To those asking "Why don't you just use the line input of your sound card?" -- Like many newer PCs and Macs, the laptop I used in the video does not have a line input. The only audio input it has is the mono microphone terminal of its headset jack, which is not software-definable to work as anything else. So if your computer has a line input, that's great! But this product is for those who don't.
@Jackie Bereham "They sound better than the original albums now." That's really a subjective opinion. I've been using the same Thorens turntable for 25 years and I'm very used to the way it sounds. There's nothing I would rather listen to more.
My laptop, an ACER Aspire 3, has one jack for all. When I plug anything into it, it asks what I just plugged in. Options are line in, line out, mic in, headphones, headset, or speaker out. Obviously, I can only plug in one device at a time. There are three USB ports, an HDMI, as well as Bluetooth radio.
They certainly took some liberty in advertising the product's compatibility. There's no way it can safely interface, say, to a 4 dBu analogue source ("guitars, keyboards, synthesizers..." they say). Even my humble Revox tapedeck, with Dolby level set at precisely 0 dBu, can easily produce +10 dBu (8 V p-p) undistorted output from decent cassettes. This kind of level needs a hardware resistive pad (at the very least), not software adjustments.
I've seen some scam HDMI to VGA adapters that are for oddball TV sets that use the HDMI as a multi-in port in software, but people buy them not knowing that and then wonder why it doesn't work. same with some of the HDMI to composite cables i've seen.
Doesn't surprise me that they're using that design, DACs can be small enough to fit in a standard USB connector these days. In fact, the wired earbuds included with the iPhone, have a DAC in the tiny Lightning connector
Yes, the DAC chip will easily fit into the USB plug footprint, and even a lot of flash memory devices fit the entire flash chip and controller into the actual plug itself, with noting but the contacts as hard gold plate on the other side, and the shell wrapped around it. Your Apple lightning connector has integrated into it a pair of control and interface chips inside the connector already, to provide identification as to the cable serial number (thus the clones that get bricked every IOS upgrade) and the actual capabilities of the cable as to the functions it supports, from plain charging in various flavours to being able to handle audio and display, plus also to have USB capability.
@@timotheatae You're correct about USB-C having an analog output (Audio Adapter Accessory Mode), but Lightning does not have such a feature. There's a teardown of the EarPods that reveals a DAC inside the Lightning connector. appleinsider.com/articles/16/09/20/teardown-finds-dac-chips-in-apples-lightning-earpods-lightning-to-35mm-adapter-for-iphone-7
@@timotheatae Apple was chasing size reduction above all else with Lightning. Their 30-pin connector provided many such analogue signals, including composite video. With Lightning it was deemed these functions were more obscure and took up unnecessary space. Remember, the iPhone didn’t get rid of the headphone jack until a while after adopting Lightning. As far as they were concerned, to include such a feature would be a waste of circuit traces and connector pins. The iPod dock market wasn’t as hot anymore either, and they were the primary reason for including those signals in the 30-pin connector. So it’s not really that surprising they had to add an extra chip when they did kill the headphone jack. Also, the Pixel phones’ USB-C headphone dongle is in fact a class-compliant USB audio device, and the adaptors that tap into those audio pins purportedly don’t work on the Pixel phones. I wouldn’t be surprised if most other manufacturers do it that other way though, they can reuse the DAC in the phone and the adaptor itself is cheaper.
@@TRLTheRandomLab not even all USB-C adapters are using the audio adapter mode, the new ones are all with a DAC inside like the Lightning ones (Apple even makes one for their iPads)
Why is it crazy? A cheap cable with a cheap generic but standard (these things have been tiny for a LONG time) that takes less than a dollar to make is crazy? Therere better ones than this for like 10 bucks anyway.
As a side note, if you've always wanted to know what a level of 51 *really* means, right-click the field and it'll let you select a display in dB. The mapping can be... _interesting._
There are weird USB cables like that, with a USB plug on one side and something else on the other end: audio jacks, phone plugs, firewire, rj45, ps2, db9, you name them. But they're just cables, designed for special purposes, and using them to connect stuff that isn't supposed to be connected together can be dangerous for the equipment. So it's good to be careful, but it shouldn't be a surprise nowadays. Think about this: bluetooth earbuds have a full computer in them, complete with radio circuitry and antenna, dac, adc, speaker, several mic, a battery, and they're smaller than that connector...
0:24 Techmoan: "We're up all night to get lucky, we're up all night to get lucky" (36 seconds into this video ruclips.net/video/cIXOH1tJJu4/видео.html)
here's the full tune: ruclips.net/video/gdh6W27OR8M/видео.html and the original video that the thing come from: ruclips.net/video/5ks3ucumilU/видео.html
All the Van Halen albums through 1984 has Eddie's guitar predominantly coming through the left channel (except during solos that are mixed center), with just some echo/reverb of the guitar coming through the right channel. This may help identify left audio from right audio on the unlabeled adapter.
@@lauridsd Or just plug it in, start recording, and switch it around if it was wrong and then mark it. Or select invert channels in audacity if youre lazy
To be honest, I'm surprised that you're surprised. Some of the dongles are rediculously tiny if you take out the actual jacks. Don't forget, you can get 512+ gigabyte "micro" flash drives (think Logitech unifying receiver but it's a storage device... Tiny). Besides... Everyone uses ADCs and DACs smaller than this in their phones and (apparently) don't even know it.
This is totally unrelated but I really like your presentation style in all your videos. It has a nice "vintage RUclips" feel but with way higher production value. Also your speaking voice is extremely clear and well paced.
I assume its set up as a "Microphone Array" since it has two left and right channels, then it's just sensible that it sets itself up with two channels.
Huh, a product of reasonable value that works well and does what it says? Don’t see that often anymore! ADCs can be made tiny these days, though it’s definitely no less impressive to see that in practice!
The A/D converter chip is very common in many devices There was a device called iMic that accepted Line level or headphone level input and it had a USB plug and was plug-and-play I used them to feed the discriminator output from my Motorola 2-way radios to give ATCS-Monitor the live data from the radios Because you have multiple radios each needing a sound card line level input, the iMic was needed or you needed to add extra sound cards. I will definitely pick up some of these cables
I'm pleasantly surprised by its quality. It seems it tells Windows that it's a USB microphone, which I guess makes sense from an ease-of-implementation viewpoint. Sure, mucking about with the Windows input levels as you switch from source to source is a bit of an annoyance, but other than that, it does the job quite well.
It’s not impressive compared to the same thing inside a much, much, much smaller plug, which is exactly what Apple does in its Lightning EarPods and Lightning to headphone adapter.
@@jamesslick4790 Yeah it does. It's literally the same thing. Smartphones are just handheld PCs. A DAC is a DAC. Building a DAC into a connector is building a DAC into a connector, and the smartphones have smaller connectors so it is more impressive.
@@jamesslick4790 Of course it does, since the commenter found it “impressive” that they’d shrunk down the technology to fit in the plug. It’s literally the _exact same thing._ Headphones are analog audio devices, and a USB output used for digital audio is the same whether it’s connected to a PC or a phone. (Lightning audio output uses USB internally.)
@@tookitogo The APPLE device is LESS impressive as it adds an unnecessary layer, just to remain proprietary. But fanbois be fanbois I guess. This device is "agnostic" as to brand of input or output device or OS, and The OP was impressed that the thing has LESS bulk than the USUAL analog to USB devices. AND NO ONE IS HOOKING UP A Cassette deck to a PC with an iPhone.
It looks like a lot of audio equipment uses a 3/4” spacing but it’s sort of a de-facto standard rather than anything formalized, as far as I can tell. A bunch of stuff out there uses a different spacing, often specifically to break compatibility. There’s probably some circuit layout reason why so many manufacturers just happen to do 3/4” RCA plug spacing.
