Laptop DJ'ing through Phono connection?

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Jonas · #1 Post by **Jonas** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 2:17 am

We have a Tuesday dance in Uppsala in a location where the sound equipment is far from exciting from a laptop deejay perspective. There is a box where a mixer and two cd players are tightly mounted, and the only possibilities to connect anything external is through "Phono" connectors.

When using that connection, the sound, as you might have expected, is crap, since, from what I know, "Phono" connectors are different from "Aux"/"CD", the former being for analog signals from a turntable and the latter for digital signals, right?

I suppose it would be possible to use one of the "CD" inputs if we were to unscrew and open up the box, but that would be a very inconvenient thing to do every Tuesday.

So I'm wondering if you sound equipment experts out there know if there is some way to connect a laptop through a "Phono" input and get decent sound?

If yes, how do we go about accomplishing that?

If no, do you have any other suggestions (apart from the "unscrewing the box" option)?

Thanks in advance,
Jonas

Toon Town Dave · #2 Post by **Toon Town Dave** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:31 am

The phono level inputs likely have a pre-amp with a particular frequency response tuned to phonograph players so you definitely don't want to plug a laptop or other line level source directly in to a phono input.

If you're good with a soldering iron and electronics, you could try this home-brew solution. I haven't tried it and I'm too lazy to figure out the frequence response curve.

Basically the 3 branches at the top do all the work. The two resistors on either end are more or less the input and output impedances respectively.

If you're less electronically inclined, it looks like you can purchase the same thing in a neat little package for about USD$10.

Jonas · #3 Post by **Jonas** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 1:05 am

Toon Town Dave wrote:The phono level inputs likely have a pre-amp with a particular frequency response tuned to phonograph players so you definitely don't want to plug a laptop or other line level source directly in to a phono input.

If you're good with a soldering iron and electronics, you could try this home-brew solution. I haven't tried it and I'm too lazy to figure out the frequence response curve.

Basically the 3 branches at the top do all the work. The two resistors on either end are more or less the input and output impedances respectively.

If you're less electronically inclined, it looks like you can purchase the same thing in a neat little package for about USD$10.

Thank you Dave for the advice. It turned out one of the dj guys in our association has a M-Audio Fast Track Pro, so we could borrow it when we had a visiting laptop dj in town last Tuesday. They hooked up the laptop through the Fast Track directly to the active speakers (is that what they are called, or "powered" maybe?), without even having to use the box with the mixer and cd decks.

For my personal use though, I don't have the money to spend on a Fast Track, so I'll probably get my hands on one of those sub-10USD gadgets you suggested, for connecting a laptop through the phono sockets, the few times that situation will arise when I'm traveling, or playing at home base with a laptop for that sake.

/Jonas

david · #4 Post by **david** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 3:16 pm

Jonas wrote:Thank you Dave for the advice. It turned out one of the dj guys in our association has a M-Audio Fast Track Pro, so we could borrow it when we had a visiting laptop dj in town last Tuesday.

That guy would be me.

I think the solution to our problems will be to either fix the DJ mixer to accept proper line input, or to find another small mixer that can mix the DJ output with another line input. I have already planted the idea with another audio tech type here, and I hope he will give it a shot. Since I'm not impressed by the sound quality of the DJ mixer, it might actually be a good idea to bypass it completely.

And you can of course borrow my box if you want to.