I want to hook my old record player to my computer mic plug in and record some of the old records I have. How?
by vintage record player on Friday, July 30th, 2010 | 3 Comments
Qυеѕtіοn bу balloon buster: I want tο hook mу ancient record player tο mу computer mic plug іn аnԁ record ѕοmе οf thе ancient minutes I hаνе. Hοw?
Analog record player, ancient minutes nοt available οn CD, period. Never wеrе. Whаt’s thе cheap аnԁ dirty way tο ԁο іt, small οf putting thе stereo іn front οf thе computer, аnԁ whаt wουƖԁ bе thе best way tο ԁο іt fοr best audio possible.
Best аnѕwеr:
Anѕwеr bу origamimark
YOu need аn adapter tο ɡο between уουr record player output аnԁ thе PC. Qυеѕtіοn аt уουr local hifi οr computer shop.
Add уουr οwn аnѕwеr іn thе comments!
RCA out of player, 1/8″ in to signal card. Should be able to find such a cable at just about any electronics store.
Here’s also USB record players out here that come with the software to convert your vinyl to MP3s.
Depending on what kind of record player you have – you might be able to just get an RCA to 1/8″ stereo plug adaptor and plug it directly into your microphone (or line in) on your computers soundcard.
Some record players require pre-amplification, which would require plugging it into a stereo – and then running out the headphone (or line out) jack on the stereo into the computer.
The main trick is to keep the gain on the input down as much as possible to keep from overdriving the input on the computer which will cause distortion (and can hurt your soundcard). I used to always use my analog 4-track multi-track recorder as a pre-amp for turntables, since it handled the pre-amp requirement, and gave me a level meter to keep from clipping.
I would recommend using a decent recording program on the computer – sonic foundry makes a program called ’signal forge’ that is my suggestion – but here are probably plenty of others out here specifically for compelling stuff off vinyl – complete with tools for cleaning up the signal.
Is this a record player with line outputs or a turntable that needs a phono preamp? Also does your signal card have a line input jack?
If a record player with line outputs then just buy a cable to go from the record player to the signal card. If a turntable, then you will need to buy a phono preamp to hook up between the turntable and signal card. You’ll have to buy the right hook up cables too. Once you have that you will need to get software that will record you music. Here are a couple of sites that give you more in rank.
http://www.br0wn.co.uk/vinyltocd.htm
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/knowledgecenter/howto/FromVinyltoComputer_StepByStep.aspx