It's not a circuit layout reason. Circuit boards are often laid 90 degrees from the connectors, so the easiest thing for manufacturers to do is to buy a combo jack, ie one piece of plastic with both left and right jacks. So they both save on board space and manufacturing time.
@@xureality well yeah having a single integrated stereo pair obviously makes the most sense, but the fact that it's all using the same spacing is the de-facto thing which I thought might have a circuit layout reason behind it (like something to do with standard trace/perfboard/etc. spacing or something).
That’s actually a pretty decent little ADC. Far less noisy than the built-in input on the computer, and lots don’t even have a separate one anymore, just a mic pin in the headphone jack. Plus the form factor makes it convenient and basically idiot-proof. The extra little adaptors make the user experience seem pretty pleasant. Not bad for under $20. It probably makes transfers that sound as good as the device they’re played on for most customers, unlike a built-in input. Now, let’s hope they’re saving as FLAC or WAV, or they might feel their originals still had a little something extra to them.
It's mostly laptops that don't have all those audio connectors. Even so, my Acer Nitro 5 supports line input as an option when you use the combo jack. Desktop computers that aren't cheap garbage also generally have different audio inputs. Even my 2009 desktop has 7.1 audio support and at 192 KHz 24 bit.
@@fungo6631 Plenty of integrated inputs claim those high rates but there's tests you can do to show they basically just increase the harmonic interference. You'll want to put it on 48kHz to actually get the best out of it. And, even with all that being said, the most premium integrated input is still going to be noisier than a proper dedicated conversion device. Now, you may not notice it personally, in which case go wild on your own personal transfers. You're not going to be layering them on top each other like people do in audio production, which is why they care so much about low noise.
@@kaitlyn__L This was a fairly high end LGA 775 mobo, and the S/N ratio was advertised as 117 dB. MSI P45-C51 is the mobo. It has mic and line input alongside the 7.1 output. Separate connectors, instead of sacrificing the mic and line inputs.
@@fungo6631 I understand. It’s from 2009, it obviously doesn’t have the single integrated port. Like I said, if you’re satisfied with your integrated sound, that’s just fine. Nevertheless, there is only so much you can do on a motherboard when it comes to large trace gaps, only so many filtering caps you can fit, only so-clean of a power source when it’s being shared with the rest of the system. Dedicated interfaces will sound better for the same price as the premium for motherboard audio. And if you’re using the front panel connectors instead of the back, those tiny wires are also incredibly noisy. I was a firm believer in premium integrated audio chips for years. I convinced myself buying a separate device was pointless. Until I actually had to buy one for an XLR input, and everything else sounded much better through it as well. Again, I don’t want to make you feel bad about your current setup, or to convince you that you need to go out and spend a ton of money. What you have right now is fine for you. But whenever you’re going to be upgrading your audio setup anyway, consider buying an external interface. One of my friends hated integrated audio but kept buying PCIe sound cards. And later, a Schitt audio interface for half the price sounded much better than her sound cards, and she was all like “why didn’t I do this sooner?”. (When she used the front panel connectors her headphone output was getting crosstalk into her microphone input, and the Schitt unit alleviated that too by having the output on her desk. No more choosing between crosstalk and reaching round the back.)
If you were wondering and haven't read the rest of the posts yet (or I missed a bit of VW's video), a small Analogue to Digital Converter (ADC) chip resides inside the USB plug end of the cable and converts the audio signal into a digital one. :)
You'd be surprised how much electronics you can fit inside a standard USB connector. Most bluetooth and wifi adapters are little larger than the physical connector itself, usually the plastic shell is just so you can grab the thing.
I was having such a difficult time with my brand new (very old) Yamaha Natural Sound Stereo Cassette Deck TC-920B. I took advice from people telling me to use Audacity, which I think is AWFUL. They somehow replace the line-in with Audiojingle and I had no USB line in option. Well I deleted Audacity and downloaded Ocenaudio--what a difference! Not only did it add back a USB option, but with my little Behringer interface, it worked perfectly after a restart. Thank you so much for Ocenaudio, so much better than Audacity! The sound is amazing!
For others who might pick up the same adapter. I don't suppose there are any distinguishing features on either side of the 3.5mm to RCA that might more readily indicate which side is appropriately labeled "L-R"? Like maybe even registration marks or ejection pin outlines from the molding? Not that it's THAT hard to figure out, just one of those annoyances. Still not as bad as when cheap cords and adapters outright screw up the red-white-yellow color coding.
Issues I have is, you want to record 24/48 or 24/96 to ensure you capture all detail and allow headroom for editing, mixing, noise reduction, resampling
Wow, thanks for finding both of these products! OcenAudio is GREAT, and I'll be ordering the ClearClick Audio2USB also. I usually use AVS4U software for audio\video, which has free software, but also sells about a dozen titles, often on sale for about $50 total, with free updates, and works a lot better than any Microsoft stuff.
Well, unfortunately lots of those cables are just scam ones, with no chip inside doing any conversion. This is very common also with hdmi to vga cables.
I don't think they always are scams. A lot of times they're cables for niche devices - that use a 3.5mm as a USB socket got some reason, for example. They're just not properly advertised on what they're made for. It's like a component to VGA cable. If you try to hook your old Xbox up to an old monitor with one of those, it ain't gonna work well since they're designed for projectors that are designed for component input using their VGA port.
@@elijahwatson8119 Yes, I have an old Epson Gideon projector that uses it’s VGA in port both for standard VGA input and for component input which requires a special VGA type connector to three component RCA plugs cable if you want to connect a component device to the projector such as DVD player. When I first got the thing wondered if I could use it to plug a laptop into a TV using the VGA to component cable but soon realized that this cable has no conversion chip in it and thus only works with compatible video projector that support component output via a VGA port (I believe their is a industry standard for that). As for cables that are USB A to 3.55mm headphone-style Jack, the iPod Shuffle 2nd Gen, 3rd, and 4th Gen all used the headphone Jack to transfer music and to charge the device using a special dock include that had 3.55mm plug sticking up from the dock stand and a USB A cable attached. You could also buy third party cables that didn’t have the dock and just looked just like the cable shown in this video and I don’t believe they include any conversion chip in the cable as far as I know. So indeed sometimes cables that seem like scams really have a valid use case even if sometimes the seller mislabeled them as having capabilities they don’t.
How is it surprising, given that Apple has been putting codecs (ADC/DAC combo) into Lightning plugs for years? Those have far less room than a USB-A plug. (And the Lightning to HDMI adapter actually contains an entire SoC running Darwin. All because Lightning doesn’t have the bandwidth for uncompressed 1080p video, so instead the phone outputs it as an h.264 stream that the dongle decodes and outputs to HDMI!)
It reminds me of the cable included with a cheap children's digital camera I found (2nd-hand), that had an 1/8" (3.5mm) plug on one end, and a 9-pin serial plug on the other. And yes, using it required special too.
So glad to see John Laduca's Mr. Fantastic album at second one! Many people will find it very weird reading this enthusiastic comment over some elevator/Muzak music but, yes, you made me love this by playing it several times over the years on a few videos.
This is a great video! I have wondered about the lack of a line input on computers these days, and you seem to have found a really good solution! It sounded just fine to me over RUclips. I think this solves a lot of problems, and it is great that it has no hum or noise. And on top of that, to discover a NEW audio processing software -- well, that makes your video golden to me (yes I like and use Audacity, but who can resist a different sound editor to add to my collection?) So thanks for the very useful video and again, your usual thoroughness and clarity. Love your channel!
