Hi-Fi to PC

[petercharlesfagg]

I would like to transfer all my vinyl records to CD's.

I have contacted Sony via their website question box and was given the instruction to use the headphone jack since there is no "line-out" on my old stacking system.

In the current issue of Webuser magazine there is an article about using software to transfer vinyl to CD, but they warn against using the headphone jack!

I am now, understandably, confused!

Is anyone aware of the damage that could be done by attempting the connection OR does anyone know of information on the net about this connecting between Hi-Fi and PC's?

Regards Peter.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Headphones are higher output (and distortion) than a preamp output. If you turn them down the distortion may not improve, but the noise will get worse..

Borrow a deck and amp that has a decent output.

[Mark Hewitt]

The headphone out socket is amplified and hence could potentially do some damange to equipment expecting a non-amplified signal. However the biggest problem you are likely to encounter is poor sound quality, the line in on your PC won't be able to handle the amplified signal very well and the result will be sound degredation.

[Sparks]

You can use the headphone jack, as long as you keep the volume really low!

I suggest you set the level of your line in on the PC to the same as your wave out first, then play some music on the PC to hear how load that is. Now start with the volume control on your hifi off, and gradually bring it up until it is about the same volume as the music you played before.

Sparks...

[Mike Barnes]

Line out is better quality, and given the amount of effort you're about to expend (I think you might be surprised just *how* much effort), you want good quality.

I started down that road with a pile of about a hundred LPs and soon gave up. Too time-consuming and fiddly by far, and I wasn't even happy with the results, despite using top-notch equipment (Linn, M-Audio). What I'm doing now is buying the equivalent CDs on Amazon. They're quite cheap second hand[1]. Of course that depends on CD versions of the vinyl being available.

Others probably have different experiences but for me this was one job where DIY definitely wasn't best.

[1] And you can get most of your money back by copying the CD and selling it again on Amazon. Ordinarily that would constitute copyright infringement, and of course we wouldn't want to cheat the record companies out of their hard-earned income, would we, no sir, definitely not, *but* as you would still have fully-paid-for copies on vinyl your conscience should be clear.

[John Cartmell]

Not always available. When you are being (rightly) sarcy of those who copy & sell remember that there are (one or two) outside that category.

[John Rumm]

As others have said, you *may* be able to get a usable signal from the headphone socket with the volume set very low, however the results may be less than you expect since the impedance will still be wrong.

The other option is to borrow/buy something more suitable. Another gottcha to beware of is that you can't use the output directly from most record decks[1] since you also need the RIAA equalisation circuit that is present in the phono input stage of the amp to give you the correct sound balance.

[1] You can purchase some record decks that are designed to plug straight into the line level input on an amplifier and hence include the compensation circuit in the record deck.

Having a PC with loads of RAM (i.e. 1GB or more) is the simplest way I found to do audio stuff. Grab the whole LP (well both sides) as a massive WAV file, apply any noise filters etc as required and then split it back into tracks. Much quicker than trying to do a track at a time.

[Frank Erskine]

That's not usually a problem. The headphone output will almost always be a low impedance and that's no problem looking into a high(ish) impedance.

[Ian Stirling]

Headphone - line in is very unlikely to damage anything, unless you start off at maximum volume. Plug it in, at 0 volume.

Now, enable the line-in input, using whatever software you choose. Wind up the volume until you start getting distortion in the loud bits.

1v RMS into phones is really quite loud.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I've copied many a CD using my Acorn computer. And the results are excellent - I can't tell the difference between the original and copy. Nor could a couple of knowledgeable friends when I tricked them by playing the record and CD together but they thought they were listening to the LP. ;-)

So I'd say you've got a poor quality sound card or have got the levels wrong. Most sound cards don't have much headroom so need to be fed at the right level. FWIW, my computer is two floors away from the sound system so I've got a balanced interconnection system between them.

I'd agree about it being a fiddle if you need to add track index points etc, but then it's a labour of love. ;-)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

The actual voltage drive may not be that much more - it's just that it's a current amplifier designed to drive a low impedance load. And often a pretty poor one at that. The right way would be to make up a matching pad so the amp is running at its best level to minimise the noise but not overloading the sound card input.

[meow2222]

It will work and wont damage anything, the gotcha is you'd need to turn your hifi volume down, and the background hiss will then be considerable. The solution is simple nuff, put 2 resistors on each output channel to divide the output down so you set the stereo to mid volume, and feed it into the sound card.

As someone else said, record the whole album as 1 or 2 wav files.

But, since youve already paid for the music, why not dl copies off the net.

NT

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

You could always use the L&R speaker ouputs by putting a connector between L&R speakers and still use the speakers to hear the music, however again this will require volume extremely low.

You would need 2 of these one for each channel, assuming you're L&R speakers a phono input?

And also you need a double male phono to stereo jackplug splitter.

Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

oops! sorry wrong connector. :-)

Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[Qercus editor]

If you'd like to put the details in writing with illustrations I'd be interested in publishing it (and pay you a small fee).

[Richard Conway]

There is a few good bits of software out there that will try their best to detect the silence between tracks and chop it up for you. Certainly can save a lot of time - even if its not perfect and you need to move the markers around a bit.

[John Rumm]

You are right, it ought not matter too much, but I have found in reality it does depend a bit on the sound card... most are fine, some it can be very difficult to get a distortion free capture from a source that is a bad match. Having said that, with the price of semi decent sound cards being peanuts these days you may as well get one if that is the problem.

You can also get a problem when driving a high inpedance input with lack of load on the headphone output with badly designed headphone amps... but that is a different issue

[petercharlesfagg]

I really appreciate the knowledgeable words and comments.

As to purchasing CDs of my originals it would be difficult because I have been collecting LPs since I was 16, some 42 years ago and many are on obscure labels let alone stereo!

As for the technical stuff "Matching pad" "resistors" etc. I have no idea how to go down that road. I do purchase things from Maplin so the catalogue is not a completely closed book but as to resistances, impedance, etc. I am lost!

Generally I get the distinct impression that it really is not worth the time and effort but I would so dearly appreciate cleaning up some of the earlier LPs to remove the years of playing noise, even though I used preeners and anti-static spray plus the groove cleaner that gently rode the music waves as they played.

Thanks again for all your responses.

Regards Peter.

[Séan Connolly]

Or you could get one of these:

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Numerous programs on the net for getting rid of pop's,whistles,hisses and twangs. ;-)

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite