You may need a preamp: “A turntable preamp or pre-amp is a small electronic circuit that will amplify the very small electrical signal coming out of a cartridge. It brings the cartridge signal up to an electrical level that is equal to the audio output of a CD player, tape deck or DVD player. The symptom that you will experience if you do not have a preamp is that the sound from your player will be about 10% of your other components. Some modern turntables have a built-in pre-amp. This means you can plug it into any audio input except one that is labeled phono! These turntables are usually not well built, overall. If you have an older player and a receiver or amp that has a phono input then you must use that input. If you have an older player and a modern receiver/amp with no input labeled ‘phono’ or if you are taking your player output directly into a computer sound card, that’s when you must get a separate turntable preamp.”