Turntable to PC

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 29 Oct 2001 4:26 am

Hello All,
Will this work? Connect up a turntable
directly into 'line-in' on the PC soundcard,
without 1st going thru an amp/receiver. Will there be sound thru the PC speaker system?
I want to record some LP's to CD and I'm trying to figure the less painful way to bring this about.

Dave Alfstad · Post by **Dave Alfstad** » 29 Oct 2001 5:58 am

No, it won't work that way. You need to go through an amplifier first. Hook your turntable up to your amplifier like you normally would. Then use a cord with two RCA jacks on one end and a 1/8 inch stereo plug on the other. Hook this cable from the tape (record) output of your amplifier to the soundcard line in. Not hard to do at all.

Dave Alfstad

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 29 Oct 2001 6:39 am

Thanks Dave, I had a feeling the amp would be necessary; and really, that is no problem.
It's just I got everything crammed in tight and backed up to the wall, and so getting to the back of the units will take some moving, twisting and juggling. I appreciate the input
Dave.
ChipsAhoy

Bobby Lee · Post by **Bobby Lee** » 29 Oct 2001 9:34 pm

The problem is that the response curve of a phone cartridge is very odd. The electronics in the amplifier counter-act that curve to get flat reproduction.

I suppose that could be done with software, but I've never seen it as an option in any programs that I've used.

Dave Boothroyd · Post by **Dave Boothroyd** » 30 Oct 2001 12:44 am

It's not the response of the cartridge that causes the main problem, Bob.
If a vinyl record was cut with a flat EQ, the louder bass notes would cause a wider side to side movement of the cutter than the space between one groove and the next.
So the needle would skip during playback. The mastering engineers apply a heavy bass cut to the EQ before cutting, and the pre amp in the playback equipment puts it back to normal.
The EQ settings are done according to a series of numbers defined by the RIAA, and usually referred to as the RIAA curve.
Some mastering houses are MUCH better at this than others!

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 30 Oct 2001 3:22 am

A turntable has a much lower output level. Along with the RIAA curve, the phono input or preamp in a stereo system has a higher gain. Most sound cards do not have satisfactory gain for directly connecting a phono.

I just bought a new Teac turntable as my 20 year old one went belly up and it has a switchable internal preamp so I can hook it directly to something such as the line in on my PC.

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 30 Oct 2001 3:25 am

Ah, This is very interesting. I should probably download the LP song to a program
like GOLDWAVE ? I haven't explored it extensively, but I think GW can
delete some vinyl 'pops', 'scratches', and
'hisses' etc.?
Thanks, Dave and b0b.
Chip

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 30 Oct 2001 3:56 am

Thanks, too, Jack. Our posts crossed, I guess.

Tommy Mc · Post by **Tommy Mc** » 2 Nov 2001 1:32 pm

Chip, I have done this LP to CD stuff, and tried a few prgrams. The one that I like best for cleaning scratches and pops is Depopper. http://www.droidinfo.com.br/software/depopper/index.html

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 2 Nov 2001 3:07 pm

Thanks Tommy Mc, I'll check out Depoppers.
Since I first posted this thread, I have plugged the turntable into a very good quality JVC dual cassette tapedeck. The quality of a recording I made was quite good. I know it will be a second-generation bounce if I go from cassette,now, to CD. But grabbing the music from cassette, rather than
the turntable, should be easier.

Actually, seeing that the cassetted song is now going to a digital format, there really shouldn't be any loss on the CD. Have I got this right?

Thanks everyone,

ChipsAhoy

Tommy Mc · Post by **Tommy Mc** » 6 Nov 2001 4:43 pm

Chip, given a choice, I wouldn't introduce the extra hiss and degradation by using the cassette as an intermediary. Can't you get a line out off your turntable? Check out this website for how to do it, and also take a gander at the line-in box. http://www.angelfire.com/vt2/tommymc3/CD-R#quiz4 also: http://www.angelfire.com/vt2/tommymc3/LPtoCDR.html
Another real good site dedicated to LP to hard disk that I found helpful: http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~abcomp/lp-cdr.htm [This message was edited by Tommy Mc on 07 November 2001 at 12:51 PM.]