The only advantage I see with a single cable is the less rca cables being used.More cables more input/output more degradation of the signal, plus added interference/noise.
Nice one. Two obvious use cases (at least for my purposes): - transferring WAV rips of retrocomputer tapes onto real cassette tape - running said rips directly off a laptop into a vintage computer with a 3.5mm input for tape programs (I'm looking at you, Sinclair)
thats the first thing i thought about, old software on tape (there is tons of this already backed up on the interwebs too), make it easy to plug into old computers with modern pc. I did not think about preservation of these old tapes with this device tho, probably would work well if its really low noise.
This may be useful for owners of automobiles built after 2018, or so. My friend just took delivery of a 2021 Mazda that was specified as having an AUX analog audio input for the sound system, but it turned out that Mazda deleted that feature, so there is no way to get an audio feed from, say, a portable CD player, cassette tape player, handheld ham radio transceiver, etc., in short, any older device that lacks Bluetooth or USB.
Audacity is licensed under GPL 2 (or later at the user's option). I hope that CD with Audacity complied with the following from Audacity's website: "In granting you this right, the GPL requires that the source code you distribute is itself available under the GPL. If you distribute or recommend Audacity in any way, please cite our trademark by referring to Audacity as “Audacity(R)”."
I just connected my turntable, open reel deck, 6 track player and cassette deck to an old Radio Shack mixer and plugged it into my line-in jack. Have copied over 400 albums and all sound great
Those adapters look really useful for all sorts of fun/cursed setups lol. And for the stereo L/R one you can solve the spacing issues with some more adapters and cables. As an occasional enthusiast I've learned that no problem can't be solved with additional cables.
Fun with cables and adapters. Phooey on Bluetooth or wireless transmission, get more cables. I like how the manufacturers could never decide if stereo connections should be red & black, red & white, white & black, green & white, black & black with red stripe, What fun.
The modern DAC are tiny. Its like a 8 sodimm chip. But you can actually use the usb to record or send audio directly. While the usb is digital, it uses a 8/10 digital encoder. With the right software this can be used to emulate sound.
Top tip: if you rightclick on the audio levels on your windows recording device, you can change it from % to dB which gives you some more precise control.
The only instance where I've needed something else (like a box rather than just a cable) is if conversion latency is a problem. For example, if the audio source being recorded is an electric guitar being played live, processing delay will throw off the guitarist. Audio interfaces for a use like that, are engineered to have low latency. A $45 M-Track is about as cheap as one should go.
That's pretty cool!! Nice review and tutorial I came across something recently, it is a USB out that supplies you with a stereo audio out and a microphone input. it is fairly tiny. Search for a USB sound card and many should show up. One of a few I own is the Orico branded one with an external volume control. It should work with windows, Linux and Apple
Feb 2021: I've had great success with various tape decks patched to various Sony portable stereo digital recorders (ICD-PXnnn) - the ones WITH USB file transfer capability, as some elder models don't have USB) - - for my dad's old cassette tapes. Benefit here being I transferred an entire tape at a time (from an Auto-Reverse deck), then could quickly use the recorders' Split-track feature to break the tape into "tracks". Lastly, already coded in MP3 format, simply transfer the files off the recorder to PC / external file archive storage, etc. Recorders' Erase track feature also quick and readily usable to delete bad/dead spots/unwanted material as well, leaving only desired recordings in digital format, roughly 128Kpbs audio quality.
Could this be used to input audio into an android phone or tablet? This would allow audio capture from CD or tapes/vinyl direct to the phone Also could allow cassette and cd playback through phone, then bluetooth into your car system or BT headphones
@@murpesx Not quite true, Audacity can very well record even beyond 24-96, but your audio device has to support it. But ocenaudio's interface is way better, have been using it for years now.
@@phonatic I'm sure you're correct. There was something that made me switch to Ocenaudio because of a feature that Audacity lacked, but that was some time ago. Maybe it was ASIO support.
@@murpesx ASIO could be a reason. Windows audio has been terrible for years and I am glad I have passed beyond that with Linux. I never could warm up to Audacity UI, it's just very inconsistent and not well laid out. Ocenaudio has much less features but is really my first choise for quick'n'dirty tasks.
15 years ago i baught a cheap car stereo that had an USB Jack on the front. But it was just an analog audio jack with a matching cable that plugged into the phone jack of your mp3 player. That was very sad.
I had a Behringer UPhono (UFO202) gadget that I lost some months ago, and this looks like a excellent semi-replacement. Though, to be fair, the UPhono had more features. It was actually a full-on USB sound card, but also featured a switchable magnetic/line input, line-level pass through, and headphone jack with volume control. In a pinch, I could even use it as a basic phono preamp even if I wasn't using it to digitize music. So this won't entirely replace my UPhono but it'll do for simple A/D conversion. Thank you for spotlighting this; I'm going to order a pair of them (cause I'm certain I'll lose at least one, lol).
I personally wouldn't use it myself as I would prefer recording using a better quality interface, but for your average Joe this looks spot on. Amazingly impressive that they can squeeze the circuitry into a moulded USB connector now. Good stuff!
ever since they removed the headphone jack, apple's headphones have had a DAC and an ADC inside the plug (and no, the lightning connector does not have any analog pins)
my PC's onboard audio is fried, I've been using a fiio DAC for a line out, but this would be handy for line in. I've been working with a lot of vintage computers lately like the commodore 64, and experimenting with products like the FPGASID, but when I built the PC from used junk, I forgot this board's onboard audio was cooked
A good thing to remember is that every adapter or extra connection in the chain adds about 3db of signal loss, so an adapter chain or extension cables on the audio side can degrade the signal
This is pretty good! i'm surprised! Like when you did the silence test i was expecting to hear something some hiss or something.. but nope. nada, not a thing. I'm impressed. For my household though i'd probably still add a cheap snap on ferrite choke to it.
The chips are tiny any more. I got a USB-C to stereo headphone adapter for my new phone, it really looked like it was a cord until I tried it. It worked just fine. I didn't know those fixed space RCA connectors could actually connect just fine to anything.
I've been using an RCA to USB audio converter for around 5 years on my mixing board to my PC or laptop. Has a DAC near the end of the USB connector. Got it for a good price on eBay. These types devices are very common now, no?
The only problem with this cable is it looks so much like it could be used in reverse, Computer to headset. There are also cables that are designed in the opposite direction for certain Chinese car stereos I think. They also give the impression that they can be used to turn a USB headset into an analog headset but no chip. I always find it hard when somebody holds up "this adapter will solve my problem" and I'm like USB to firewire or etc. adapters will make more problems than they solve and I never thought they would actually kill the device but apparently..... There are hundreds of USB to FireWire adapters on Amazon and I experienced a device being killed by one. And contrary to popular belief I don't know what therefore other than those cable kits will you carry one cable and a whole bunch of adapters and then you use the cable interchangeably, as I looked up the camera that supposedly is only compatible one with it and it has separate FireWire and USB ports for two different functions so....
@@DoubleMonoLR Most modern DAC and ADC ICs are "fine" but the implementation is often atrocious with minimal decoupling. If one is lazy or cheap, it is very easy to get a -50dB SINAD out of an IC capable of -110dB.
The B104 recording sounds great! I Love the 90's "FM Radio" sound when all the processing was done analog. Pushing it to the limit is fine in the analog domain. In modern digital sound processors they're doing the same and it sounds even louder, but it doesn't sound as natural and musical as it did whit analog equipment. Let's say it's a little bit too much accurate. But that's off topic, it's all about sound processing on the transmitter site. Your DAC cable sounds fine.
