPI Scout TT Project Tubebox DS phono stage and a low output MC cartridge. The Low output cartridge unmasked noise. I have tweaked much of it out but I’m still not completely happy. I am thinking part if not all of my problem is the usb connection.
I estimate that with my recent upgrades the Forte @ 24/96 only sounds about 80% of how the vinyl sounds. Ultimately I’m going to replace the Forte if I can’t tweak it any more.
I’m interested in how other users deal with noise issues.