[X-Newbies] Re: iMac - audio input

[Alex]

On Apr 28, 2005, at 15:10, Michele Forrester wrote:

> what IS a preamp??

Wikipedia is a good source... try

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preamplifier>

You'll also find quite a few good definitions in Sweetwater's Word for 
the Day

<http://www.sweetwater.com/insync/word.php>

> I have a turntable attached to a stereo system...

The average stereo system will have an input marked "Phono". Unlike the 
other inputs (e.g., tape), this one goes to a preamp module designed 
specifically to amplify and correct a turntable signal. Once it comes 
out of the phono preamp, the signal goes through the same pathway as 
the other input signals, first through a preamp stage which includes 
tone control, then to the power amp stage, which feeds the 
loudspeakers.

Roughly around the mid-90s, manufacturers dropped turntable support and 
many stereo systems come without the phono preamp. Connecting a 
turntable to such a system requires a separate phono preamp (starting 
around USD 100 for an entry-level device).

If you have a good quality stereo chain, you want to connect the Mac 
audio input to the stereo's output (where you connect the tape 
recorder). In fact, you could connect your Mac to the stereo chain 
instead of a tape recorder.

<0x0192>