Actually the first successful digital audio processor, the Orban Optimod-FM 8200, was introduced in 1992 and was in common use by major-market stations by the mid-1990s.
I do lots of audio recording on my PC from different sources. I use the line input on my PC's sound card. When I bought this PC I specified that the computer has a line input on it. When I record I use GoldWave editor. Some sources like the output from audio chips for example the ones from singing greeting cards their audio overdrives my sound card so I use an in line volume control to limit the audio volume. It works better than the control built into the computer. I have a custom made audio cable just for recording from some sources. It is two alligator clips on one end and a 3.5mm plug on the other. If I got a newer machine I will consider buying this device.
I bought one of these on your recommendation a little over two years ago, and haven't used it yet. I know, I know...why'd ya buy it? Because if it fills a need, I know I will have ONE DAY when I get the time to digitize some of my hundreds of unique cassette recordings. Hopefully, the deck won't have dry rotted belts or something like that, and I won't croak before I get around to it. It's amazing how fully I found ways to occupy my time since retirement. If only I could figure out how to stop wasting time on sleep.
I usually just use a thick axillary audio cable. 3.5 plug on each side. Plug 1 side into the headphone jack of the radio, the other goes into Line in on computer.
Built-in line inputs tend to be pretty noisy, unfortunately. You’re usually way better off with an external ADC, even a cheap one like what this video’s about.
@@fluffycritter True I occasionally have to adjust the cables if they get bumped because they get staticky. Once I messed with the cables to a point I have to put my ear right up to the speaker to hear any hum, thats what I settle with. lol
I’ve got one of these things that has a slightly larger USB housing, and for some reason my one adds it’s own background noise to tracks because even if I record without it even plugged into anything and it’s quite noticeable.
I just got one of these to use with a Realistic SCT-34 that I had wanted as a teen when I first saw it in the Radio Shack catalog and found at a local Goodwill recently. It works great and I'm copying my tapes over to MP3 files right now.
I came across something like this in a 'RGB spectrum visualizer thingy' kit I got from Amazon. The data +/- lines simply carry the audio signal to an analog input on a microcontroller. I couldn't figure out at first how the thing got its audio input as it had no analog input jack or microphone - then I found that weird cable that came with it - it has one cable with a USB male (for power) and one with the 1/8" audio going into a mini USB male that connects to the spectrum thingy.
The personal speaker unit with Bluetooth from target the 10.00 a few years ago had that cable included with it interesting so you can now get a cable like that online that is good to know thanks vwestlife
Interesting, just come across this. The chip in the cable will be a modified external sound card device with just the line in enabled. CD quality put it up there with some of the more pricy alternatives.
Now what would be really cool is if they included a phono pre in there as well. It should actually be possible to squeeze a little opamp in there with the required filter components...
Any decent soundcard should have a working line level input anyway, together with Microphone and Line Out. It should also feature MIDI in and MIDI out, so it can be used together with external synthesizers.
It's definitely useful for laptops although some desktops, at least some motherboards, may have Line In. I don't know how good or reliable no-name converters at 0:37 would work but at least the ClearClick actually worked well. Ripping CDs would be a different story since some newer computers, especially laptops and gaming computers, don't have a DVD/Blu-ray drive although it could be fixed by purchasing a USB DVD drive but I'd beware of no-name drives on Amazon as they may not work well.
I just record it from my tape deck into my 12 year old ZOOM recorder as either an interface or to record onto its internal SD card into MP3 or up to WAV 24bit 96khz. So yeah. There are options... For all of my band stuff, I record on my ZOOM R16 and ZOOM h2N (as a room mic) then edit, mix and master on Audacity - you would not need to go into the settings for the device to change the input recording level if you used Audacity as all you need do is set it at minus 4db or pull back the bar to a level where the recording will not clip while it is playing. Then there you go, do it in the software, no need for that extra awkward step. Surely your application you were using could do this too?
Dang, son. I'm genuinely surprised by this thing. And you get what you paid for, too, in terms of recording fidelity. Wonder if they'll ever get around to making something like this that will allow for a higher bitrate option.
I bought a 1/4 inch jack to USB lead for my guitar afew years ago that looked similar to this. No box in the middle of the cable, just a slightly longer and fatter USB plug. Used it twice, then it shorted the USB socket on the (very old) computer. LOL.
Thoughts on this as opposed to a line in cable? Currently I use a 2.5mm-1/4'' adapter, and do often experience audio quality issues. I've heard a lot of the issue may be due to my motherboard's line in being poor quality.
I thought this thing would fail because the "box in the middle" would have a few circuits driving the power to the ROM chip that drives the serial bus for the computer to read it as a peripheral, but this one doesn't. However I was very wrong! Technology is something else!
It would be very helpful if you could make a video on how to set up Audacity for best recording parameters (given it has a lot of parameters that can be adjusted which have certainly got me confused!)
To those asking "Why don't you just use the line input of your sound card?" -- Like many newer PCs and Macs, the laptop I used in the video does not have a line input. The only audio input it has is the mono microphone terminal of its headset jack, which is not software-definable to work as anything else. So if your computer has a line input, that's great! But this product is for those who don't.
@Jackie Bereham "They sound better than the original albums now." That's really a subjective opinion. I've been using the same Thorens turntable for 25 years and I'm very used to the way it sounds. There's nothing I would rather listen to more.
@@briangoldberg4439 I think he knows it's subjective opinion, lol. Sorta a given with a common like that, he was giving his opinion after all.
My laptop, an ACER Aspire 3, has one jack for all. When I plug anything into it, it asks what I just plugged in. Options are line in, line out, mic in, headphones, headset, or speaker out. Obviously, I can only plug in one device at a time. There are three USB ports, an HDMI, as well as Bluetooth radio.
@@dougbrowning82 same with mine, combo jacks don't inherently mean mono in only.
@@dougbrowning82 One of OP's laptops also does this.
Good to see a non scam product for once
They certainly took some liberty in advertising the product's compatibility. There's no way it can safely interface, say, to a 4 dBu analogue source ("guitars, keyboards, synthesizers..." they say). Even my humble Revox tapedeck, with Dolby level set at precisely 0 dBu, can easily produce +10 dBu (8 V p-p) undistorted output from decent cassettes. This kind of level needs a hardware resistive pad (at the very least), not software adjustments.
I've seen some scam HDMI to VGA adapters that are for oddball TV sets that use the HDMI as a multi-in port in software, but people buy them not knowing that and then wonder why it doesn't work. same with some of the HDMI to composite cables i've seen.
@@DoubleMonoLR or when people buy them, even though it may be listed, people don't read.
@@tarstarkusz what the hell is "um"?
@@tarstarkusz LOL
Doesn't surprise me that they're using that design, DACs can be small enough to fit in a standard USB connector these days. In fact, the wired earbuds included with the iPhone, have a DAC in the tiny Lightning connector
Yes, the DAC chip will easily fit into the USB plug footprint, and even a lot of flash memory devices fit the entire flash chip and controller into the actual plug itself, with noting but the contacts as hard gold plate on the other side, and the shell wrapped around it. Your Apple lightning connector has integrated into it a pair of control and interface chips inside the connector already, to provide identification as to the cable serial number (thus the clones that get bricked every IOS upgrade) and the actual capabilities of the cable as to the functions it supports, from plain charging in various flavours to being able to handle audio and display, plus also to have USB capability.
