Connecting turntable to PC

[jds]

I have bought a Sony PS-J120 turntable and wish to connect it to my PC to transfer LPs to CDs. I have inserted the two output cables fro the turntable to the Audio Input points on the back panel but I don't know what to do next. Can anybody help please?

JDS

[jammold]

Next thing, check you have audio output. Get a vinyl record and set the PS-J120 to play it back. Connect a set of speakers to your computers sound card if there are no internal speakers connected, and see if you hear anything.

If you don't hear what you should be hearing you need to check you haven't muted the Line Input channel. Ensure you have something playing before you do this for the duration of this process!

1. Double-click the Speaker icon in the taskbar notification area (light-blue next to the system clock).
2. Click Options >> Properties
3. Click Playback then click the Line Input box - if you haven't got Line Input then click Microphone instead.
4. Adjust the volume to a suitable level (if it is too quiet consider adding an amplifier into it).
5. Click Options >> Properties
6. Click Recording
7. Click OK
8. Set the recording input level then click close.

You should hear something now!:smileywink:

Next phase recording!!!
You need something better than Windows Sound Recorder, I personally use Cool Edit 2000 (registered) which allows you to slice and dice with the music and get choosy over how it sounds but it is not free software, and Syntrillium have gone out of business to be taken over by Adobe so I think getting this gem is going to be hard.

You could try Audacity, download it from http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ - as it is free it means no registration is involved and it comes with a tonne of useful plugins...

Once you have perfected that perfect masterpiece you need to burn it to CD. Export your music into either WAV format (100% lossless but consumes a lot of disk space) or MP3 (lossy but saves tonnes of disk space). These formats can be handled by most if not all CD Burning software.

As you are new to the process buy a CD-R and a CD-RW for practising because if/when you make a mistake you can erase the CD and start over, you cannot do this with a CD-R but they are more durable and cheaper!!! Get acustomed to the CD burning software of your choice - DO NOT USE WINDOWS XP - its lame for this!:smileygrin:

If you have any questions on this guide then dont hesitate to ask us!:smileywink:

[jds]

I should have mentioned that I am actually trying to connect my Sony turntable to the Sony PCV-RZ504 which I purchased in August which obviously has integrated speakers, CD-RW etc. I am still unable to hear anything on the integrated speakers although they are working normally for all other programmes. I am sure that the PC is able to do what I want to do but in the absence of any instructions/manuals etc on any subject, I spend hours trying to find out how to do the most simple tasks and there are still many things that I do not use on the system.

Any further help you can provide to play/record LPs would be much appreciated.

Regards

JDS

[jammold]

Try connecting the turntable to an amplifier, and the amplifier to the computer - this should boost the signal strength as they can be poor from turntables...

Other than that I have no idea why its not working, ensure that the 2-phono (red/white or red/black) cynch plugs to 3.5" mini-jack plug is connected from the outputs to the red or blue/pink(?) input on the computer (Line Input) and the cable works correctly...

[vaiodon]

The direct output from a phono cartridge on a turntable presents 2 problems. 1) the signal needs RIAA equalisation which is included in a regular stereo amplifier and 2) it's very low level (3-5mV)

As JamesMold suggests taking the tape output from a stereo amplifier is one way of getting over both problems. Seperate phono pre-amps are available from a number of vendors for less than £50 - try www.dolphinmusic.co.uk or www.turnkey.co.uk and search for "riaa preamp"