Philips N4308 to PC recording - Very quiet, high noise

[Georgije]

Hi, I found this (https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=103289) on Google, so I reckon that the members of this forum are the internet's foremost experts at transferring reel-to-reel tapes to PCs


Anyway I have a Philips N4308 reel-to-reel tape player and earlier this year I have started copying some old tapes to my PC.

I have connected the RADIO/PHONO output of the Philips to the "Line-in" input of my PC's sound card, recorded this on the PC and exported it to mp3 files, and for a while this worked great.

However at one point a drive belt snapped, so I had to open up the tape player and replace it (Fortunately I had some spares). It seems that while fixing it, I broke something else. Now it still plays tapes normally on its own speaker, but there's something wrong with the cable output. When I hit the play button, the PC receives the audio for half a second, but after that all is silent.
Using the program Audacity I was able to amplify the signal by a lot, after which point it's possible to tell that the recording contains speech, but because of the loud hissing noise, the recording is unusable.


I guess that the only way to fix this would be to open the device up again and attempt a repair, but I really have no idea what might be wrong or how to fix it.


Already tried:
- Blowing into all the relevant plug holes
- Using the PC's microphone input instead of Line-in
- Twisting the RADIO/PHONO knob


I'd appreciate any ideas on what could be wrong here and how to fix it.

Thanks

[DMcMahon]

Hello Georgije and welcome to the Forum.

This sounds a little strange especially as it was originally working fine.

There are 3 main posisbilities:-

1. Problem with cable connections, double check all connections. If you followed the link above then you would have connected the Radio/phono DIN pin 3 for the live connection.

Try moving it to pin 5 which is basically the same signal.

2. Problem at PC end. Check the audio and device settings on Audacity are correct, also the Windows (if using Windows) audio settings.

3. Problem inside the N4308. The playback signal goes through 2 switches to get to the Radio/Phono DIN, first contacts 3 and 5 of the Playback Record switch (S1/SK1) and then contacts 308 & 310 of the Playback/Record, Stop switch (S3/SK3) to connect through to pin 3 of the Radio/Phono DIN connector and also contacts 307 & 309 of the Playback/Record, Stop switch (S3/SK3) to connect through to Radio/Phono DIN connector pin 5.

I would first suggest you connect the Radio/Phono DIN connection out to an external Hi-Fi amp to see if the signal outputting the N4308 is good or bad.

If the signal to the external amplifier is bad then would suggest trying some electrical contact spray on the 2 switches (followed by many operations of the switches) if you can access them and they are not totally sealed.

David

[Georgije]

Hi David, thanks for the advice.

I am actually using a DIN to 3.5mm cable that I bought on eBay for the connection, so I never tried playing around with the individual pins. So I'm not sure which pin is being used, but since it used to work ok, it must be the right one.

I also have a laptop with a 3.5mm input, I guess I can try that one as well in case this is an issue with my PC or its connections.

I don't have a real amplifier at home. But I have a small radio with a 3.5mm input, hopefully I can also try if I can hear anything on that.

Regarding the electrical contact spray, would regular WD-40 be ok, or does it need to be a specialized spray?



What about what I wrote in my original post about the proper sound coming to the PC for half a second after I start playback, and then going silent? Could that be a clue to what the problem is? I guess that if it works for a moment, the connection must be ok?


Also sorry If I sound like I don't know what I'm doing. This isn't actually my hobby, my iterest in the N4308 is limited only to copying one tape from my childhood

[ben]

If it still plays tapes ok on it own speaker, there cannot be much wrong. I have had situations where a sudden peak can disrupt and lock the capture software, and it all goes silent - maybe this is what is happening here when 'play' is pressed.

[Analogue man]

Audacity has the ability to switch sources, there is a drop down menu next to the symbol of a microphone, make sure that this is set to the computers sound card otherwise you will record nothing.

[DMcMahon]

Originally Posted by Georgije

Regarding the electrical contact spray, would regular WD-40 be ok, or does it need to be a specialized spray?

What about what I wrote in my original post about the proper sound coming to the PC for half a second after I start playback, and then going silent? Could that be a clue to what the problem is? I guess that if it works for a moment, the connection must be ok?

Standard WD40 is not really suitable but WD40 do an electrical contact cleaner under their specialist range which should be OK.

Yes the proper sound initially for half a second is confusing, difficult to guess what can cause that symptom.

David