Convert your LPs into CDs

Connecting The Turntable (Cont'd)

The other end of the cable you will need to connect to the receiver. You cannot connect your turntable directly to your PC, you must use a receiver. There are two issues involved. First, the impedance from the turntable output and the sound card input are different, which means that the sound level will be very low. Secondly, the output of the turntable is not RIAA equilized. We will explain what this is shortly.

Looking at the back of your receiver you will find a lot of plugs. The turntable must be connected to the plugs labeled “Phono” and your sound card must be connected to the plugs labeled “Tape Out” or “Record Out”. Check this out in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Plugs located on the receiver rear.

Just connect the other end of the turntable cable to the Phono inputs. The red (or yellow) male RCA connector from the cable must be connected to the red (or yellow or labeled “R” or labeled “Right”) female RCA Phono plug from the receiver and the white (or black) male RCA connector from the cable must be connected to the white (or black or labeled “L” or labeled “Left”) female RCA Phono plug from the receiver. The ground wire should be screwed to the thumb screw labeled “Ground” or “GND” on the receiver. Once again, this connection is really important. If you don’t connect the ground wire or if its screw is not tight enough you you will get “hum” noise.

In Figure 5 you can check the cable installation.

Figure 5: Turntable connected to the receiver.