How do I feed audio into a laptop from the chapel audio system?

Discussions around meetinghouse sound systems, microphones, assisted listening devices, and translation equipment
jrgorman
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How do I feed audio into a laptop from the chapel audio system?

#1

Post by jrgorman »

We have a sister who cannot hear but has an app on her phone and laptop that will convert audio to text. The problem is that there is too much noise around her for the software to be effective. If I could wire audio directly to hear device (laptop seem easier), that would help. Any suggestions?
rmrichesjr
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Re: How do I feed audio into a laptop from the chapel audio system?

#2

Post by rmrichesjr »

I'm aware of two practical options:
  • On most reasonably recent systems I have seen lately, there is a 1/8" phone jack labeled "record out" or something similar somewhere in the chapel. I have seen it under or near the sacrament table or next to the pulpit. You'll want to make sure the signal level is right for your application.

    You _could_ take the output of one of the radio receivers intended for assisted listening. You should be able to adjust the level with the volume control on the receiver.
lajackson
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Re: How do I feed audio into a laptop from the chapel audio system?

#3

Post by lajackson »

jrgorman wrote:If I could wire audio directly to her device (laptop seem easier), that would help.
rmrichesjr beat me to it. I would just add that the direct method probably would work best. If you use an assisted listening device you will regularly be changing batteries.

You can also look for an output near the clerk's table, if your meetinghouse is old enough to have one of those.
russellhltn
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Re: How do I feed audio into a laptop from the chapel audio system?

#4

Post by russellhltn »

While the suggestions above would work for sacrament meeting, they're not likely to work for Sunday School or Relief Society (unless it's held in the chapel).

I'd suggest experimenting with a plug in microphone. A better mic with some directionality and gain might be enough to get it to work, be more portable, and more useful in different situations.

I posted in another thread about Google's Live Transcribe for Android app. Maybe I'll remember to give it a try on Sunday. As I recall, it works pretty well as long as things are loud enough.
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Ailime11
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Re: How do I feed audio into a laptop from the chapel audio system?

#5

Post by Ailime11 »

Hi,
I’m new in this forum and don’t really know too much about audio solutions, but we have a similar problem as jrgorman. How did you solve it? I know this is an old post but maybe some of you still remember this situation or have acquired new knowledge in the area.
russellhltn
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Re: How do I feed audio into a laptop from the chapel audio system?

#6

Post by russellhltn »

I don't think there's anything that would change the above suggestions. While connecting to the sound system would work for sacrament, I haven't seen any such connections for PH/RS rooms.
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dave.swartz
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Re: How do I feed audio into a laptop from the chapel audio system?

#7

Post by dave.swartz »

Sorry I am a bit late to this thread. You may want to try the following.

The new Listen assisted listening receivers have two audio jacks. Plug a headphone into one of the jacks. The Listen receiver will detect that the headphone is plugged in and not turn off. (The alternative is to have the right person reprogram the receiver to not auto turn off when headphone is disconnected.) In the second headphone jack take a 3.5mm stereo male to 3.5mm stereo male cable and plug it in. Next purchase one of these
https://www.amazon.com/Headset-Buddy-Li ... 149&sr=8-4

This will attenuate the audio and provide the correct resistance so that an iPhone will detect that a microphone has been plugged in. (If you just plug this in the resistor will make the Listen receiver not detect that anything is plugged in and turn off as noted above) The headset buddy adaptor has the necessary TRRS connector to send mic audio to the phone. I have not tested this with an Android phone.

This will let her sit anywhere in the chapel that she would like.

Good luck.
level43
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Re: How do I feed audio into a laptop from the chapel audio system?

#8

Post by level43 »

I use a TECSUN FM radio with 72.1 MHz ($30 Amazon) for recording from the ALS to an MP3 recorder, that should also work with a computer. A line connection doesn't work well with Android but might with apple. The radio has an antenna and works about 1/3 mile away and does not need a low impedance load connected like headphones to turn it on. It is also rechargeable. (not all of the TECSUN radios have the "old Russian" FM band). A Baofeng ham radio could also work but make sure the ham frequency is unused or the FM will get interrupted. The TECSUN sounds amazing at home!
Last edited by level43 on Mon Mar 20, 2023 6:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
rmrichesjr
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Re: How do I feed audio into a laptop from the chapel audio system?

#9

Post by rmrichesjr »

There are several TECSUN model numbers that seem to fit the description. Which model do you recommend?
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Mikerowaved
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Re: How do I feed audio into a laptop from the chapel audio system?

#10

Post by Mikerowaved »

level43 wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 6:07 pmA Baofeng ham radio could also work but make sure the ham frequency is unused or the FM will get interrupted.
Probably not the best idea as you won't be able to ID every 10 minutes per FCC rules.
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