New Member - Not The First Time This Has Been Asked?

[isector100]

Hi Stuart,

Thanks, doesn't sound as complicated as I thought!

I'm using a laptop rather than a PC, will this affect the quality of the sound card? The laptop is less than 12 months old.

(Sorry if this is a stupid question), but what sort of size of file will a c90 tape produce? I've got quite a lot of tapes (over 700 I think) and I wondered how much space might be needed.

Paul



--- In peel@yahoogroups.com, "Stuart" <stuartb@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Paul
> 
>  
> 
> Welcome to the group!
> 
>  
> 
> Starting with the source end of the conversion chain..
> 
>  
> 
> I assume you still have a decent Cassette Recorder! If not, then there are
> plenty available on eBay, I got a great condition Nakamichi which has pitch
> control and easily adjustable azimuth.
> 
> If you are still using your original machine which you used to record your
> tapes then there is every likelihood that they will play back OK without
> fiddling with anything. 
> 
> If playing back on a different machine then there are certain things you
> need to do to ensure good sound quality.
> 
> By far the most important is to make sure the playback azimuth is spot on,
> or the sound will be shushy and mufffly. For this you will need to be able
> to access the azimuth control. Some decks have an azimuth knob but for most
> it involves removing the cassette door and using a small screwdriver to
> adjust the head angle until the treble content sounds clearest. Do a Google
> search for further info and pictures.
> 
>  
> 
> I also tend to keep Dolby off on playback, there is nothing worse than a
> mistracking Dolby. This is very important as it is exceptionally difficult
> to compensate for digitally.
> 
> Pitch control is useful on a deck though rare, though at least this can also
> be altered in software afterwards. There are quite a few shared tapes out
> there where JP's voice is audibly fast or slow!
> 
>  
> 
> Now that the most important bit is sorted, you will then need a twin phono
> to 3.5mm stereo jack to connect the cassette recorder to your sound card on
> a PC or Mac. Best results will be gained if you have a proper sound card,
> though for cassette recordings then most onboard motherboard sound will also
> be fine.
> 
> I use Audacity software (the latest beta) to record with. This allows you to
> choose which audio channels on your PC will be recorded, you want Line In if
> available, or What You Hear making sure that any microphones and other
> Windows sound schemes are disabled. A test recording should be made making
> sure that the sound level meters on Audacity don't rise into the clipping
> zone (0dB on the bar meters or +/-1 on the trace).
> 
>  
> 
> Then just press play on the tape player and record on the Audacity software.
> 
>  
> 
> Audacity will record in its own lossless format and these recordings can be
> edited, cut and pasted etc. You can also export to mp3 (you will need to
> download the mp3 dll separately to enable this) and I suggest a minimum of
> 192kbps recording quality. It will also encode into flac which is another
> lossless format, though iPods will not be able to play these files back.
> 
>  
> 
> Then, should you wish to share the results then you can upload the files to
> a site such as Mediafire, let us know through the Mailing List and update
> the pages on the Wiki if you can date the show.
> 
>  
> 
> I know I've not gone into any great detail in any of the above steps but
> just do a Google Search for anything you're stuck on or get back to the
> group!
> 
>  
> 
> Stuart 
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>   _____  
> 
> From: peel@yahoogroups.com [mailto:peel@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
> isector100
> Sent: 06 July 2010 19:44
> To: peel@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [peel] New Member - Not The First Time This Has Been Asked?
> 
>  
> 
>   
> 
> Hi All,
> 
>  
> 
> Just joined the group. I've started to listen again to my J P Show cassette
> tapes and found you via the John Peel Wiki. 
> 
>  
> 
> I'm sure this is not the first time this has been asked, but can someone
> point me in the direction of help / guidance on making digital copies of my
> tapes. I'm aware that cassette tape recordings don't last forever and I
> would like to be able to help preserve what I've got if possible. 
> 
>  
> 
> Paul
>