Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: home stereo long wire run

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Posted by Jerry Chase (Member # 660) on 04-18-2001, 04:03 PM:

I want to remove the noise from some old vinyl records, therefore I want a cable to come out of the RCA jacks of an equalizer and run across the house (at least 50 feet) to input to my sound card. Moving the computer or sound system aren't options, & I would like the video from the satellite rcvr. while I'm at it. (TNT card)

The little rebroadcasters don't work work a darn because of all the EMT running through the house.

There are no off-the-shelf cables that length, so I'll roll my own. Standard shield + center audio cable, individually shielded 22 guage twisted pair 4 pr to a cable, or just put RCA plugs on some UTP CAT 5 or what? Isolation transformer? Concerns are line loss, impedence matching, ground loops and near strike lightning, which we get a lot of. Its been ages since I did anything remotely like this and I'd rather admit total stupidity than mess things up and have to re-do, especially since I'll have to pull through a nasty tight attic.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 04-18-2001, 04:41 PM:

Does your EQ have balanced line outputs? If possible, you will really want to use a balanced line for that length cable run.

Alternatively, you might consider renting or borrowing a portable DAT machine. You could connect it directly to your stereo, record the LPs to DAT, then carry the machine over to the computer and connect it to your soundcard. This shouldn't cost more than $25-50/day to rent, plus $4-5 each for tapes. Call a couple of stores that sell/rent stuff to garage bands. Most of them rent audio equipment fairly cheaply. You might also try the film sound places, although they will probably charge more and have stuff like mono Nagra 1/4" machines or high-end DAT machines with timecode and other goodies that you don't need.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 04-18-2001, 05:56 PM:

Actually if you call Gepco International in Chicago at 1-800 966-0069 they could easily help you out with this.

They are one of the top wire manufacturers in the country and all large broadcasting companies(NBC, ABC, etc.) use their wire.
Thay are also distributers for all types of audio connectors, XLR plugs and other goodies that fit that niche.
The best thing is that they will sell you want ever length and or type of wire that you need, and the connectors to go on it.
Mark @ GTS

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 04-18-2001, 07:20 PM:

You could borrow a DAT machine, but MiniDisc is far more common and easier to use (none of that rewinding BS, etc). And it will preserve the sound of your records. Let's not get into talk about compression. We've done that before. Let's put it this way... Dolby Digital (AC-3) has more than TWICE the amount of compression than MiniDisc (ATRAC) and AC-3 still sounds great. MD will work well and they are cheap. You may even consider picking one up for yourself anyway.

Posted by Jerry Chase (Member # 660) on 04-18-2001, 09:39 PM:

While I'd _love_ to play around with a DAT machine and high end components, I have to be realistic (ouch - pun unintended) in that 1. the records I'll be improving have a lot of noise, pops, and crackles already, 2. the audio equipment I have is older midrange stuff anyway, and I could better spend that budget towards better speakers, which are currently the weakest link in my system and 3. a hard-wired connection will allow me to continue to move sound (and possibly video) into my study, which is one of my primary goals.

Balanced line looks enticing, but my equalizer doesn't have those outputs, which means either making a questionable homemade amp, which I'd rather not, or buying a decent distribution amp, which again begins to add to the $$$ spent.

I think I may do some initial experimentation with the cable I have on hand(Belden stranded 4 pair w/foil shield & drain) loose on the floor to see how much loss and noise I can expect. Since the signal will be going into a wave form analysis program on the computer, I should be able to get some kind of meaningful comparisons. I'm thinking a straight feed over quality cabling or a ground cancelling output line _might_ be all I need, since I'm not intending to split the output from the equalizer, merely redirect it.

If the results aren't good enough, I'll probably suck wind in anticipation of prices and call Gepco.

One last possibility would be upgrading network cards and adding another computer at the tv sound system with a sound card there. I've considered this before but would rather not because of possible interference.

BTW, I totally agree about not wanting to do any compression. There shouldn't be any need since I want to go from analog to wav to CD and have 20 gigs of space to play with.

Some of the records I have are 35 or 40 years old, and played to death (although always with quality needles and properly balanced and tracking tonearms.) If I can get the audio back to a comfortable listening quality on CDs, I'll be pleased.

Transformers don't seem to be a good way to go as I had first hoped, and I guess I'll just have another thing to unplug before the summer lightning storms. Dang. I knew I should have put on that metal roof.