pilutiful
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RCA vs jack? (old boombox)
Hi, I bought and old boombox in a thrift shop, to use as an additional reference/monitor. I connect my Scarlett headphones output to the boombox via RCA -> DIN adapter, as seen on the pictures. I'm not getting any sounds out of it, but if I turn it all way up I can faintly hear the song.... My question is: could this be because I'm using a RCA adapter? do you think it would be better if I used a direct DIN cable to my Scarlett, with no RCA adapter in between? The socket in the radio says "REC/PB", so it should work, as seen on youtube videos.  
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pilutiful
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Re: RCA vs jack? (old boombox)
2017/01/10 09:40:42
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Btw the boombox seems to work, I get sound from the radio.
post edited by pilutiful - 2017/01/10 10:30:58
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Cactus Music
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Re: RCA vs jack? (old boombox)
2017/01/10 14:06:21
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Is there not a mini jack aux in? That's what I use in similar set ups. The DIN system is from the 70's and lord only knows how that got wired. Just use a common 1/8" TRS to 1/8" TRS cable and put an 1/4" TRS adapter on the interface end. Even better if you can find a 1/8" TRS to 1?4" TRS but those are rare. Almost half of my headphones have that adapter so you must have one somewhere.
And 1/8" TRS cables are all over the place these days, dollar store item.
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Beagle
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Re: RCA vs jack? (old boombox)
2017/01/10 15:10:08
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☼ Best Answerby pilutiful 2017/01/10 17:22:12
my guess is that the DIN input on that boombox was expecting a very high impedance source which could have been typical from tape machines using DIN output from the 60's and 70's. if that's the case then your Scarlett will never drive that much. just looked up the specs on the scarlett (which is not atypical for any USB soundcard) Nominal Output Level0dBFS = 10dBu balancedFrequency Response20Hz - 20kHz +/- 0.2dBTHD+N-100dB (measured with -1dBFS input 20Hz-20kHz filter, un-weighted) Output Impedance< 10Ω Power Output into 150Ω 15mW Power Output into 50Ω 30mW So if the impedance of that DIN input on the boombox is >1kΩ then your Scarlett will be driving less than 7.5mW into it. milliwatts, not watts! ;)
post edited by Beagle - 2017/01/10 15:31:18
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pilutiful
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Re: RCA vs jack? (old boombox)
2017/01/10 17:25:50
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Thanks for both replies!
@Beagle, that's probably it....thanks for the clarification. I was suspecting something like that.
I should get a boombox with jack/mini-jack input as mentioned by Cactus Music. Or hack this boombox and install a mini-jack aux input!
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Cactus Music
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Re: RCA vs jack? (old boombox)
2017/01/11 19:36:21
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pilutiful
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Re: RCA vs jack? (old boombox)
2017/01/12 06:02:21
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stevesweat
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Re: RCA vs jack? (old boombox)
2017/01/12 10:06:03
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pilutiful
Interesting, thanks :-)
I tried the mini jacks with no luck....1 pair (L/R) is for external speaker, the other pair says external microphone, but no sounds comes.
Did you try pushing record on the jambox when testing minijack? Use an old tape and keep it paused, I'm pretty sure you won't hear anything if "record" is not engaged on the jambox.
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pilutiful
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Re: RCA vs jack? (old boombox)
2017/01/12 12:57:37
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stevesweat
pilutiful
Interesting, thanks :-)
I tried the mini jacks with no luck....1 pair (L/R) is for external speaker, the other pair says external microphone, but no sounds comes.
Did you try pushing record on the jambox when testing minijack? Use an old tape and keep it paused, I'm pretty sure you won't hear anything if "record" is not engaged on the jambox.
I tried pressing down rec/play without tape, no luck. Haven't managed to find a tape yet. This is actually my second old boombox, the first one had exact same resultss. I thought it must have been faulty, but now the second one has same results. But maybe I need a tape.
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stevesweat
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Re: RCA vs jack? (old boombox)
2017/01/12 14:47:08
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pilutiful
stevesweat
pilutiful
Interesting, thanks :-)
I tried the mini jacks with no luck....1 pair (L/R) is for external speaker, the other pair says external microphone, but no sounds comes.
Did you try pushing record on the jambox when testing minijack? Use an old tape and keep it paused, I'm pretty sure you won't hear anything if "record" is not engaged on the jambox.
I tried pressing down rec/play without tape, no luck. Haven't managed to find a tape yet. This is actually my second old boombox, the first one had exact same resultss. I thought it must have been faulty, but now the second one has same results. But maybe I need a tape.
actually you can fool the player into thinking there is a tape by pushing a little pin that will be sticking out to the right side and opposite the tape head mechanism side (if you don't see it maybe the left side) tapes have an indentation in the case so you wont accidentaly record over a recorded tape. you had to push out a little plastic tab on a blank tape to protect it from being recorded over or put a piece of tape over the indentation to tape over a prerecorded tape on purpose (sorry Bon Jovi). If you press the pin in while you press record it should work.
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Cactus Music
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Re: RCA vs jack? (old boombox)
2017/01/13 13:08:55
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Even so the speaker jacks are for output so that's a no go, And the mike jack I would think is not stereo or the correct impedance so that's highly likely a no go as well. I'm afraid those DIN jacks where the only proper input and they are going to be the wrong impedance too.
I see old gettos in the Goodwill all the time for $12-$24. Just find one with RCA input jacks.
I have a set of small computer type speakers on my "B" channel of the Technics amp I use for driving my monitors. It really doesn't tell me much, the sound just goes from great to bad... so I rarely switch to them when mixing. I still find it better to put the songs on a USB stick and go play them in the car or the living room.
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pilutiful
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Re: RCA vs jack? (old boombox)
2017/01/14 09:30:15
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Cactus Music
Even so the speaker jacks are for output so that's a no go, And the mike jack I would think is not stereo or the correct impedance so that's highly likely a no go as well. I'm afraid those DIN jacks where the only proper input and they are going to be the wrong impedance too.
I see old gettos in the Goodwill all the time for $12-$24. Just find one with RCA input jacks.
I have a set of small computer type speakers on my "B" channel of the Technics amp I use for driving my monitors. It really doesn't tell me much, the sound just goes from great to bad... so I rarely switch to them when mixing. I still find it better to put the songs on a USB stick and go play them in the car or the living room.
I would seem that's the case. The best I could do was record to a tape (I found one), and after that rewind the tape and listen to the song (which btw sounds very bad). Must be quite old boombox'es I found. As you say, I need to find a one with RCA inputs, or hack these old ones so they have aux input. Thanks for all the tips though!
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pwalpwal
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Re: RCA vs jack? (old boombox)
2017/01/14 09:52:16
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pilutifulThe best I could do was record to a tape (I found one), and after that rewind the tape and listen to the song (which btw sounds very bad). Must be quite old boombox'es I found.
did you demagnetise the heads and clean it up before use?
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Cactus Music
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Re: RCA vs jack? (old boombox)
2017/01/14 11:21:46
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Better yet, Buy a new getto with a USB input. Most new gettos have this feature so you can play MP3 and every getto I have around has a mini AUX input too to accommodate iPads and cell phone MP3 playback.
If your goal was to proof mixes on other systems converting to MP3 and using modern consumer playback gear is a good idea. Burning a CD an playing in the car is a good idea. Using a tape is a bad idea as that won't be happening anywhere in the real world. The sound will be different because of the tape media, so that tells you nothing other than re mixing for a tape ;?
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