@@timotheatae You're correct about USB-C having an analog output (Audio Adapter Accessory Mode), but Lightning does not have such a feature. There's a teardown of the EarPods that reveals a DAC inside the Lightning connector. appleinsider.com/articles/16/09/20/teardown-finds-dac-chips-in-apples-lightning-earpods-lightning-to-35mm-adapter-for-iphone-7
@@timotheatae Apple was chasing size reduction above all else with Lightning. Their 30-pin connector provided many such analogue signals, including composite video. With Lightning it was deemed these functions were more obscure and took up unnecessary space. Remember, the iPhone didn’t get rid of the headphone jack until a while after adopting Lightning. As far as they were concerned, to include such a feature would be a waste of circuit traces and connector pins. The iPod dock market wasn’t as hot anymore either, and they were the primary reason for including those signals in the 30-pin connector.
So it’s not really that surprising they had to add an extra chip when they did kill the headphone jack. Also, the Pixel phones’ USB-C headphone dongle is in fact a class-compliant USB audio device, and the adaptors that tap into those audio pins purportedly don’t work on the Pixel phones. I wouldn’t be surprised if most other manufacturers do it that other way though, they can reuse the DAC in the phone and the adaptor itself is cheaper.
@@TRLTheRandomLab not even all USB-C adapters are using the audio adapter mode, the new ones are all with a DAC inside like the Lightning ones (Apple even makes one for their iPads)
No, lightning connectors have analog audio pins
That’s pretty crazy. A stereo usb interface the size of a cable for $17?
i got a cable like this off aliexpress for 8.60usd and works good
Why is it crazy? A cheap cable with a cheap generic but standard (these things have been tiny for a LONG time) that takes less than a dollar to make is crazy? Therere better ones than this for like 10 bucks anyway.
You’re here too!
you can do the same with $15 easycap and records video
Imagine this in the 90's, minds would be blown
As a side note, if you've always wanted to know what a level of 51 *really* means, right-click the field and it'll let you select a display in dB. The mapping can be... _interesting._
ok this video give me nostalgia because the quality gives off 2012 vibe
the audio from the ken tones was so spacious it made me feel like it was actually playing behind me, nice!
There are weird USB cables like that, with a USB plug on one side and something else on the other end: audio jacks, phone plugs, firewire, rj45, ps2, db9, you name them. But they're just cables, designed for special purposes, and using them to connect stuff that isn't supposed to be connected together can be dangerous for the equipment.
So it's good to be careful, but it shouldn't be a surprise nowadays. Think about this: bluetooth earbuds have a full computer in them, complete with radio circuitry and antenna, dac, adc, speaker, several mic, a battery, and they're smaller than that connector...
And really a lot of things could get a lot smaller but it becomes an issue of practicality when your looking for somthing smaller than a thumbnail
0:24 Techmoan: "We're up all night to get lucky, we're up all night to get lucky" (36 seconds into this video ruclips.net/video/cIXOH1tJJu4/видео.html)
A man of culture
here's the full tune: ruclips.net/video/gdh6W27OR8M/видео.html
and the original video that the thing come from: ruclips.net/video/5ks3ucumilU/видео.html
This is a glock-19
@@RomanBellic (knocking)
@@RomanBellic So I'm driving here to get some help
0:24 Sudden unexpected 8-Bit Guy cameo made me LOL.
I had to confirm the YT channel I was on...
All the Van Halen albums through 1984 has Eddie's guitar predominantly coming through the left channel (except during solos that are mixed center), with just some echo/reverb of the guitar coming through the right channel. This may help identify left audio from right audio on the unlabeled adapter.
Nice tip but I'd just touch the pins of the RCA connector. That's usually enough to pick up some mains hum, and it even works without records.
@@eDoc2020 that is the most simple way. Don’t know why anyone would complicate it beyond that.
Or just plug the RCA adapter into only one of the two channels (leave the other side of the adapter "hanging".)
@@lauridsd did you not look at that adaptor? It doesn’t hang.
@@lauridsd Or just plug it in, start recording, and switch it around if it was wrong and then mark it. Or select invert channels in audacity if youre lazy
I high-key thought this was gonna be a scam, and was very pleasantly surprised.
Why highkey or lowkey anything? Your comment means the same without that btw.
@@gram. Why does that bother you? It's their writing style, and they can use those terms as they please. A lot of people use them now, actually! :)
@@vertihippo1274 this is the most sane comment I've seen on youtube
To be honest, I'm surprised that you're surprised. Some of the dongles are rediculously tiny if you take out the actual jacks. Don't forget, you can get 512+ gigabyte "micro" flash drives (think Logitech unifying receiver but it's a storage device... Tiny). Besides... Everyone uses ADCs and DACs smaller than this in their phones and (apparently) don't even know it.
This is totally unrelated but I really like your presentation style in all your videos. It has a nice "vintage RUclips" feel but with way higher production value. Also your speaking voice is extremely clear and well paced.
I assume its set up as a "Microphone Array" since it has two left and right channels, then it's just sensible that it sets itself up with two channels.
Huh, a product of reasonable value that works well and does what it says? Don’t see that often anymore!
ADCs can be made tiny these days, though it’s definitely no less impressive to see that in practice!
It looks like it would never work. Crazy.
There’s an Amazon review that says it melted and almost started a fire, so I’m not so sure it “works.”
One of the most satisfying channels I've encountered on RUclips. Thanks for all the content over the years!
The A/D converter chip is very common in many devices
There was a device called iMic that accepted Line level or headphone level input and it had a USB plug and was plug-and-play
I used them to feed the discriminator output from my Motorola 2-way radios to give ATCS-Monitor the live data from the radios
Because you have multiple radios each needing a sound card line level input, the iMic was needed or you needed to add extra sound cards.
I will definitely pick up some of these cables
So I just randomly browsed here and see that you're using the same wallpaper I used my first computer I had as a kid
I'm pleasantly surprised by its quality. It seems it tells Windows that it's a USB microphone, which I guess makes sense from an ease-of-implementation viewpoint. Sure, mucking about with the Windows input levels as you switch from source to source is a bit of an annoyance, but other than that, it does the job quite well.
That is actually an impressive device, containing everything needed within the USB plug moulding, pretty clever... :)
It’s not impressive compared to the same thing inside a much, much, much smaller plug, which is exactly what Apple does in its Lightning EarPods and Lightning to headphone adapter.
@@tookitogo And......That has SOMETHING to do with connecting an analog audio device to a PC?!? 🤷♂️🤦♂️
@@jamesslick4790 Yeah it does. It's literally the same thing. Smartphones are just handheld PCs. A DAC is a DAC. Building a DAC into a connector is building a DAC into a connector, and the smartphones have smaller connectors so it is more impressive.
@@jamesslick4790 Of course it does, since the commenter found it “impressive” that they’d shrunk down the technology to fit in the plug. It’s literally the _exact same thing._ Headphones are analog audio devices, and a USB output used for digital audio is the same whether it’s connected to a PC or a phone. (Lightning audio output uses USB internally.)
@@tookitogo The APPLE device is LESS impressive as it adds an unnecessary layer, just to remain proprietary. But fanbois be fanbois I guess. This device is "agnostic" as to brand of input or output device or OS, and The OP was impressed that the thing has LESS bulk than the USUAL analog to USB devices. AND NO ONE IS HOOKING UP A Cassette deck to a PC with an iPhone.
It looks like a lot of audio equipment uses a 3/4” spacing but it’s sort of a de-facto standard rather than anything formalized, as far as I can tell. A bunch of stuff out there uses a different spacing, often specifically to break compatibility. There’s probably some circuit layout reason why so many manufacturers just happen to do 3/4” RCA plug spacing.
It's not a circuit layout reason. Circuit boards are often laid 90 degrees from the connectors, so the easiest thing for manufacturers to do is to buy a combo jack, ie one piece of plastic with both left and right jacks. So they both save on board space and manufacturing time.
