Help with recording a set from my turntables to my imac

[adikt]

I'm attempting to record a set from my turntables to my imac. not working so well yet...
heres what im doing right now:
turntables->mixer->amp->digital line in->roxio toast 8(spin doctor)

I'm not getting any line in reading on the db meter at all. tried multiple cords, and checked all my grounds. is this a settings problem i have to change on the mac or am i overlooking something in my hardware setup?
help please!

 

[netwalker]

I'm attempting to record a set from my turntables to my imac. not working so well yet...
heres what im doing right now:
turntables->mixer->amp->digital line in->roxio toast 8(spin doctor)

I'm not getting any line in reading on the db meter at all. tried multiple cords, and checked all my grounds. is this a settings problem i have to change on the mac or am i overlooking something in my hardware setup?
help please!

Mixer has a digital out and you use an optical cable? Did you check the sound preference pane (input tab). You should see your incoming signal in the meter there. I am not familiar with spin doctor, so I don't know what might go wrong there.

 

[gauchogolfer]

I've not done it with turntables, but Garageband has worked fine for recording from a guitar with similar equipment. You might like to at least give it a try with that.

 

[zimv20]

mixer->amp->digital line in

where's your a/d converter? in your amp?

 

[adikt]

thanks for making a new thread out of this & trying to help already

-converter would be in my amp. i use this setup to play shows & such, with the same amp, mixer, etc. I have in fact used this setup to record onto a pc laptop in the past and i'm running everything the same, but to the digital in.

-rca's from turntables to mixer. rca's from mixer to amp. rca out -> digital mac in via splitter cord.

-i tried garage band first & was not receiving any input signal either so i went to Toast. As the built in mic is visually showing an audio signal but the line in is not, im guessing its some setting on the mac, but everything i can find is set to receive digital line input. im new to OSX tho. havnt touched a mac, expecially not for sound uses in 10 years, so there is prolly something im missing.

im also receiving some low end feedback through the amp speakers once i get the imac involved in the wiring. this might go away when i fix the sound input, but then, it may have something to do with it...
thanks for the help guys

 

[calculus]

Have you set your sound preferences correctly?

System preferences -> Sound -> Input -> Line in

 

[adikt]

ok...so i tried taking out the amp and running direct from my mixer to the digital input. this worked but i cant hear my mix very well through the mac speakers.

this presents me a new problem. im still getting a decent amount of low end feedback through the amp speakers. ive tried running rca's from the mixer's zone output to the amp & i get the feedback. I've tried running the mac's headphone output to the amp and i still get feedback. for that matter im getting feedback when merely playing music off the imac through the amp.

everything is grounded, as far as i know. i havnt checked the outlets for continuity yet. im told a wire from the mac's headphone out to the ground on my mixer will help, and it has some.

 

[zimv20]

rca out -> digital mac in via splitter cord.

what are you splitting to? and this is a digital signal, right? are you using a normal RCA cable or one meant for digital?

 

[gertruded]

I have converted scores of vinyl from my turntable to digital. I just used garageband with an analog signal from my amp with an RCA to Miniplug into my Mac. It works very well.

Gertrude

 

[adikt]

that could well be the problem. i'm not too familiar with this digital input headphone jack that is on the mac. i will certainly try digital rca cables, but turntables are not a digital medium in the first place, correct?

i'll record a short session and see if i can take the low end hum out with an audio program...i'm pretty sure i can take care of it that way, but it would be nice to not have to worry about the feedback at all...

 

[adikt]

thats exactly what i was trying that did not work, G.
i shall prevail however. i need demos.

 

[zimv20]

but turntables are not a digital medium in the first place, correct?

by the time it's on your hard drive, it's digital, obviously. so either you'll use an external converter (like in your amp), or you'll go analog to the mac, in which case it'll use its own converter (which isn't that great).

w/o hearing the recording, it's difficult to say what exactly is wrong. but having the right kind of cable is a good practice, regardless.

 

[gertruded]

When recording an anlog in signal be sure to record as a podcast with Garageband. It isn't very complicated, it just works.

Gertrude

 

[quigleybc]

decks
into mixer
into amp
into ANALOG line in

set you system prefs, crank the input

Use a simple app like this one to test

and then try garageband

 

[netwalker]

thanks for making a new thread out of this & trying to help already
-rca's from turntables to mixer. rca's from mixer to amp. rca out -> digital mac in via splitter cord.

Splitter cord? You have one output and go into two ins? Not a good idea. I suppose your DJ mixer will have at least 2 output ways, mine actually has a main out, monitor out, zone out and tape out. Connect one to your amp and the other one to the analog audio-in of your mac.

You know, that the digital-in of the mac is only optical? A digital signal on RCA won't work.

 

[eaglegray]

my vinyl conversion working with GarageBand

I'm attempting to record a set from my turntables to my imac. not working so well yet...
heres what im doing right now:
turntables->mixer->amp->digital line in->roxio toast 8(spin doctor)

I'm not getting any line in reading on the db meter at all. tried multiple cords, and checked all my grounds. is this a settings problem i have to change on the mac or am i overlooking something in my hardware setup?
help please!

I just started working on digitizing my LPs with my new iMac (17",Superdrive, 2 Gig processor). After a lot of fiddling I've just completed one LP using GarageBand. Like Gertrude, I'm just using a simple audio-in port connection (with a miniplug to RCA cable) to my stereo receiver's red and white 'Record' socket. I also had significant background hum with first attempts. It was about 80 percent eliminated after unplugging all extraneous devices from my power bar, including my TV, which sits about 5 feet from my iMac. I guess even when the TV is not operating it must radiate enough e-m waves to interfere with the iMac's digital converter. Also, I found that (at least with my equipment) it is best to have your devices (stereo amp. and turntable, and computer) in the same ground; ie. plug them all into one good quality power bar.