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Thread: Hooking a turntable to a PC |
    
New member Username: Madcow1515
Post Number: 4
Registered: Jul-04
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| Posted on Monday, July 26, 2004 - 11:26 am: |
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My dad just gave me his old Thorens TD-165, and I was thinking about hooking it directly into my PC, as it has a pretty good speaker system (plus it would make LP-ripping really convenient). I ordered a phono preamp off of Ebay (which I was just going to use to hook it to my all-in-one unit for the AUX input). This preamp isn't anything special. It's just a box that boosts the signal, with no controls or anything on it. Now, will my turntable sound fine going through the preamp straight to my PC's line-in jack? Is there any kind of EQ software that I should look into? |
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Gold Member Username: John_a
Post Number: 1824
Registered: Dec-03
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| Posted on Tuesday, July 27, 2004 - 12:10 am: |
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Nice turntable. The phono pre-amp (which?) will have the standard RIAA equalization for records/LPs. Treat the output from the phono pre-amp as you would any other analogue stereo output. |
Gold Member Username: John_a
Post Number: 1826
Registered: Dec-03
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| Posted on Tuesday, July 27, 2004 - 12:17 am: |
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Nice turntable. The phono pre-amp (which?) will have the standard RIAA equalization for records/LPs. Treat the output from the phono pre-amp as you would any other analogue stereo output. |
New member Username: Madcow1515
Post Number: 5
Registered: Jul-04
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| Posted on Tuesday, July 27, 2004 - 08:48 am: |
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It's one of these cheap little things: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=3283&item=5711745294&rd=1
I bought the exact same model preamp for one of my friends when I gave him my old turntable a few months ago. He needed one in order to hook it up to his all-in-one stereo unit. I tested it out on my own all-in-one stereo unit (is there an official name for these things?) before I gave it to him, and it sounded fine. I was just wondering if it would have the same effect going directly into my PC. |
Gold Member Username: John_a
Post Number: 1830
Registered: Dec-03
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| Posted on Tuesday, July 27, 2004 - 09:51 am: |
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Dan,
The phono pre-amp looks OK to me. Of course you will need an A-to-D converter in there somewhere. If the computer does not have one, the "M-Box" gets good reviews and does 96 kHz/24 bit (DVD-A resolution). August HiFi News has an article. I smile at the reviewer's conclusion that the CD format (44 kHz/16 bit) is not good enough to make digital copies of vinyl LPs. CD was supposed to carry "perfect sound that lasts for ever". |
New member Username: Madcow1515
Post Number: 6
Registered: Jul-04
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| Posted on Tuesday, July 27, 2004 - 03:26 pm: |
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I'm kinda new with this stuff... what's an "A-to-D converter?" |
New member Username: Madcow1515
Post Number: 10
Registered: Jul-04
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| Posted on Tuesday, July 27, 2004 - 04:12 pm: |
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Okay, I did some reading up on a/d converters. I also talked to a friend who said that these things aren't exactly necessary. How big of a difference would one make? I've recorded and played my turntable by a turntable->receiver->computer setup, and it sounded fine. Would I not get this same sound straight from the preamp? |
Gold Member Username: John_a
Post Number: 1832
Registered: Dec-03
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| Posted on Tuesday, July 27, 2004 - 04:32 pm: |
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Dan,
You said "plus it would make LP-ripping really convenient"
turntable->receiver->computer->CD has an analogue-to-digital converter in the chain, somewhere. It has to. The turntable is analogue, the CD is digital. An A-to-D converter is exactly necessary.
If you are using your computer's speakers just to produce sound from the Lp, not "ripping", then that's OK, of course. It is sort of complicated way to do it, though.
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Bronze Member Username: Madcow1515
Post Number: 11
Registered: Jul-04
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| Posted on Thursday, July 29, 2004 - 03:47 pm: |
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UPDATE:
My preamp finally came in, and it sounds pretty good! |
Bronze Member Username: Madcow1515
Post Number: 12
Registered: Jul-04
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| Posted on Thursday, July 29, 2004 - 04:26 pm: |
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Okay, actually I'm hearing a hum with this set up. How does one go about grounding to a PC? |
Unregistered guest |
| Posted on Saturday, October 09, 2004 - 05:54 pm: |
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I have an HP Media Center m470n and a 10year old technics turntable that is in great condition. I tried to hook up the turntable via a preamp and then into the speaker in on back of pc, but no sound. I have also tried to use the turntable into the receiver and then a plug from the headphones jack to the microphone jack on the pc..but still no sound. Help! Thanks |
New member Username: David_badstereo
California
Post Number: 1
Registered: Nov-04
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| Posted on Monday, November 29, 2004 - 07:48 pm: |
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I'm also trying to connect a turntable to my PC, via these pieces of equipment:
Dual CS 431 turntable
Rotel RQ-9078X Phono Equalizer
I've connected these to a Cambridge Soundworks MicroWorks II PC speaker/subwoofer unit directly (the computer uses a different input) via Cambridge Soundworks RCA plugs.
HERE IS THE PROBLEM:
Volume. Rather than low volume, like so many others have faced, I have extremely high volume that the Cambridge Soundworks volume control dial doesn't seem to affect. I've spent a fair amount of money on this, and I'd just like to see it work. What do I do? |