@@xureality well yeah having a single integrated stereo pair obviously makes the most sense, but the fact that it's all using the same spacing is the de-facto thing which I thought might have a circuit layout reason behind it (like something to do with standard trace/perfboard/etc. spacing or something).
it's so uncanny watching a video about a random amazon product and it actually turns out to be a good quality device!
For that last test, I would have put the recording level at maximum as a stress test to see if ANY noise was being picked up.
That’s actually a pretty decent little ADC. Far less noisy than the built-in input on the computer, and lots don’t even have a separate one anymore, just a mic pin in the headphone jack. Plus the form factor makes it convenient and basically idiot-proof. The extra little adaptors make the user experience seem pretty pleasant. Not bad for under $20. It probably makes transfers that sound as good as the device they’re played on for most customers, unlike a built-in input. Now, let’s hope they’re saving as FLAC or WAV, or they might feel their originals still had a little something extra to them.
It's mostly laptops that don't have all those audio connectors. Even so, my Acer Nitro 5 supports line input as an option when you use the combo jack. Desktop computers that aren't cheap garbage also generally have different audio inputs. Even my 2009 desktop has 7.1 audio support and at 192 KHz 24 bit.
@@fungo6631 Plenty of integrated inputs claim those high rates but there's tests you can do to show they basically just increase the harmonic interference. You'll want to put it on 48kHz to actually get the best out of it. And, even with all that being said, the most premium integrated input is still going to be noisier than a proper dedicated conversion device. Now, you may not notice it personally, in which case go wild on your own personal transfers. You're not going to be layering them on top each other like people do in audio production, which is why they care so much about low noise.
@@kaitlyn__L This was a fairly high end LGA 775 mobo, and the S/N ratio was advertised as 117 dB. MSI P45-C51 is the mobo. It has mic and line input alongside the 7.1 output. Separate connectors, instead of sacrificing the mic and line inputs.
@@fungo6631 I understand. It’s from 2009, it obviously doesn’t have the single integrated port. Like I said, if you’re satisfied with your integrated sound, that’s just fine.
Nevertheless, there is only so much you can do on a motherboard when it comes to large trace gaps, only so many filtering caps you can fit, only so-clean of a power source when it’s being shared with the rest of the system. Dedicated interfaces will sound better for the same price as the premium for motherboard audio. And if you’re using the front panel connectors instead of the back, those tiny wires are also incredibly noisy.
I was a firm believer in premium integrated audio chips for years. I convinced myself buying a separate device was pointless. Until I actually had to buy one for an XLR input, and everything else sounded much better through it as well.
Again, I don’t want to make you feel bad about your current setup, or to convince you that you need to go out and spend a ton of money. What you have right now is fine for you. But whenever you’re going to be upgrading your audio setup anyway, consider buying an external interface.
One of my friends hated integrated audio but kept buying PCIe sound cards. And later, a Schitt audio interface for half the price sounded much better than her sound cards, and she was all like “why didn’t I do this sooner?”. (When she used the front panel connectors her headphone output was getting crosstalk into her microphone input, and the Schitt unit alleviated that too by having the output on her desk. No more choosing between crosstalk and reaching round the back.)
Every line input on a modern PC I've tested has outperformed these cheap interfaces. The frequency response on the USB units is poor.
0:28 My sister had THAT SAME Zenith "all in one" stereo back "in the day". It was actually a pretty nice unit!
If you were wondering and haven't read the rest of the posts yet (or I missed a bit of VW's video), a small Analogue to Digital Converter (ADC) chip resides inside the USB plug end of the cable and converts the audio signal into a digital one. :)
You'd be surprised how much electronics you can fit inside a standard USB connector. Most bluetooth and wifi adapters are little larger than the physical connector itself, usually the plastic shell is just so you can grab the thing.
Wow... it even does a great job capturing the low frequency sounds! Even my sub came alive from those recordings!
I was having such a difficult time with my brand new (very old) Yamaha Natural Sound Stereo Cassette Deck TC-920B. I took advice from people telling me to use Audacity, which I think is AWFUL. They somehow replace the line-in with Audiojingle and I had no USB line in option. Well I deleted Audacity and downloaded Ocenaudio--what a difference! Not only did it add back a USB option, but with my little Behringer interface, it worked perfectly after a restart. Thank you so much for Ocenaudio, so much better than Audacity! The sound is amazing!
For others who might pick up the same adapter. I don't suppose there are any distinguishing features on either side of the 3.5mm to RCA that might more readily indicate which side is appropriately labeled "L-R"? Like maybe even registration marks or ejection pin outlines from the molding? Not that it's THAT hard to figure out, just one of those annoyances. Still not as bad as when cheap cords and adapters outright screw up the red-white-yellow color coding.
There is no identifying mark. You just have to figure out on your own which is left and right.
I have one since about 4 years and I really like it. Pretty good quality. I use it on Linux. No additional drivers needed there.
Issues I have is, you want to record 24/48 or 24/96 to ensure you capture all detail and allow headroom for editing, mixing, noise reduction, resampling
That converter has surprisingly good sound quality for that small size. Very cool ;)
Wow, thanks for finding both of these products! OcenAudio is GREAT, and I'll be ordering the ClearClick Audio2USB also. I usually use AVS4U software for audio\video, which has free software, but also sells about a dozen titles, often on sale for about $50 total, with free updates, and works a lot better than any Microsoft stuff.
Well, unfortunately lots of those cables are just scam ones, with no chip inside doing any conversion. This is very common also with hdmi to vga cables.
What! Hahaha, never figured that. That would drive a non techy person nuts.
I don't think they always are scams. A lot of times they're cables for niche devices - that use a 3.5mm as a USB socket got some reason, for example. They're just not properly advertised on what they're made for.
It's like a component to VGA cable. If you try to hook your old Xbox up to an old monitor with one of those, it ain't gonna work well since they're designed for projectors that are designed for component input using their VGA port.
@@elijahwatson8119 exactly
@@elijahwatson8119 Yes, I have an old Epson Gideon projector that uses it’s VGA in port both for standard VGA input and for component input which requires a special VGA type connector to three component RCA plugs cable if you want to connect a component device to the projector such as DVD player. When I first got the thing wondered if I could use it to plug a laptop into a TV using the VGA to component cable but soon realized that this cable has no conversion chip in it and thus only works with compatible video projector that support component output via a VGA port (I believe their is a industry standard for that). As for cables that are USB A to 3.55mm headphone-style Jack, the iPod Shuffle 2nd Gen, 3rd, and 4th Gen all used the headphone Jack to transfer music and to charge the device using a special dock include that had 3.55mm plug sticking up from the dock stand and a USB A cable attached. You could also buy third party cables that didn’t have the dock and just looked just like the cable shown in this video and I don’t believe they include any conversion chip in the cable as far as I know. So indeed sometimes cables that seem like scams really have a valid use case even if sometimes the seller mislabeled them as having capabilities they don’t.
How is it surprising, given that Apple has been putting codecs (ADC/DAC combo) into Lightning plugs for years? Those have far less room than a USB-A plug. (And the Lightning to HDMI adapter actually contains an entire SoC running Darwin. All because Lightning doesn’t have the bandwidth for uncompressed 1080p video, so instead the phone outputs it as an h.264 stream that the dongle decodes and outputs to HDMI!)
It reminds me of the cable included with a cheap children's digital camera I found (2nd-hand), that had an 1/8" (3.5mm) plug on one end, and a 9-pin serial plug on the other. And yes, using it required special too.
So glad to see John Laduca's Mr. Fantastic album at second one! Many people will find it very weird reading this enthusiastic comment over some elevator/Muzak music but, yes, you made me love this by playing it several times over the years on a few videos.
