Lp Rca out to optical in?

[Fogshat]

Hi, obviously I'm new here. I used to be fairly adept with these things but time has passed and now it seems I've been eclipsed by technology.

Im looking at an LP player with preamp & rca line out in it; and am wondering can i use an Analog to Digital Audio Converter to hook it to a 200w sound bar LG optical port, will that work correctly? Would I just get amplified mono, no stereo? I see plenty of posts about optical-out-to-Rca, but not the reverse order... Any thoughts? thanks so much for any informed reply

 

[fmw]

Yes. You will need an analog to digital converter. They are readily available on Amazon. Yes the result will be stereo as long as the input is stereo. Be sure you choose a converter with the appropriate connections. It is curious that you want an analog source to convert to digital. Why not just use a digital source like a BD player in the first place. It will perform better.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

Yes. You will need an analog to digital converter. They are readily available on Amazon. Yes the result will be stereo as long as the input is stereo. Be sure you choose a converter with the appropriate connections. It is curious that you want an analog source to convert to digital. Why not just use a digital source like a BD player in the first place. It will perform better.

Well, the obvious answer would be that only about 20% of the program material available on LP record was ever re-released on any digital format. It is, after all, about the music, not the gear.

But he may have other reasons as well ... perhaps he already owns the soundbar and it has no analog input?

It's a strange question with regard to potential Sound Quality (SQ) issues, I agree.

I would think the OP might want to look at a turntable with not just a built-in phono pre-preamplifier, but one with the phono pre and a built-in A/D converter with a USB output; they are reasonably common in the market from Pioneer, TEAC, Audio-Technica, ProJect, and others, and then have the choice of seeking a USB-Optical converter
Example:
http://www.amazon.com/WNOSH-Computer-Amplifier-Headphone-Decoding/dp/B019DN0S9C/ref=sr_1_4?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1450616407&sr=8-4&keywords="usb+to+optical"

Note that the WNOSH unit is USB-bus powered, so he would need a powered USB hub as well. But, it's just an example; there are others to choose from as well and found easily with a little effort on Google or Amazon.

... or an analog to digital converter with an optical output (many examples available) to use with the turntable's RCA output after the phono preamp is engaged.

The above options gives him many choices with regard to cost and sound quality.

 

[fmw]

Well, the obvious answer would be that only about 20% of the program material available on LP record was ever re-released on any digital format. It is, after all, about the music, not the gear.

.....and that would be important if all those vinyl records were still available but they are not.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

.....and that would be important if all those vinyl records were still available but they are not.

Many are, you can of course buy them used, and people do actually have record collections that have been sitting around, waiting for the owner to buy a turntable. Why so combative? There are multiple reasons for what motivates people to ask questions here, especially a forum like "Beginners and Audiophytes".

 

[fmw]

Many are, you can of course buy them used, and people do actually have record collections that have been sitting around, waiting for the owner to buy a turntable. Why so combative? There are multiple reasons for what motivates people to ask questions here, especially a forum like "beginners and Audiophytes'".

I'm not combative. I just don't recommend getting into vinyl at this point in time. Some of us were really happy to be able to get away from it. I have a fairly large record collection and all of it has been digitized. I have three turntables in the storage closet. And apparently you have a problem with my recommending against vinyl in the beginners forum. Don't let it bother you. I've heard it before.

 

[slipperybidness]

Some of us were really happy to be able to get away from it.

Yup, and some of us scooped up used records at amazingly low prices at that time!

 

[Johnny2Bad]

I'm not combative. I just don't recommend getting into vinyl at this point in time. Some of us were really happy to be able to get away from it. I have a fairly large record collection and all of it has been digitized. I have three turntables in the storage closet. And apparently you have a problem with my recommending against vinyl in the beginners forum. Don't let it bother you. I've heard it before.

Apologies if you interpret my comment as my having "... a problem with [your] recommending against vinyl in the beginners' [sic] forum ...". Not only do I not have a problem with that position, but I would not recommend vinyl to anyone who wasn't first considering it and asking for advice on how to make it so. You need to care about Sound Quality (SQ) issues far more than the average person interested in audio reproduction to go beyond the most basic steps with regard to vinyl in our modern audio reality.

By the way, I must admit as well to being impressed with anyone with a "fairly large record collection" who has managed to digitize it all.

I have done some A-V transcriptions but only for music I decided I needed to hear on portable devices ... autosound mostly, but the usual iPod / iPhone / Music Server applications as well. Beginning about 15 years ago (RME Soundcard, good 'table, cartridge and Phono preamp) I have perhaps 50 or 60 albums at 24/96 that aren't and never will be available in a commercial digital release.

So that particular reason is relevant to me. Somewhat of an aside, but I still miss the G4 IBM chipset used on Apple desktops, whose audio performance to this day outperforms the Intel variants (I never, not once, had a dropout while transcripting analog onto digital Hard Drive, and that includes while using the machine and running other, unrelated applications, and performing 8-channel realtime 24/96 digitizing of live performances, with CPU clockspeeds of 400 and 867MHz. From the moment I switched to Intel for audio, on Windows or MacOS, I discovered I need to listen carefully to every digitized version for errors & dropouts).

Note: I'm OS-agnosgic, been running UNIX MacOS and Windows since 1990, have been a paid contributor to Linux documentation for a major distro, etc. I like to use the best tool for the job, which means moving from one to the other, depending on the task at hand.

MacOS for audio and video though, easily outperforming the other OS/hardware options until perhaps 10 years ago, and no worse than any of the other OS options today.