adapter cables

M

musicteacher

New member
I am not even experienced enough to be called a "newbie." I have been doing home recording (by my definition)since I graduated from college some 30 years ago. Based on what I read at this site, I have not begun to do home recording. Somehow, I think this simple-sounding question I am going to ask will end up be very complicated for me. Well, here goes.

I have had a music ministry to area nursing homes for 6 years, here in Virginia and also when we were stationed in Oklahoma. Part of my ministry is to do free recordings of my programs for senior residents and also for shut-ins from our church. I have been very satisfied with my recordings taped from my Denonet Karaoke machine to my JVC tape deck. However the JVC deck finally gave up the ghost (record button broke) and the new and better Sony deck we bought does not have two microphone holes like the JVC did. (I think the plugs they use are called quarter inch plugs.) My husband who knows as little as I do, bought an adapter cord (I think that's what it's called) at Radio Shack so we could plug one mic into the input plug at the back. (I think it uses an RCA pin plug.) I tried recording with this cord with one mic plugged in to the cord which splits into two plugs to plug into both channels of the back of the deck. I actually did get a recording, but the sound was muddy, not clear like I had gotten before. Also I had to have the record volume up to the maximum and the sound was still not very loud. And also, only one channel on the tape recorded.

All this explanation leads to a very simple question. What kind of adapter cord can one use to plug a mic with a quarter inch plug into a deck with an RCA pin plug and do away with the problems I had. By the way this is all volunteer work. I get no money, actually I lose money, but the rewards I get are much greater than anything money could buy. Any help you can give will be very, very greatly appreciated, not only by me, but by some very wonderful elderly people.

Thanks in advance.
 
The RCA jacks on the back of the machine are "line level" i.e. they are meant to receive a stronger signal than a microphone alone can provide.You would still be able to use these jacks if you had a microphone preamplifier to plug the mic into,then that would go into the RCA's on the tape deck.However,it remains to be seen if this would be cost effective because high quality mic pres can cost as much as you probably paid for the tape deck.I believe Radio shack may have some product in this area,but I don;t know specifics.Cheers!
 
virtual.ray is virtually correct. You're plugging a mic into a line jack and your signal is about 100 times too weak. See https://homerecording.com/sound_card_basics.html for some info about all this so you'll understand, but for what you're doing, all you really do need is either a little Radio Shack mic mixer/preamp or a similarly-priced all-in-one cassette recorder which would probably be easier for you to use anyway. You're looking at about $60 max here...good luck!
 
Thanks, virtual.ray and Dragon. I will read what you suggest and talk to some folks to see what I can find out. You've given me somewhere to start whereas before I was really lost. Thanks for keeping it simple. One of the reasons I have so little time to work on this recording stuff is because my church (specifically the music pastor) finds so much for me to do. We now have an orchestra, a very small one, which I direct, and now the pastor wants our congregational chorus books to be transposed for our Eb and Bb instruments. He gave me the Cakewalk software today and asked me to tell him what he needs to get for me to play all the choruses and have the program transpose and print them out. It's like reading a foreign language (just reading on the box.) He understands even less than I do. My husband only can figure that our home computer can't handle the software megahertz and RAM requirements. I guess I'll look in your Cakewalk section, but this stuff has me lost again.
 
Don't worry, I'll save you some time...Cakewalk can do that, but by the time you (or I) figure out how, there will be peace in the Middle East.

Cakewalk is designed for MIDI and/or recording digital audio, not what you're talking about. I strongly suggest getting a proper notation program. I don't know of one, personally, but Cakewalk is not it.
 
Hello musicteacher. Check out Voyetra's Digital
Orchestrator for Win 95 or 98.It's a simple multi-track
audio recording software with midi-sequencing and music
notation and transposition. It sells for $40.00 .
Check out http://www.jandr.com .
Good Luck!
 
Thanks, virtual.ray, Dragon, and MISTERCUE. At the rate I'm going, peace in the Middle East may come first. I seem to know a little about a lot of things and a lot about nothing. But I did wonder why I saw nothing about transposition on the Cakewalk box. One of the guys in church works in a computer store. I think he's the one that installed it on the church computer network. He seemed to think it would do what we wanted, but then I don't think he's actually ever done many of the things he talks about. I will ask him about the Digital Orchestrator.
Now I have another problem, and for this I have to go back to my original question. My husband just read my post and the answers and told me I had asked the question in the wrong way. Now that he reminds me, he's right. What I should have said is that since there was only one connection on the back of the Sony tape deck and it was in use going to the Harmon Cardin amplifier, we plugged the adapter cable's RCA plug into a connection at the back of the amplifier. He seems to think that the amplifier should take care of the volume problem, but as I said before I had to have the record volume up very high, and the sound was very muddy. His main question seems to be why only one channel taped. We had found that the first adapter cable was defective, so we got a new one, but the same problem happened with it. I would definitely like both channels to record, but I would also like to find a way to boost volume and improve the quality of the sound. I really appreciate the help.
 