This is a great video! I have wondered about the lack of a line input on computers these days, and you seem to have found a really good solution! It sounded just fine to me over RUclips. I think this solves a lot of problems, and it is great that it has no hum or noise. And on top of that, to discover a NEW audio processing software -- well, that makes your video golden to me (yes I like and use Audacity, but who can resist a different sound editor to add to my collection?) So thanks for the very useful video and again, your usual thoroughness and clarity. Love your channel!
This is indeed a great product. In fact everything we have reviewed from ClearClick has been great!
That's some good quality audio. Clear with No background static 🔉🎙️🎤
The only advantage I see with a single cable is the less rca cables being used.More cables more input/output more degradation of the signal, plus added interference/noise.
Nice one. Two obvious use cases (at least for my purposes):
- transferring WAV rips of retrocomputer tapes onto real cassette tape
- running said rips directly off a laptop into a vintage computer with a 3.5mm input for tape programs (I'm looking at you, Sinclair)
thats the first thing i thought about, old software on tape (there is tons of this already backed up on the interwebs too), make it easy to plug into old computers with modern pc. I did not think about preservation of these old tapes with this device tho, probably would work well if its really low noise.
This may be useful for owners of automobiles built after 2018, or so. My friend just took delivery of a 2021 Mazda that was specified as having an AUX analog audio input for the sound system, but it turned out that Mazda deleted that feature, so there is no way to get an audio feed from, say, a portable CD player, cassette tape player, handheld ham radio transceiver, etc., in short, any older device that lacks Bluetooth or USB.
Audacity is licensed under GPL 2 (or later at the user's option). I hope that CD with Audacity complied with the following from Audacity's website: "In granting you this right, the GPL requires that the source code you distribute is itself available under the GPL. If you distribute or recommend Audacity in any way, please cite our trademark by referring to Audacity as “Audacity(R)”."
This video is a prime example of why I love your channel so much.
I just connected my turntable, open reel deck, 6 track player and cassette deck to an old Radio Shack mixer and plugged it into my line-in jack. Have copied over 400 albums and all sound great
This is becoming one of my favourite channels...Well done VWestlife pretty cool.
Those adapters look really useful for all sorts of fun/cursed setups lol. And for the stereo L/R one you can solve the spacing issues with some more adapters and cables. As an occasional enthusiast I've learned that no problem can't be solved with additional cables.
Fun with cables and adapters. Phooey on Bluetooth or wireless transmission, get more cables. I like how the manufacturers could never decide if stereo connections should be red & black, red & white, white & black, green & white, black & black with red stripe, What fun.
The modern DAC are tiny. Its like a 8 sodimm chip. But you can actually use the usb to record or send audio directly. While the usb is digital, it uses a 8/10 digital encoder. With the right software this can be used to emulate sound.
Honestly I always used the line in Jack from my PC and recorded the Audio with Audacity. It works fine
Top tip: if you rightclick on the audio levels on your windows recording device, you can change it from % to dB which gives you some more precise control.
Yes, that's what I do.
The only instance where I've needed something else (like a box rather than just a cable) is if conversion latency is a problem. For example, if the audio source being recorded is an electric guitar being played live, processing delay will throw off the guitarist. Audio interfaces for a use like that, are engineered to have low latency. A $45 M-Track is about as cheap as one should go.
That's pretty cool!! Nice review and tutorial
I came across something recently, it is a USB out that supplies you with a stereo audio out and a microphone input. it is fairly tiny. Search for a USB sound card and many should show up. One of a few I own is the Orico branded one with an external volume control. It should work with windows, Linux and Apple
Feb 2021: I've had great success with various tape decks patched to various Sony portable stereo digital recorders (ICD-PXnnn) - the ones WITH USB file transfer capability, as some elder models don't have USB) - - for my dad's old cassette tapes. Benefit here being I transferred an entire tape at a time (from an Auto-Reverse deck), then could quickly use the recorders' Split-track feature to break the tape into "tracks". Lastly, already coded in MP3 format, simply transfer the files off the recorder to PC / external file archive storage, etc. Recorders' Erase track feature also quick and readily usable to delete bad/dead spots/unwanted material as well, leaving only desired recordings in digital format, roughly 128Kpbs audio quality.
Could this be used to input audio into an android phone or tablet?
This would allow audio capture from CD or tapes/vinyl direct to the phone
Also could allow cassette and cd playback through phone, then bluetooth into your car system or BT headphones
7:59 I like that jingle ID, I don't hear these type of ID's anymore.
B one oh Fouurrrr
Heard about ocenaudio before, but never tried it out. Looks like a good free alternative to Audacity.
Ocenaudio can record in 96/24, whereas Audacity cannot.
@@murpesx Any other advantages? I still miss CoolEdit.
@@murpesx Not quite true, Audacity can very well record even beyond 24-96, but your audio device has to support it. But ocenaudio's interface is way better, have been using it for years now.
@@phonatic I'm sure you're correct. There was something that made me switch to Ocenaudio because of a feature that Audacity lacked, but that was some time ago. Maybe it was ASIO support.
@@murpesx ASIO could be a reason. Windows audio has been terrible for years and I am glad I have passed beyond that with Linux. I never could warm up to Audacity UI, it's just very inconsistent and not well laid out. Ocenaudio has much less features but is really my first choise for quick'n'dirty tasks.
I wonder how the quality differs from connecting it directly on a computers Line-In Jack.
15 years ago i baught a cheap car stereo that had an USB Jack on the front. But it was just an analog audio jack with a matching cable that plugged into the phone jack of your mp3 player. That was very sad.
I had a Behringer UPhono (UFO202) gadget that I lost some months ago, and this looks like a excellent semi-replacement. Though, to be fair, the UPhono had more features. It was actually a full-on USB sound card, but also featured a switchable magnetic/line input, line-level pass through, and headphone jack with volume control. In a pinch, I could even use it as a basic phono preamp even if I wasn't using it to digitize music.
So this won't entirely replace my UPhono but it'll do for simple A/D conversion. Thank you for spotlighting this; I'm going to order a pair of them (cause I'm certain I'll lose at least one, lol).
I personally wouldn't use it myself as I would prefer recording using a better quality interface, but for your average Joe this looks spot on. Amazingly impressive that they can squeeze the circuitry into a moulded USB connector now. Good stuff!
Well I see this useful for stuff that isn't going to output high quality audio in the first place, like my phone for example
@@AstoundingAmelia exactly.
ever since they removed the headphone jack, apple's headphones have had a DAC and an ADC inside the plug
(and no, the lightning connector does not have any analog pins)
my PC's onboard audio is fried, I've been using a fiio DAC for a line out, but this would be handy for line in. I've been working with a lot of vintage computers lately like the commodore 64, and experimenting with products like the FPGASID, but when I built the PC from used junk, I forgot this board's onboard audio was cooked
A good thing to remember is that every adapter or extra connection in the chain adds about 3db of signal loss, so an adapter chain or extension cables on the audio side can degrade the signal
Really? I’ve never heard that fact.
This is pretty good! i'm surprised! Like when you did the silence test i was expecting to hear something some hiss or something.. but nope. nada, not a thing. I'm impressed. For my household though i'd probably still add a cheap snap on ferrite choke to it.
The chips are tiny any more. I got a USB-C to stereo headphone adapter for my new phone, it really looked like it was a cord until I tried it. It worked just fine. I didn't know those fixed space RCA connectors could actually connect just fine to anything.
I've been using an RCA to USB audio converter for around 5 years on my mixing board to my PC or laptop. Has a DAC near the end of the USB connector. Got it for a good price on eBay. These types devices are very common now, no?
The only problem with this cable is it looks so much like it could be used in reverse, Computer to headset.
