Connecting Music Centre to Computer

aardvaak

I have a fairly old Music Centre which has a headphone socket I have an adapter to convert to 3.5mm (the same as on computer).
Can anyone advise me how to connect to the computer to play through or even record on the computer?

Little_John

It is a case of just getting the correct cables between the music centre and the PC.
PC audio connectors are mainly 3.5mm jack plugs sockets, some sound cards have optical spdif and a few other options.
your music centre will proberbly use standard audio connectors RCA/Phono.

playback is easy just connect the output of the PC to your music centre's aux input. most hifi's have an input.
if yours has an output as well then you can connect that to the line in on the PC's soundcard allowing you to record anything from your music centre on the PC's line in.
this is an option for a 3.5mm to phono cable here it will work but the quality of the cable may leave a little to be desired. If you are wanting to make decent noise/interferance free recordings then buy better shielded cables.

Tallymanjohn

To record/play through your PC you just need a cable with 3.5mm stereo jacplugs at either end - one goes to the headphone socket adapter, the other goes to the 'line in' socket on your PC. Double click the loudspeaker icon in the system tray in Windows & check that 'line-in' is enabled (if it isn't shown, then click on 'Options/properties' & put a tick in the 'line-in' box). Start with the volume turned down on the stereo & gradually increase it until you get a decent sound.

aardvaak

Little_John wrote: »

It is a case of just getting the correct cables between the music centre and the PC.
PC audio connectors are mainly 3.5mm jack plugs sockets, some sound cards have optical spdif and a few other options.
your music centre will proberbly use standard audio connectors RCA/Phono.

playback is easy just connect the output of the PC to your music centre's aux input. most hifi's have an input.
if yours has an output as well then you can connect that to the line in on the PC's soundcard allowing you to record anything from your music centre on the PC's line in.
this is an option for a 3.5mm to phono cable here it will work but the quality of the cable may leave a little to be desired. If you are wanting to make decent noise/interferance free recordings then buy better shielded cables.

My PC has 4 sockets Green,Gray,Orange & Black - Which one?

Tallymanjohn

Are you sure the grey one isn't more like light blue? - in which case this should be the one you want - Line in. The other standard PC colours are Lime Green - main Line out (to speakers, amp etc.), Orange - subwoofer or centre speaker, sometimes digital output, Black - rear speakers.

aardvaak

I have a 7:1 system on my PC and all 4 plugs are in is this wrong?
Yes Grey is lightish blue.

Tallymanjohn

No, it should be correct - the light blue one is the input, the other 3 are outputs to your sound system. The only way to be absolutely sure is to check the manual for your soundcard/motherboard. If you don't have it you can generally download a copy from the manufacturer's website.

Little_John

you are better to take the output of your music centre from a line out at the back of your system rather than the headphones socket to the line in. let the PC deal with the amplification so your not having to mess about with the hifi volume to prevent clipping and distortion when you make recordings.

aardvaak

It is a very old music centre with no line outs at the back.

Tallymanjohn

As I mentioned before, it's ok to use the headphone socket but just remember to start off with it at a low volume & increase it until you get a decent sound.