soundcard capture from voice recorder

[KE5FRF]

Hey all,

I have a need (not ham radio related) to take a voice recording from a handheld voice note recorder and capture it in MP3 or some form of common digital format. The recorder is an Olympus VN-6000 and the earphone output impedance is the typical 8 Ohms.

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1460&page=specs

Now, this is not for an RF application and I'm not concerned like I would be for PSK-31 about the audio quality for purposes of good copy. It is kind of a one-time deal of transferring an important recording to a digital storage media. I will be using a laptop.

I've used a straight through cable before for PSK-31 from my rig's headphone output to the line-in or microphone jack on a computer (both my laptop and desk PC) I know that it works, and I'm sure the output impedance for the rig is also 8 Ohms.

...BUT, I'm not honestly sure about the soundcard input impedance and should I really be current limiting, impedance matching, or using audio isolation techniques for even a one-time transfer.

Would my straight through cable be OK for this, or should I pull my sound card interface from its place in the shack (I hate messing with a working system) Would I be risking placing too much load on the headphone output, or is the input impedance of the soundcard high enough to prevent damage? Is line-in best, or the microphone input?

I'm not an audiophile expert but I do know the issues that are possible.

Oh, and if anyone has good advice on a stand-alone sound-card capture software for this purpose that would be great too. Preferably one where some noise filtering or graphic equalizing could be done to improve audio quality when the recording is finished :)

[KB4QAA]

Just do like you did before, go from the recorder earphone out to the sound card mic or line in, which ever works better.

In most cases impedance mismatches aren't a problem for consumer equipment, and the levels can be adjusted with the controls to a satisfactory level. You can actually introduce more problems in the way of signal loss, distortion by adding matching circuits.

Good luck , Bill

[AG3Y]

If you don't have any other program besides the sound recorder in windows ( pretty lame ) download "Audacity". It will do everything you want to do!

When setting up your record levels, make sure your "mic boost" box is unchecked. You do not want that extra gain, which could result in distortion, no matter what level you try to feed the soundcard from the cassette machine. The idea is to have the software level controls about halfway up, and any volume control on your cassette machine also about halfway up. This will provide the best fidelity, best signal to ambient noise ratio, and best all-around recording.

Good luck ! 73, Jim

[KE5FRF]

Thanks Bill.

Yeah, I just made the recording and I had no problems with the straight through, and of course the volume controls do the job of preventing over-driving the sound card. I tend to err on the side of caution with this sort of thing. If something isn't specifically DESIGNED for a task, I like to know what precautions to take...but it looks like I was overthinking this one.

[KE5FRF]

Thanks Jim,

Yeah, I wound up using the windows default recorder, but it served the task. I found the audio quality was adequate. This isn't really a musical or hi-fidelity thing, just an important series of notes I made that I wanted to preserve.

[AG3Y]

You are welcome, Heath. I would still suggest you download "Audacity". You can really do an awful lot with the program, just in case you ever plan to do more audio capture work!

73

[KB4QAA]

Good point about the mic boost setting in Windows, Jim. It's hidden away and can cause a lot of frustration if someone doesn't know about it!

Bill