Question What is needed to get "optical digital out" from CD player into my PC for digital sound recording?

[Muse]

My Pioneer PD-F1007 301 disk CD players have both line and "optical digital out," of which I have only used line out to my receivers in the past. But I want to be able to play a disc (usually a particular song) and capture the output into Audacity. I am a college radio DJ and we are producing our 3 hour music based shows at home since the campus shut down.

I have the line out going to the stereo in the room for listening. I figure a switch on the line out would allow me to run that to either the stereo or one of my Behringer UCA202 USB sound cards. However, I was thinking I can forgo the extra switch and the step of using it if I can get the "optical digital out" output of my daisy-chained CD players into the PC another way. Suggestions appreciated!

 

[VirtualLarry]

Sound Blaster (ISA) cards, and some motherboards, had an SP/DIF I/O connector. PC CD-ROM drives, and some DVD-ROM/RW drives also had SPDIF outputs. Not so much anymore, as "CD ripping" is now done over the bus interface.

 

[Muse]

I'm thinking there are a lot of audio devices these days used for mixing, that are interfaces between audio sources and computers and that some may support a S/PDIF audio source. I did some poking around today online but haven't gotten into it. Figured somebody who does computer audio production might have some ideas. I'll keep poking around! I've had good luck with my cheap Behringer USB sound cards. Behringer makes fancier stuff, and there are other companies competing in the arena.

 

[Muse]

Larry, your mention of Soundblaster soundcards got me thinking. I've never had one, but had some higher end PCI soundcards including a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz (which apparently doesn't support S/PDIF, at least input), but my Hercules Game Theater XP PCI soundcard (with breakout box) supports S/PDIF input and output! Hmm. The computer I have with PCI slots is in another room. IIRC, there may be a USB PCI interface I could get for that Rig in my kitchen. Kind of complicated.

Hercules Game Theater XP - sound card Specs

Hercules Game Theater XP - sound card overview and full product specs on CNET.

www.cnet.com

 

[Muse]

Not sure if this would support this:

PCI-Express PCI-e to PCI Adapter Card PCIe to Dual PCI Expansion Card USB 3.0 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for PCI-Express PCI-e to PCI Adapter Card PCIe to Dual PCI Expansion Card USB 3.0 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.ca

 

[sdifox]

You don't have a dvd drive in your pc? Get an usb one if you don't. S/pdif inputs have mostly gone out of fashion.

Just eac the whole cd straight to flac.

 

[Muse]

You don't have a dvd drive in your pc? Get an usb one if you don't. S/pdif inputs have mostly gone out of fashion.

Just eac the whole cd straight to flac.

I have two 301 disc Pioneer CD carousel players in the room, daisy chained. They aren't completely full but probably 65% or so. Being able to leave disks in there is helpful. Having to remove a disc and put it in the PC's optical drive to rip and then replace it in the carousel player is time consuming. A typical radio show I produce has 35-40 or more different tracks. I need to do this once a week. I'm trying to streamline the process. Also it helps a lot to be able to do a show "on the fly," as it were. In the air studio on campus you program in real time. The DJ hears the music at the same time that the listener hears it. It's better for al concerned if the process of creating a show be remote as we're doing it not is close to what it used to be.

Flac, well, I've never used that format. I'm not sure my portable devices support that. I suppose Audacity does. My carousel players are reasonably easy and swift from a user perspective.

 

[sdifox]

Foobar 2000 on android plays flac just fine. Issue with sp/dif is you are going back to tape dubbing method. Start recording, then hit play on remote, then stop it after song ends. I would rather take the cd out thank you very much.


Digitise the library and you just call up the song you want to play. Or get lazy and internet source it.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

LOL, dang it, OP, you're going at it backwards... and you're overthinking the whole situation.

Just get a cheap USB sound card with digital input and call it a day. Like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Vantec-NBA-200U-External-Channel-Adapter/dp/B004HXGJ3S

But honestly, it doesn't matter whether you use analog output or RCA/optical digital output, since radio (either broadcast or web streaming) never goes above 15 kHz. So no matter whether you go the analog or digital way, the results should be identical. Your existing USB card will probably be good enough.

Also, you're wrong about FLAC. It's an open source format that's quite popular, and I've yet to see a smartphone, PC or tablet that can't read it out of the box.

 

[Steltek]

The Vantec unit referenced is hard to find, but StarTec also sells one that is somewhat easier to find:

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-7-1-USB-Sound-Card/dp/B002LM0U2S

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Just go get a Giganews account and d/l the ISO files of the CDs you want.

 

[Ichinisan]

Best way to get digital audio from the CD to your computer: Use an optical disc drive to rip the CD.