[Old Mercer]

I hope this is the right place for this question.  I haven't been able to find an answer anywhere else.

Like much equipment today, my preamp doesn't have a tape loop.  I want to make some recordings from vinyl and also from cassette tapes.   How can I do it?

I can see two possibilities:-

1)  connect a lead directly from the output of the phono preamp, or from the cassette recorder's output, to the analog input of the CD recorder.
2)  connect the second pair of sockets marked "output" on my preamp to the analog input of the CD recorder.

I don't know if (1) presents any problems, other than the inconvenience of having to change the leads.

In the case of (2), the level of the output reaching the CD recorder would vary according to the setting of the volume control.   I don't know whether there is a setting that would be too high and cause damage.   

Comments on the above suggestions, and any other ideas, will be very welcome.   Does anyone know of a piece of equipment that I could plug in to the preamp that would create the equivalent of a "record out" socket?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

[Quiet Earth]

1)  connect a lead directly from the output of the phono preamp, or from the cassette recorder's output, to the analog input of the CD recorder.

I think this is the cleanest way to make a recording because you are getting a direct connection into the recorder. The only problem as you already mentioned is the inconvenience of unplugging and re-plugging the interconnects. Of course the cable has to be long enough to reach the input of the recorder after you unplug it from the preamp input.

This is the way I make my own recordings when I record from phono or cd to tape. I unplug the cable at the preamp input end, and then I move it over to the tape deck input. Then I plug headphones into the tape deck to monitor what I am doing. It's the same idea for you but you are going into a CDr instead of a tape deck. Should work great.

Have fun. 

[WGH]

Option #1 - The M-Audio Transit may work although I never used one to record. The Transit can accept a line level input from either a phono pre-amp or cassette player which then enables your computer to make a 24-bit/96 kHz recording.

I just happen to have one I'm not using, make me an offer if interested but first do some research to see if M-Audio has USB drivers for your operating system.


Option #2 - Get another pre-amp. AVA has a sweet looking used Fet Valve Pat-5 Preamplifier for $695 with a vacuum tube hybrid phono section and four 12AX7 tubes. Use it for a year or two to make recordings then sell it for $600.
http://www.avahifi.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=125&Itemid=176



Wayne

[Old Mercer]

Thanks for the two replies.

Quiet Earth: Yes, I’d thought that the direct connection from source to recorder should offer the cleanest recording….for which the inconvenience of swapping leads is probably a price worth paying, especially if there’s no other easy option. 

WGH: my CD recorder is a Yamaha CDR1300, not a computer, so the M-Audio Transit probably isn’t the route for me.

I had wondered about buying a temporary pre-amp with a tape loop, as you’ve suggested.  It would have to be a high quality one so as to transmit as much as possible of the signal.  The AVA pre-amp you’ve identified looks as if it might meet the requirement.   But AVA are in Minnesota and I’m in England so there’s the power supply difference to think about as well. 

Thanks again for the ideas.

[Funnehaha]

Hi,

  I also have a Yamaha CDR-HD1300 recorder and have used the Turntable > phono preamp > Yamaha scheme as the cleanest, most direct way to make recordings of albums. After the Yamaha, you can then plug its output into any of the line-level inputs on your preamp. Oftentimes, I may just use the headphone out from the Yamaha to monitor the recording process, or hook up my Stax headphone amp input to the line output of the Yamaha. In that case, the Stax amp is made with a parallel line-out, and that can be connected to the system preamp.

Regards.

[Wayner]

Or...connect your phono preamp to your CD-R recorder, then connect the outputs of your CD-R recorder to your regular preamp or receiver's line input. Then set the CD-Rs output to source. This way, what ever you play will be passed thru to your regular system and you can still use the CD-R to record the signal.

No need to buy anything additional.

Wayner

[Funnehaha]

....yeah...that's what I said....??