Recording from my turntable

[digitalvibe]

Hi,

I'm trying to record from my turntable to my iMac. Here's what I've tried so far:

Have a QED J2P 3.5mm stereo jack to two phono interconnect connected from my phono stage to the iMac. have tried both Garageband & Audacity. No sound coming through at all.

Any ideas? I know this should be simple. Thanks.

 

[codymac]

Have you set it not to record from the built-in mic?

System Preferences -> Sound -> Input -> Line In

 

[digitalvibe]

Yes, sorry should have mentioned I tried that already

 

[codymac]

Yes, sorry should have mentioned I tried that already

Fairly sure the same has to be done in Audacity's preferences.

Barring that, I'd be scratching my head and test if the pre-amp was sending a signal.

 

[digitalvibe]

Did the same for Audacity as well.

If you have suggestions for how I can test that the phone stage is sending out a signal I'd appreciate it. I know it's working because when its connected to my amp it works just fine.

 

[codymac]

Did the same for Audacity as well.

If you have suggestions for how I can test that the phone stage is sending out a signal I'd appreciate it. I know it's working because when its connected to my amp it works just fine.

At least I've gotten the simple stuff out of the way.


You do have this run through a pre-amp or an audio interface, correct? If not, the turntable's signal will be too low to be useful.

If the pre-amp is sending a signal to the amp, the signal should be OK. That said, just plugging the turntable directly into the computer will likely result in silence since it's not line level unless the turntable has a built in pre-amp.

 

[digitalvibe]

Yup - have it running through the pre-amp.

 

[codymac]

I'm stumped.

Only other things I can think of:

- Mac jacks sometimes get stuck on optical due to something physical in the jack. (A quick look at the specs shows the current iMac has an optical/line combo in.)
- Audio HiJack or some other s/w or config issue.

Like you say, should be simple.

 

[digitalvibe]

Thanks for the ideas. Will keep investigating. There could be a third reason. While unlikely, it might be the cables themselves. Purchased from new but could be faulty