cd player question

[reddrag0n]

i have 2 external cd drives, it's been way too long, so please bear with me....
i put a cd in them and load the cd player app. it loads and the cd plays, but there is no sound on the internal speaker. when i go into the sounds pref, only thing i have is "built in audio" for sound in. am i missing something to make the cd player work through the internal speaker?

 

[Phipli]

i have 2 external cd drives, it's been way too long, so please bear with me....
i put a cd in them and load the cd player app. it loads and the cd plays, but there is no sound on the internal speaker. when i go into the sounds pref, only thing i have is "built in audio" for sound in. am i missing something to make the cd player work through the internal speaker?

Sound plays out of a scsi drive, not the computer. Most external CD drives have audio out connectors on them.

 

[reddrag0n]

ah, so if it was an internal cd, then the appropriate software would have loaded, ok, gotcha

 

[reddrag0n]

well, i hooked up an rca to headphone cable, if i plug headphones into the end of the rca cable using a female to female headphone adapter, the speakers and my headphones play the music from the cd drive no problem. but when i plug the rca into the audio in port and the speakers into the speaker out port, i hear no audio from the cd player app. i still have regular sounds from the mac playing through the speakers, but nothing else. i added the soundstrip panel, rebooted but i don't see it in the control strip. so what is missing?

 

[Snial]

It's the same issue: the audio input is for apps that want to sample audio, whereas the CD Player App only wants to be able to control the selection of tracks and getting the CD player to play/fast forward/ pause/rewind them (and eject the CD). A Mac with an internal CD player has physical wiring from the CD ROM audio out to mix with the Mac's audio out with an adjustable mix level. It doesn't go through the audio in. It does it this way for early CD ROM players to eliminate CPU usage.

It's possible for a Mac to read an audio CD and play a track back in software, but then it's being played back through QuickTime. For example, you can insert a CD and it appears on the desktop. You open the CD icon and you see a number of files, which are the tracks on the CD. Drag a track to the hard disk and it'll copy it in probably an AIFF format (and take up 40MB). Open QuickTime and then open the copied audio track on the HD: the audio track would be being played by the Mac over QuickTime.

However, the audio routing again doesn't go through the audio in, it goes out of the data port at the back of the CD ROM (IDE or SCSI) and is streamed to the Hard Disk or perhaps QuickTime. The difference is that this takes up a lot more CPU. On faster Macs, this is the normal mechanism, for example, an iMac G3 doesn't use any audio connections from its CD, it all goes through the IDE interface and the G3 is fast enough to keep up. My LC II on the other hand would normally route audio out of my PowerCD's audio jack, because it only has a 68030. But I could copy an audio track to the HD and also play the file (it's fast enough to play AIFF).

 

[reddrag0n]

so the rca to headphone jack cable wont work, i also noticed i dont have the sound source control strip loading at startup either. so i cant choose audio input or microphone like i can on the mdd. i tried reinstalling it from the 8.0 cd but it still doesnt load. i will also reinstall quicktime 4 in the later days to come. have to head to sleep so i can get up for work in the morning

 

[Phipli]

ah, so if it was an internal cd, then the appropriate software would have loaded, ok, gotcha

Internal drives have an audio cable that plugs into the logic board. It isn't a software thing.

i hooked up an rca to headphone cable

Erm... the RCAs are line level and headphones aren't. Please be aware that not all mini jacks carry headphone audio. Don't just plug things in because they fit, or can be made to fit with adapters. If you plugged in an amp with a headphone out, I apologise.

but when i plug the rca into the audio in port and the speakers into the speaker out port, i hear no audio from the cd player app

What mac are you using, is that a line level in, or mic input? Please make sure you know before plugging things in or you might toast something.

Drag a track to the hard disk and it'll copy it in probably an AIFF format (and take up 40MB)

This is a late on thing, OSX, possibly OS9 but I have a feeling not. It doesn't work in System 7 etc. You have to use 3rd party software.

so the rca to headphone jack cable wont work, i also noticed i dont have the sound source control strip loading at startup either. so i cant choose audio input or microphone like i can on the mdd. i tried reinstalling it from the 8.0 cd but it still doesnt load. i will also reinstall quicktime 4 in the later days to come. have to head to sleep so i can get up for work in the morning

Don't connect incorrect impedance things, by plugging headphones and mic inputs into line level outputs you can cause damage.

If you have a Mac with line in (AV Quadra or PPC), you can run the external CD into the line input and hear it. If you have a 68k mac with mic input, that input is not designed for line level sound input!

 

[reddrag0n]

the cable plugs into the RGGL connector on the cd drive, passes through to rca jacks on the back of the scsi enclosure, then i used a standard rca to headphone cable no power to the cable than plugged that into the back of my lc475

 

[Phipli]

the cable plugs into the RGGL connector on the cd drive, passes through to rca jacks on the back of the scsi enclosure, then i used a standard rca to headphone cable no power to the cable than plugged that into the back of my lc475

That sounds like you're plugging incompatible devices into each other. Please don't do that. The LC 475 has a "mic" input, not designed for line level sound. Apple did make a special adapter, shown in the following picture. You need one of these. Not a generic one, this specific one that converts line level to the mic input.



They're fairly common and you'll probably find one on eBay fairly cheap. Like $10 in the mic kit?

 

[reddrag0n]

interesting im not finding any info on line level to plaintalk anywhere and no reference to that image you shared

 

[Phipli]

interesting im not finding any info on line level to plaintalk anywhere and no reference to that image you shared

The 475 isn't plaintalk! Plaintalk is AV macs and PPC.

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[mikes-macs]

You probably won’t get the sound input control strip to load unless your Mac has more than one sound input. That is really for AV Macs and Power Macs.
Uncompressed AIFF audio required precious hard disk space back when space cost a premium. Ripping CDs was doable but not practical until larger drives were available. There are QuickTime apps that can play a CD and play the sound thru the Mac.

 

[reddrag0n]

ok, i did order that adapter, just more cables for me to try out. in the meantime, my mac pro can handle the cd playback if need be

 

[Phipli]

interesting im not finding any info on line level to plaintalk anywhere and no reference to that image you shared

Really sorry, the 475 is plaintalk. It changed from the LC 3 and I had forgotten. You're fine, you have line level, although it is possibly mono?

 

[Phipli]

ok, i did order that adapter, just more cables for me to try out. in the meantime, my mac pro can handle the cd playback if need be

Really sorry, you don't need it. It is useful if you have any older macs. If you're quick you can cancel, otherwise someone on here will likely be interested.

Sorry again.

 

[reddrag0n]

i do have older macs, my lc 475 and i have a mac classic

 

[Phipli]

i do have older macs, my lc 475 and i have a mac classic

I don't think the classic has sound in.

 

[mikes-macs]

The Macintosh IIvx Performa 600 was the first Mac to accommodate an internal CD-ROM drive, and it could be configured accordingly with an optional 2X CD-ROM drive.

 

[reddrag0n]

just checked, no it doesnt but i had to add pictures to prove im not crazy and that i do own old macs

 

[Phipli]

just checked, no it doesnt but i had to add pictures to prove im not crazy and that i do own old macs

That LCD monitor stand has some serious NeXT Cube vibes going on.