[uncletupelo]

I'm looking to connect my G5 to my Aiwa Z-L500 audio system. Its an extremely limited audio system.

It has 1 Video/Aux/Phono input. I plug my turntable into this.

It has 1 Optical Output. I plug a toslink cable from my G5's Optical Input into this.

I am looking to do 2 things...

1) Convert my vinyl lp's onto my HD. I have all the right software but because my turntable goes into the Aux input it isn't picked up. The cd player, tape deck and radio are all picked up fine becase they are all built into the audio system.

2) Play all my G5 audio through my audio system.

I think my hi-fi is the piece of equipment letting me down. It doesn't have an Optical Input and it will never output, via the Optical Output, the turntable.

Other than buying a new hi-fi system what can I do?

Are there any cables, convertors etc that can help me?

[Spheric Harlot]

Wait - does the turntable work okay with the stereo on its own?

Because an Aux/Video jack is a line-level input.

Phono signal is absolutely miniscule by comparison (it's merely the electrical vibration directly caused by the microscopic movement of a magnet/spool driven by the needle in the groove). In addition, it is drastically equalized to reduce the bass (according to a standard setting known as the RIAA curve), because full bass level would make the grooves on a record *extremely* "wobbly", which would a) immediately throw off any needle, and b) dramatically reduce the length of music that can be fit on an LP.

You need a phono pre-amp to boost the signal to line level and to neutralize the EQ according to the RIAA standard. If you have a compact system, and it only includes one external input labelled "Video/Aux/Phono" it is EXTREMELY unlikely that the system will have a phono pre-amp installed.


If you indeed get normal sound out of the turntable via your stereo, ignore the above.

[ideasculptor]

That said, your computer has an AD converter that is probably at least as good as the one built into a low end stereo. Unless your stereo does have a phono preamp, there is no need to involve it in the process of ripping lp's at all. Plug the line level output of a phono preamp directly into the line in of the computer and rip away to your heart's content. You'll do better to use an external AD converter, in order to minimize noise from the computer itself, but it isn't crucial, especially with a lower end turntable.