Turntable Output Question

[DJ Sunshine]

I recently sold off my entire rig and went with two Stanton ST-150 turntables and a Kontrol Z2. And I absolutely love it. That said, I have a quick question in regards to the output signal of the TTs.

One of my tables has a noticeably louder output. This also shows up in the timecode signal meter in the calibration pane. Both of the tables work fine, and Traktor reads the timecode signal without issue. I'm just curious as to why one would be louder than the other. I can record the timecode signals if needed.

For those familiar with these particular turntables: No, I do not have one of them set to a line output signal. Both are on phono, and utilizing the internal ground. Basically, they're two identical tables, yet one puts out noticeably more signal. Why is this?

[Cook]

could be a few things, Older/degraded cable, your needles, your vinyl, your tonearm settings..

[DJ Sunshine]

Just double checked a few things, and it appears to be coming from my cart/needle. I swapped them out with each other and the loud deck changed. I cleaned it off as best I can, and recalibrated both turntables. It's still louder, by a noticeable amount. Cables are brand new, vinyl is a little dicey but still tracks fine.

The carts/needles are identical, what could be causing one to be louder than the other?

[Cook]

worn needles, loose wiring in the cart, bad connections

[mdcdesign]

There's another possibility, and that's that the cartridges may not be of the same type. There are two distinct types; moving coil and moving magnet... moving coil cartridges are better at tracking because the coil (attached to the needle) is typically lighter than a magnet. The downside to this is that the voltage output by the cartridge is lower, and therefore the volume is lower.

Check that both cartridges are of the same type, and if necessary, replace one or other.