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 6 Nov 2001 7:34 pm

Tommy Mc,
Thanks again so much for your help. Actually
what my problem was, right from the git-go,
was that I did not have those certain 'Y'
connectors and adapters to properly set-up the whole deal.
Since this post, and EWESGUISE advice, I think I have found NERVE-VANNAH. I'll let you know. Thanks again fellow 4ums.

chipsahoy

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 8 Nov 2001 8:41 am

Well everyone,
Here's what I did. I resurrected an old,
but in-good-shape, Kenwood reciever I had
in a workshed in my backyard. Dusted it off,
and it is now being used solely to power the
turntable; so turntable 'OUT' to 'IN' on the Kenwood; 'OUT' from Kenwood via RCA cables
to stereo "Y" splitter to 1/8" minijack to
'IN' on soundcard. From 'OUT' on soundcard
to 'IN' on JVC dual cassette recorder. BINGO.

Just finished up recording an old Dillards LP, "Wheatstraw Suite"......without any sound enhancing yet, the quality is really excellent, considering the LP is probably 20-25 years old [but in good shape].

One thing that I noticed when recording [any sound source, doesn't matter]is that I have to unplug the 'OUT' cable from the cassette
recorder to the 'IN' on the PC [soundcard].

I can't get level settings, otherwise. The level indicator lights get extremely pegged and a high shrill whistle [feedback?] comes out of the speakers. Once disconnected, volume increases and is clearer and recording settings can now be set.

With all this expensive gear, you would think
they could have installed an auto-noisegate on the line-out signal???......so you don't hafta plug and unplug cables everytime you want to record.

Anyway, thanks everyone for the tips. I'm up and running and pretty satisfied with the outcome.

ChipsAhoy

Larry Bell · Post by **Larry Bell** » 8 Nov 2001 9:29 am

Chip,
Some soundcards include a mixer program that allows the user to mute selected sources. This avoids having to unplug anything. I know the Soundblaster Platinum series soundcards have this feature.

I HATE crawling around behind my computer to make make connections. Another cool feature of the SB Live Platinum is a patch panel on the FRONT (drive bay) of the PC system unit. That's a GREAT IMPROVEMENT for me.

FWIW

------------------
Larry Bell - email: larry@larrybell.org - gigs - Home Page
2000 Fessenden S-12 8x8, 1969 Emmons S-12 6x6, 1971 Emmons D-10 9x9, 1971 Dobro

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 9 Nov 2001 3:30 pm

Thanks for that tip, Larry. I have 2 PCs
now; that are sort of networked. The Gateway
has a Soundblaster MP3+ card installed, but
the other PC, Hewlitt-Packard just has the
stock factory card. I've been running all
this thru the HP. I'm kind of keeping the
GW for backup/storage.

I'm shying away at the moment from buying anymore PC stuff, cause I already have plenty of stuff sitting around that just doesn't work right...like wasted money. I had such a problem trying to get an HP 4100
flatbed scanner to work with HP PC, that I
decided to hook it back up to the GW, where it previously worked before. The GW's OS is
WIN98 and the HP's OS is WIN ME.

Anyway, I'll poke around more, and see if there isn't a place on the PC to shutdown the cassette's 'OUT' jack. Thanks again for the help, Larry.

ChipsAhoy

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 10 Nov 2001 3:56 am

Just click on the "Volume Control" ( a speaker icon in the lower right on most PC's) and you can mute/un-mute any input.

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 10 Nov 2001 6:41 am

Jack,
I have "Y" splitters on the 'IN' to the HP.
One is the cassette recorder, and another is the turntable. If I mute the line
'IN', I won't be able to here what I'm doing
when setting levels, right? I gotta here it.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 10 Nov 2001 8:26 am

Right. Get a small Radio Shack switch box (They either have two in and one out (stereo) or three in and one out, I forget). Then you don't have to worry about muting anything, just hit the switch.

Chip Fossa · Post by **Chip Fossa** » 10 Nov 2001 9:07 am

Thanks Jack,
There are 5 RadioShacks right in my area,
and I'm well known in all of them. I have a sizeable investment in more patch cords, cables, Y splitters, female this, male that,
and on and on, from RS......well, what the
hay....what's one more gizmo.
I'll see if I can't get one today. It will
make recording life simpler. Thanks again.

ChipsAhoy