PC and turntable into Hi-Fi

D

doomili

Audiophyte
Hello guys, first post here! First off, let me get this straight here. I have almost zero knowledge when it comes to stereo systems, speakers etc. Hence I have a quite simple question here that I am sure most of you will easily answer. I am trying to connect both my PC and a turntable to the same line in into my stereo via 2to1 RCA sockets but the sound coming out of the turntable is very quiet and kind of muddy (like listening to it through a wall). Any ideas why is this happening (too much power into a single line in?) and what can I do for this? Should I go for a cheap mixer or a soundcard on the pc or something? Thanks in advance!
 
3db

3db

Audioholic Slumlord
Hello guys, first post here! First off, let me get this straight here. I have almost zero knowledge when it comes to stereo systems, speakers etc. Hence I have a quite simple question here that I am sure most of you will easily answer. I am trying to connect both my PC and a turntable to the same line in into my stereo via 2to1 RCA sockets but the sound coming out of the turntable is very quiet and kind of muddy (like listening to it through a wall). Any ideas why is this happening (too much power into a single line in?) and what can I do for this? Should I go for a cheap mixer or a soundcard on the pc or something? Thanks in advance!
Turntables (unless its USB) require a phono pre-amp . The phono pre-amp does two things: 1) It amplifies the signal to the same levels as the other inputs such as CD, tuner, etc and it applies a reverse RIAA equilization to the output. Without the RIAA equalization, it will still sound wrong.
 
D

doomili

Audiophyte
Ah sorry, forgot to mention that. My turntable is one of those new models with USB support and a built-in preamp, hence it sounds distorted when plugging it into the phono input of the stereo. So what is my best option here? Trying to find a workaround for connecting everything through RCA or just buying a long usb cable and connect the turntable to the PC and then the PC to the stereo?
 
3db

3db

Audioholic Slumlord
Ah sorry, forgot to mention that. My turntable is one of those new models with USB support and a built-in preamp, hence it sounds distorted when plugging it into the phono input of the stereo. So what is my best option here? Trying to find a workaround for connecting everything through RCA or just buying a long usb cable and connect the turntable to the PC and then the PC to the stereo?
If you are out of inputs on your stereo, then I would choose the latter option you just posted or buy a switch box that switches 2 or more rca inputs to a single output; like this as example.

 
M

markw

Audioholic Overlord
Agreed. Get a switch.

Those "Y" connector things are great for splitting one output into two inputs but can be problematic when trying to combine two outputs into one input. Sometimes the two sources fight each other (even if one is off) at the join and you are the loser.
 
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