I have an idea. I am now doing some recording on my PC. I have found the best way (money wise) to preamp your mic. I am purchasing a Behringer MX602 mixer board. The MX602 is a four line mixer. Here are your benefits:

1. Both of the mic inputs are powered (have a preamp). this will boost your signal enough to record properly.

2. Each line has a 3 band equalizer. With this, you mix your voice so it isn't "muddy"

3. You have more than one channel. so if you ever need another mic or instrument you just plug in.

4. You have multiple ways of sending your signal into your tape deck. In fact I there is an RCA Tape Out right on the board. That way you aren't going through several adapters.

5. this is the best thing!!!! Price!!!!!! Musicians Friend is selling this board for $79.99. The cheapest mic preamp I could find was $100 and it did nothing more than boost signal.

I am a christian artist in the Gulf Coast area (Pensacola to be exact.)
-gman
 
To everybody who has responded to me,
I am sitting here with a print-out of the responses I have gotten, a print-out of the Sound Card Basics section, and print-out of the other site referred to in Sound Card basics trying to digest all this. If I understand it correctly, everyone still feels I need a mic pre-amp of some kind, regardless of whether I am plugging the mic into the RCA of the tape deck or the amplifier. I gather from this that an amplifier and a pre-amp do different things and my signal from the mic is still too weak to get a good recording. Why don't they make cassette decks with mic inputs any more? This would life so much simpler. I guess everybody must use a mixer. I'm assuming that these mic pre-amps are part of a mixer. I guess my next decision is what kind to get, the cheap Radio Shack or a more expensive, but "proper", pre-amp from Mackie or Behringer.
What is this "Musician's Friend" you mentioned? Is it online?
As for the Cakewalk deal, I told the music pastor and I imagine he's tearing out his hair about now. He is not a trained musician, so he relies on me and others to educate him. I told him reading the Cakewalk instructions was like reading my daughter's Japanese. She's majoring in Japanese in college. I think we'll probably end up getting Digital Orchestrator, or something similar.
Thanks to you all. I'm still open to advice, if anyone thinks of anything, but I guess I've got some decisions to make.
 
Shopping

Musician's Friend started out as a mail order house,and they still do that,but they also have a Web site.You might want to check out 8th Street Music as well.I'm not 100% sure,but I think JVC still makes a cassette deck with mic inputs.I have one,the TD-W717.It has one mic input,but the signal from it gets recorded on both tracks.I say I'm not sure 'cause I bought mine in like 1996 so maybe they don't make models like it anymore.
 
Thanks virtual.ray for the response. I was waiting around for other responses before I replied. I don't believe JVC makes anything with mic inputs any more. We bought our previous deck in 1993. I looked through the whole J&R catalog and found no tape decks with mic inputs. I did find some mic pre-amps, but no brand name anyone mentioned, and several only had one mic input. I will need at least two, and none had more than two. We would prefer to buy the pre-amp around here (metro Washington, D.C.)so we can deal with a real person in case of problems or questions. I have looked under Stereophonic and Sound Systems in the yellow pages, and there are many of them. I guess I just have to call some and mention some of the brand names and see if they carry anything, and if they sound like they know about such things.
As for the Cakewalk, the music pastor was cool. He just handed the software off the the clarinet player's husband. He works with computers and seemed sure he could get Cakewalk to transpose for Eb saxophone and Bb clarinet and trumpet. Now I just hope he can get it to scan the music and transpose rather than making me sit and play about 300 choruses. Thanks again for the help.
 
There's several large stores in the DC area you can go to inquire about or purchase a preamp or mixing board. One is Mars Music in Springfield at the Springfield Shopping Center, next door to Giant Food. Another is Guitar Center at Seven Corners at the intersection of Wilson Blvd. and Arlington Blvd. There is also another Guitar Center in Fairfax on Lee Hwy. near the interesction of Rt. 50 and Lee Hwy. In Maryland, there is Chuck Levin's Washington Music Center on Viers Mill Rd.
 
GraveRocker, thank you so much! You have saved me a lot of time. I have never participated in a BBS before, and it never ceases to amaze me that I get so many responses from all over the USA and that everyone is so helpful. Now I find someone right here in Falls Church, VA who gives me even more help. It really is a small world. Thanks again.
 
You're very welcome. At Guitar Center, they have a table in the recording section that has used or discontinued items. You might find a good deal in the pile. Another place that might have something would be Action Music at the intersection of Sycamore and Williamsburg Blvd. and West St. It's down the stairs on the corner of the building under the sub shop or laundry. They sell mostly used amps and guitars, but sometimes have mixing equipment lying around. I do alot of my guitar and amp shopping there. Matt Baker, the owner is honest, knowledgable and friendly. I don't recommend Rolls Music on Broad St. Good prices but, I've had service problems there before and don't trust them. If you do go there, they have a used section in the back downstairs. Zavarellas on 23rd St. in Crystal City is another good possibility.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top