Just a shot in the dark... are you sure it isn't your mixer? :-\

id go through the whole troubleshooting process..... plug that table in on both sides of your mixer, switch needles on your turntables, etc.... see if the problem persists and that will tell you exactly where the problem is..... then go from there

I have repaired a few vestax mixers before and found that
the inputs were the problem. Some of them just needed new solder
but sometimes its the input plug it self which needs to be replaced.Try moving the left turntable to the right and right to left. this will tell you right away. If you suspect your turntables plug a cd player to your mixer and switch to line to confirm

If it's affecting SSL it can't be the mixer - because the signal goes straight from the TT to SSL. Or am I missing something?

Thanks for your feedback guys. I have tried everything you have suggested so it must be the turntable. The mixer doesn't have to do anything with the signal SSL receives, it is only for receiving the sound. Shitty how a turntable so new can be fucked up! The sound isn't really distorted with regular vinyl but it is enough to screw up the signal a lot.

This might be a stupid and obvious question, but are your turntables properly grounded? In other words, have you connected the ground cables from your TTs to your mixer?

Just my two cents...

Yes, they are properly grounded. I even tried switching the ground cords. Thanks for the suggestion Revolutionary!

check connections rca cables, sometimes the problem is there!

Thanks BassChamber. I've checked those things, don't know what the deal is.

switching the faders on my mixer helped my SSL alot.. so I dont know why that is.. but it helped

Thanks yuri, but that could only help the sound output if I had a problem with my faders. My circle is pretty fucked up and distorted.

well it allowed me to turn my threshhold much lower than before.. and it cleaned up my signal a bit.. like i said i dont know why, but it did

It seems that the signal was being distorted from RF interference from my wireless mouse, only affecting the turntable it was closest to. I could hear crunchy digital distortion sounds from the speakers with the needle off the record when I touched the turntable or wires. I unplugged the mouse, the distortion went away and the circles went back to normal. The crazy thing is now with the mouse plugged backed in I'm not getting the interference any longer. I have had trouble in the past with my audio interface picking up interference even from a large digital clock. SL is pre mixer so the mixer only can only make a difference in the sound output. I set up my mixer pre SL and could boast the signal but it didn't perform any better. It was fun making the circles change sizes though. I suppose the stylus sound output makes a difference because it puts out the frequency at a higher level? Still no really sure if that even plays a large role in performance.

Wow...

Actually the interface I get with my Tascam US-428 is also intermittent. I think my powered speakers may even pick up some. I sometimes wonder if the airplanes that fly over my apartment may also be a problem. I live very close to the airport. I have also gotten distortion from static build up on my turntables at times. I think that Vestax's probably get build up being plastic. I wish that Technics made a turntable with the same features!

I once got a German radio station on my mixer. Sucked...

I've picked up some radio interference before but it was just local radio. Crazy you picked up radio from so far away, must have been short wave. Could be a cool effect in your mixers (LOL). You can run your mixer pre and post SL at the same time by running one of the turntables outputs to one of the mixer's phono inputs, then run the audio out from the mixer into one of SL's inputs. At this point run one of SL's outputs into the other channel on your mixer. This way you can boast the gain of the turntable (making bigger circles) and still hear the audio from SL when switched to the corresponding channel. (Just in case you didn't understand what I was saying) I don't notice any increase of performance with SL with the signal boasted however. Could one of you Serato guys please fill me in on how big of a role a higher cartridge output can affect the performance of SL? The general consensus of the forum seems to be that it doesn't really make a big difference, but just wanted to clear this up. Thanks!

Make sure to adjust the mixers output with the master gain control and to run SL's output line as you usually would. Adjusting the master gain kind of has a cool effect on the circles. It's cool how the signals respond to record movement and scratches. It would be awesome if there was special visual software made to interact with record movement. Then you could project it during performances. This would take one hell of a computer and money that I don't have, but it's a cool idea. Still interested in controlling video too...

I think the higher cartridge output allows the signal to be read clearer when the record is moving at slow speeds (like a rub). The faster you move the record, the stronger the signal will be. But with a higher output cartridge, the signal will still be strong.

Thanks for the feedback 3pm! I would really like to know how big a role this plays when scratching...