Stereo Microphone -> Sound card line in = how!!!!!

[Irons82]

I have a Cd that has a big crack half way across the CD. My Portable CDplayer wouldn't read it, my Cdrom drive wouldn't read it, except my stereo system......go figure. But anyway, I figured that the only way to restore this CD is to make a copy of it. And the reader has to be the stereo system since it's the only one that could read the CD without skipping and stuttering. It doesn't have any line out except the mini headphone port. Now, I would have to connect that to my sound card. I have a Xitel Platinum Sound Card, with has a line in port and a S/PDIF port.

Here's the question that's been bugging me. Is that possible to do so? using a male to male stereo cable? I read the manual of the Xitel and it say that the CD-in port is MPC. I have no idea what MPC mean, let's hope that it's not Mono crap.

Or do I need some fancy converter and some fancy software to do so? or all I need is a simple male to male stero cable? What software do I need? A careful step by step instruction would be greatly appreciated since I know squat about doing such thing. I've never done such thing before.

Thank you so much, any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Irons82

 

[ola]

First off, Welcome to the board.

The stero system CD, is it a stand-alone or an all-in-one-wonder? If it's a stand-alone, then the CD-out should be a regular line output.

If it's an all-on-one, you may have to use the headphone output but that won't be directly compatible with a line-in as far as I know. You would have to plug it in to a mic input. Mic inputs are usually crap on soundcards and most soundcards don't even have regular mic inputs but rather computer mic inputs, which are incompatible with regular mics. I don't know about your specific soundcard. Does it have a regular mic in or does the manual mention "computer mic-in" or something similar?

If it has a regular mic-in, plug the headphone out into the mic in and start at low "listening" level. Check the recording VU-meter in your recording software and raise the headphone volume until you are just below clipping (i.e. stay withing/below yellow). Then simply hit record each track as a separate 16-bit 44.1kHz stereo wave files and burn them on CD.

If your soundcard only has a computer mic-in, you need to get a preamp between the headphone out and the line in on the soundcard. Again, start low on the headphone out and raise the volume until the level is as high as it gets without clipping. You will also have a volume knob on the preamp so maybe the best is to start with both at "half volume". The amplifier on the preamp will most likely be better on the preamp than in the headphone output so you probably want to keep the headphone level fairly low and let the preamp do the job by raising the level on it.

Did any of this answer your question?

/Ola



[This message has been edited by ola (edited 07-24-2000).]

 

[bobmc]

Forgive me for even broaching the subject, but what might you have on this CD that is worth going to all this trouble? Can't you get another copy of the CD? This is truely amazing! Is is really a crack half-way across the CD or is it a scratch? If it is a crack, I'd be afraid to even insert the disc in my CD player!

Sorry I don't have a better solution, but maybe you could borrow a friend's player that has line level outputs and can play the CD w/o skips. I do applaud your pluck at even trying this though.


[This message has been edited by bobmc (edited 07-24-2000).]

 

[Irons82]

Thank you so much for your detailed instruction. Now I understand it much more than before. I believe my sound card has a regular mic-in because I'm plugging the microphone to that port with my Dragon Naturally Speaking software (not that I needed it, why need it when you could type 80wpm?? =)
Is it ok if I just use the Sound Recorder that came with Windows98SE? or would I need to use Cakewalk or whatever? And the quality, is it gonna be the same as using the Line-out connecting to the Line-in? As far as I'm concerned, my sound card has a pretty good noise level, here's the specs of my sound card, please take a look and let me know to see whether it's good enough. Or you can go here for a nicer lay-out, same info though. http://www.thetechzone.com/reviews/speakers/xitel/page2.htm

Specifications - Storm Platinum Soundcard

Controller Chip Aureal Vortex 2 - AU8830 Controller
CODEC

Quad Channel Output 18-bit AC'97 CODEC
Features

Hardware Accelerated A3D 2.0 and DirectSound 3D *
96 DMA Hardware Accelerated Channels
Professional 320 Voice MIDI Synthesizer
Digital 10-Band Graphic Equalizer
Multiple Speaker/Headphone Support
Optical S/PDIF (TOSLINK) Output - Minidisc compatible *
Accelerated Joystick Port
SoundBlaster Pro Hardware Support
Inputs and Outputs

CD In (MPC)
Aux In (MPC)
Modem In (MPC)
Mic In (for electret and condenser mics)
2 Stereo Line Outputs For Up To 4 Speakers
Optical S/PDIF Output (TOSLINK) - Minidisc compatible *
MIDI/Joystick Port
Wavetable Header
Expansion Header
General MIDI Interface

MIDI MPU-401 UART Mode
16 Byte FIFO’s For MIDI IN and MIDI OUT
Doubles as Joystick Port
Signal Specification

Output: 1Vrms Typical (AC'97 Specification)
Input: 1Vrms Typical (AC'97 Specification)
Frequency Response 20Hz - 20 kHz
THD+N: Less than 0.007%
SNR: Better than 95 dB
Hardware Acceleration Features

Full A3D 1.0 and A3D 2.0 *
DirectSound and DirectSound 3D *
MIDI Synthesis Including DirectMusic
48 kHz Sample Rate Conversion
Digital Mixing
10-Band Graphic Equalizer
Joystick Port Commands
API's Supported

Aureal A3D 1.0 *
Aureal A3D 2.0 *
Microsoft DirectSound *
Microsoft DirectSound 3D *
Microsoft DirectMusic *
Microsoft DirectInput
EAX (future driver revision)
Operating Systems

Microsoft Windows 95/98
Microsoft Windows NT (items marked with * are not supported presently)
Microsoft DOS
Minimum System Requirements

Microsoft Windows 95/98 or Windows NT 4.0
Pentium PC 100 MHz or Higher
8MB of System RAM (16MB Recommended)
15MB of Hard Disk Space for Installation
CD-ROM Drive for Installation
1 Available PCI Bus Slot
Headphones or Powered Speakers


[This message has been edited by Irons82 (edited 07-25-2000).]