There are also cables that are designed in the opposite direction for certain Chinese car stereos I think. They also give the impression that they can be used to turn a USB headset into an analog headset but no chip. I always find it hard when somebody holds up "this adapter will solve my problem" and I'm like USB to firewire or etc. adapters will make more problems than they solve and I never thought they would actually kill the device but apparently..... There are hundreds of USB to FireWire adapters on Amazon and I experienced a device being killed by one. And contrary to popular belief I don't know what therefore other than those cable kits will you carry one cable and a whole bunch of adapters and then you use the cable interchangeably, as I looked up the camera that supposedly is only compatible one with it and it has separate FireWire and USB ports for two different functions so....
ADCs can be made very small.
Thank you for not calling it a DAC like so many others here.
@@awesomeferret Because it's line input?
I'd love to see measurements for that ADC. It's probably quite horrific (but hopefully below the audibility threshold).
@@DoubleMonoLR Most modern DAC and ADC ICs are "fine" but the implementation is often atrocious with minimal decoupling. If one is lazy or cheap, it is very easy to get a -50dB SINAD out of an IC capable of -110dB.
The B104 recording sounds great! I Love the 90's "FM Radio" sound when all the processing was done analog. Pushing it to the limit is fine in the analog domain. In modern digital sound processors they're doing the same and it sounds even louder, but it doesn't sound as natural and musical as it did whit analog equipment. Let's say it's a little bit too much accurate. But that's off topic, it's all about sound processing on the transmitter site. Your DAC cable sounds fine.
Actually the first successful digital audio processor, the Orban Optimod-FM 8200, was introduced in 1992 and was in common use by major-market stations by the mid-1990s.
Good video Kevin. Thank for sharing. I'd love to see a video where you share a little about how you get all these great obscure albums and/or songs.
They are almost all thrift store finds.
@@vwestlife That's what I suspected. Thought there might possibly have been more to it. Thanks for replying.
I do lots of audio recording on my PC from different sources. I use the line input on my PC's sound card. When I bought this PC I specified that the computer has a line input on it. When I record I use GoldWave editor. Some sources like the output from audio chips for example the ones from singing greeting cards their audio overdrives my sound card so I use an in line volume control to limit the audio volume. It works better than the control built into the computer. I have a custom made audio cable just for recording from some sources. It is two alligator clips on one end and a 3.5mm plug on the other.
If I got a newer machine I will consider buying this device.
I bought one of these on your recommendation a little over two years ago, and haven't used it yet.
I know, I know...why'd ya buy it?
Because if it fills a need, I know I will have ONE DAY when I get the time to digitize some of my hundreds of unique cassette recordings. Hopefully, the deck won't have dry rotted belts or something like that, and I won't croak before I get around to it. It's amazing how fully I found ways to occupy my time since retirement. If only I could figure out how to stop wasting time on sleep.
Wow! Sweet jack, I bought the analog adapters separately ages ago.
I usually just use a thick axillary audio cable. 3.5 plug on each side. Plug 1 side into the headphone jack of the radio, the other goes into Line in on computer.
Built-in line inputs tend to be pretty noisy, unfortunately. You’re usually way better off with an external ADC, even a cheap one like what this video’s about.
@@fluffycritter True I occasionally have to adjust the cables if they get bumped because they get staticky. Once I messed with the cables to a point I have to put my ear right up to the speaker to hear any hum, thats what I settle with. lol
I’ve got one of these things that has a slightly larger USB housing, and for some reason my one adds it’s own background noise to tracks because even if I record without it even plugged into anything and it’s quite noticeable.
I just got one of these to use with a Realistic SCT-34 that I had wanted as a teen when I first saw it in the Radio Shack catalog and found at a local Goodwill recently. It works great and I'm copying my tapes over to MP3 files right now.
I like that design. And good to hear it works fine.
Would you recommend any specific phono preamp?
I came across something like this in a 'RGB spectrum visualizer thingy' kit I got from Amazon. The data +/- lines simply carry the audio signal to an analog input on a microcontroller. I couldn't figure out at first how the thing got its audio input as it had no analog input jack or microphone - then I found that weird cable that came with it - it has one cable with a USB male (for power) and one with the 1/8" audio going into a mini USB male that connects to the spectrum thingy.
That went surprisingly well for this product, I really enjoyed this video ^^
The personal speaker unit with Bluetooth from target the 10.00 a few years ago had that cable included with it interesting so you can now get a cable like that online that is good to know thanks vwestlife
Interesting, just come across this.
The chip in the cable will be a modified external sound card device with just the line in enabled.
CD quality put it up there with some of the more pricy alternatives.
Oh wow that recording audio of radio said Allentown. I Only live 30 minutes away from Allentown PA.
Now what would be really cool is if they included a phono pre in there as well. It should actually be possible to squeeze a little opamp in there with the required filter components...
In fact you could leave out the filter and do the EQ in software, just turn the gain all the way up
Any decent soundcard should have a working line level input anyway, together with Microphone and Line Out. It should also feature MIDI in and MIDI out, so it can be used together with external synthesizers.
What a wonderfully simple (but compact) device.
At least you can use your own quality equipment!
It's definitely useful for laptops although some desktops, at least some motherboards, may have Line In. I don't know how good or reliable no-name converters at 0:37 would work but at least the ClearClick actually worked well. Ripping CDs would be a different story since some newer computers, especially laptops and gaming computers, don't have a DVD/Blu-ray drive although it could be fixed by purchasing a USB DVD drive but I'd beware of no-name drives on Amazon as they may not work well.
I just record it from my tape deck into my 12 year old ZOOM recorder as either an interface or to record onto its internal SD card into MP3 or up to WAV 24bit 96khz. So yeah. There are options... For all of my band stuff, I record on my ZOOM R16 and ZOOM h2N (as a room mic) then edit, mix and master on Audacity - you would not need to go into the settings for the device to change the input recording level if you used Audacity as all you need do is set it at minus 4db or pull back the bar to a level where the recording will not clip while it is playing. Then there you go, do it in the software, no need for that extra awkward step. Surely your application you were using could do this too?
Dang, son. I'm genuinely surprised by this thing.
And you get what you paid for, too, in terms of recording fidelity.
Wonder if they'll ever get around to making something like this that will allow for a higher bitrate option.
I bought a 1/4 inch jack to USB lead for my guitar afew years ago that looked similar to this. No box in the middle of the cable, just a slightly longer and fatter USB plug. Used it twice, then it shorted the USB socket on the (very old) computer. LOL.
That’s why I keep old ones, for “burners or throw away’s”!
Thoughts on this as opposed to a line in cable? Currently I use a 2.5mm-1/4'' adapter, and do often experience audio quality issues. I've heard a lot of the issue may be due to my motherboard's line in being poor quality.
I just use an external sound card with a line input. I bought it almost 10 years ago and it's been doing the job ever since.
Same. Mine even has 7.1 audio support and it's not even exactly new.
Yeah, I don't understand this product when every laptop and desktop has a line in or mic in.
I thought this thing would fail because the "box in the middle" would have a few circuits driving the power to the ROM chip that drives the serial bus for the computer to read it as a peripheral, but this one doesn't. However I was very wrong! Technology is something else!
I was honestly surprised to hear a radio station I can get near my home from your high fidelity test :p
As ever i'm watching your new video.. Hope you have a nice week Kevin. Miguel
It would be very helpful if you could make a video on how to set up Audacity for best recording parameters (given it has a lot of parameters that can be adjusted which have certainly got me confused!)
"This mono voice recording wasn't a good example of high fidelity audio, so, I'll play this home recording of FM radio from the 90s"