Where's my "LINE-OUT"?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nosmo King
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Nosmo King

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Hi Guys, another newbie here. I want to record myself playing a Yamaha Clavinova CLP-50, using the "mic-in" on a POV VIO 1.5 video camera. The audio from the speakers on my Clavinova is poor, but the sound from the headphone socket is great, so I want to record direct from either the headphone socket, the "AUX OUT" or "MIDI-OUT" The output from the headphone socket is too high to put directly into the "mic-in", as is the "AUX-OUT". I believe I need a "LINE-OUT" signal.
I thought the "AUX-OUT" phono's would be "LINE-OUT" but, as the signal alters with the volume control, I guess it's not.
How can I get a "LINE-OUT" from this set up?
 
Nosmo King said:
I thought the "AUX-OUT" phono's would be "LINE-OUT" but, as the signal alters with the volume control, I guess it's not.
How can I get a "LINE-OUT" from this set up?
Click to expand...

It should. It would suck if you turned down the keys and nothing happened.

You need to get an adapter for RCA to 1/4" stereo, or use some kind of attenuator for the headphone out (although your volume should work on the headphone out as well).

RTFM
 
Thanks Supercreep. I understand that it is difficult to answer a question asked by someone who's knowledge of electro-trickery is unknown. From what I have read, the signal I nead to input into my MIC-IN is known as "LINE OUT", and this is a low level signal that would not be altered by changing the volume control.

The volume does work on the headphone out (as well as the AUX OUT RCA's)
I have got an RCA to (3.5mm) stereo adapter (the MIC IN on my recorder is 3.5mm), but recording from either the AUX OUT RCA's or the HEADPHONE output gives a terribly distorted recording. (whatever the volume level is set at, even at minimum)
The HEADPHONE and AUX OUT outputs are obviously pre-amped to a level that is too high for the MIC IN, so, either, what kind of attenuator do I need, or (as I know naff all about MIDI), can the MIDI OUT signal be coverted to a LINE OUT signal?
 
Signals coming from the headphones or the aux-out are all too hot to feed into a mic-in. Sometimes you can get lucky by using these outputs at a very low level, but most times you will get what you got, i.e. a mess.
 
Nosmo King said:
Hi Guys, another newbie here. I want to record myself playing a Yamaha Clavinova CLP-50, using the "mic-in" on a POV VIO 1.5 video camera. The audio from the speakers on my Clavinova is poor, but the sound from the headphone socket is great, so I want to record direct from either the headphone socket, the "AUX OUT" or "MIDI-OUT" The output from the headphone socket is too high to put directly into the "mic-in", as is the "AUX-OUT". I believe I need a "LINE-OUT" signal.
I thought the "AUX-OUT" phono's would be "LINE-OUT" but, as the signal alters with the volume control, I guess it's not.
How can I get a "LINE-OUT" from this set up?
Click to expand...

OP, aux out and headphone out are line-level signals. You are sending a line level signal to a mic in, which is designed to raise a signal to line level. It is therefore being amplified a second time, resulting in crap. Sorry I missed the mic in thing before.

Can you set the gain to zero on your mic in? Does the camera have a line in?

Again, and this time for the camera, RTFM.
 
Nosmo King said:
From what I have read, the signal I nead to input into my MIC-IN is known as "LINE OUT", and this is a low level signal that would not be altered by changing the volume control.
Click to expand...


no ....... line outs frequently have volume controls on them.
Sometimes not but sometimes they do.
If that is the signal that's working for your recorder then use it ..... set the volume control where it's the level you want and use it.

If you're wanting to mute the speakers you can just plug in a pair of headphones and that'll mute them.
Actually, you could probably just stick any 1/4 in the headphone jack and it'd mute the speakers.

EDIT I see I missed the same thing supercreep did. You're problem is more the mic input you're using.
But my original advice still stands ......... if you don't have a line input on the camera ..... use the line out with the volume control and set it to where it sounds good into that input.
 
Nosmo King said:
what kind of attenuator do I need, or (as I know naff all about MIDI), can the MIDI OUT signal be coverted to a LINE OUT signal?
Click to expand...

Your best bet is probably going to be an attenuator. Something like this should work.

And MIDI cannot be converted to a line level signal. MIDI is data, only. No sound goes through a MIDI cable.


Just curious...Why do you want to record to the video camera? There may be other options.
 
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guys ..... I don't understand why ya'll keep suggest adding an attenuator. There's already one there for him to use, the AUX out.
That's the line out that's controlled by his volume control.
There's no need to use the headphone out thru an attenuator ...... there's no need to use the AUX out and add an attenuator because there's already an attenuator built into the AUX out ... the volume control.
There's's a line out with an attenuator already ........ right there in the keyboard ..... no need to add anything ..... just use the line out that's already built into the keyboard and set the level with the volume control (attenuator).

And OP ...... the fact that there's a volume control does not mean it's not a line out. Line outs can and often do have volume controls on them.
 
Perhaps the video camera is unsuitable for this purpose.....
 
aux out and headphone out are line-level signals

This is not correct. Headphone out is not "line level". The impedance is different, and it has a small "power amp" to drive the headphones.

Aux out could be either "consumer" line level (-10 dBV) or "professional" line level (+4 dBu).

Looking at the CLP-50 manual, it would appear that the "aux outputs" are consumer line level.

Again, referring to the manual, you should have two aux outs, one for "left", one for "right".

So, you have two problems: "mixing" the left and right outputs, and "lowering" their level until it is appropriate for the mic input.

A simple "Y cable" should suffice for mixing the left and right outputs. As some have suggested, since the volume control affects the level on the aux outs, you may be able to adjust the level by adjusting the volume control.

But, if you adjust the volume to provide a suitably low level to the camera's mic input, the volume from your speakers or headphones may not be loud enough.

In that case you would need to use some type of attenuator. You can probably find one at either a music store like Guitar Center or at Radio Shack.

And I will leave it to those better versed in electro-math than I to suggest a recommended value for the attenuator...
 
Nosmo King said:
The volume does work on the headphone out (as well as the AUX OUT RCA's)
I have got an RCA to (3.5mm) stereo adapter (the MIC IN on my recorder is 3.5mm), but recording from either the AUX OUT RCA's or the HEADPHONE output gives a terribly distorted recording. (whatever the volume level is set at, even at minimum)The HEADPHONE and AUX OUT outputs are obviously pre-amped to a level that is too high for the MIC IN, so, either, what kind of attenuator do I need, or (as I know naff all about MIDI), can the MIDI OUT signal be coverted to a LINE OUT signal?
Click to expand...

This is why the attenuator was being suggested.

I'm still curious why the OP is recording to a video camera.
 
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