Set-up, No RCA Jacks on computer

[jrodsmith]

Do I need an adapter to connect my RCA jacks to a USB port? Is there a better way to connect them? I have a DELL 4550, Windows XP 2002 system. Have no sound during recording or playback. Everything else has checked out. There are no RCA jack inputs on my computer.

[steve]

You cannot directly connect RCA jacks to USB - RCA are for analogue audio and USB is digital data.

Your DELL 4550 is a tower system (not a laptop)?

There should be some mini-jack sockets, probably on the back of your computer, that are for connecting to the sound card (which may be built into the mother board, or a separate PCI card). If you have speakers connected to your computer they will probably be plugged into one of these mini-jack sockets (unless you have USB speakers).

You will need either a cable with a stereo mini-jack plug, or an RCA to stereo mini-jack adaptor to connect an external audio device (such as a cassette player) to your computer.

Refer to your computer manual to determine which mini-jack socket to use.

There are some special considerations for connecting certain devices (such as microphones or turn tables) to your computer, so if you require further help, please be specific about what you are doing and what equipment you are using.

Good luck with it.

[jrodsmith]

Thanks Steve, you've got me on the right track I believe. My computer is a tower and the equipment I'm trying to connect is an ION turntable. Along with the inputs for mini-jacks on my computer, there is also an s-jack and pin-jack connector. Which is best and how can I connect the RCA jacks in place of the speakers and still hear anything? Thanks very much for your prompt response. Rod

[steve]

ION turntables have two sets of outputs, a pair of phono plugs and a USB connector.

The way you are supposed to set it up is to plug the phono plugs into a hi-fi amplifier turntable input, and plug the USB into your computer. It is important that the analogue (phono) inputs connect to a turntable (phono) input. If you plug it into a normal "Line" input, the signal will be rather quiet and tinny (very little bass).

The USB connector should be detected automatically by your computer and work with Audacity (or any other audio program). Unfortunately, if you search this forum you will find that loads of people have all sorts of problems using the USB interface on ION turntables. If you can't get the USB to work, it may be better to connect that analogue (phono) connectors of the turntable to a hi-fi amp, then connect the amplifier "record out" to your computer "line in".

[waxcylinder]

You can connect your ION to your PC in one of two ways:

1) use the USB connector from the ION to plug into a USB port on your PC (in this case, ensure that the two RCA cables are not shorting together in any way). In this cas you will be using the soundcard that is in the ION to do the ADC (Analogue to Digital Conversion).

2) plug the RCA leads as in Steve's response above with a minijack into the line-in on your PC. In this case you should make sure that your ION is set to "Line" and NOT "Phono" (see p2 of the ION "Quick Start Owner's Manual"). You need to do this to get the ION to apply the RIAA equalisation - otherwise the singnal will sound thin and lack bass. In this case tou will be bypassing the ADC on the ION and using the ADC on your soundcard.

Update: Steve was obviously typing at the same time as me - see my note on the Line v. Phono setting on the ION - if you use the "Line" setting you should not need to use a pre-amp as Steve suggests.

WC