MR

I have a lot of material to transfer, concerts, interviews, some rare material . Anyone know how to do this or the equipment you need to do it?

a good tape deck is a starrt, not a boom box, unless you have to.

Also, if you run XP, you should get an add on package that has a recording program in it, OR you should ahve software if you have a CD recorder in your CPU, that will do this. Also red/white RCA jacks going to a 1/8" headphone jack (male/stereo). That's it.

Whocares nailed it. Plug your tape deck into the Red and White RCA cables into your soundcard. I use the Roxio program which has an audio capture and sound editor. That way you can track break, title and sometimes remove some of the tape hiss. You can also use Nero, or whatever software comes with your burner. The rest will be automatic. Save everything in mp3 files and burn at will. For live stuff I like to use the Nero program to burn because it ieasier to remove the 2 second pause between songs. That way each track plays continuosly to give a smooth sound to the show.

jrnyman28 wrote:Whocares nailed it. Plug your tape deck into the Red and White RCA cables into your soundcard. I use the Roxio program which has an audio capture and sound editor. That way you can track break, title and sometimes remove some of the tape hiss. You can also use Nero, or whatever software comes with your burner. The rest will be automatic. Save everything in mp3 files and burn at will. For live stuff I like to use the Nero program to burn because it ieasier to remove the 2 second pause between songs. That way each track plays continuosly to give a smooth sound to the show.

I used MusicMatch to transfer some tapes & LPs to disc because it has this feature that balances the sound level so u don't get some stuff loud & some low. It also eliminates the 2 second gap if u choose that. & for me, it was pretty dummyproof & I'm a dummy.

jrnyman28 wrote:Whocares nailed it. Plug your tape deck into the Red and White RCA cables into your soundcard. I use the Roxio program which has an audio capture and sound editor. That way you can track break, title and sometimes remove some of the tape hiss. You can also use Nero, or whatever software comes with your burner. The rest will be automatic. Save everything in mp3 files and burn at will. For live stuff I like to use the Nero program to burn because it ieasier to remove the 2 second pause between songs. That way each track plays continuosly to give a smooth sound to the show.

I am not computer dumb but this threw me. Where are you speaking about. Thanks for the info.

whocares wrote:a good tape deck is a starrt, not a boom box, unless you have to.

Also, if you run XP, you should get an add on package that has a recording program in it, OR you should ahve software if you have a CD recorder in your CPU, that will do this. Also red/white RCA jacks going to a 1/8" headphone jack (male/stereo). That's it.

Except that the headphone output of the tape machine is the wrong impedence, and too hot, which will lead to a distorted signal, even at lower volumes. You may not hear it, but it does do it. One look at the wave file in a file editor program (do a google there are tons of shareware progs out there) and you will see it.

If at all possible, find a service if these are important to you. I provide forensic audio services for this application. We have cassette decks that allow for darn exact tape alignment (azimuth) control. This makes for a better transfer. Also, we use Digidesign ProTools HD (www.digidesign.com) and a wide assortment of software plug ins for removing background noise, hiss, hums, etc. We then master it so that it is as hot as it can be on the CD.

Unless you have your tapes stored in a climate and humidity controlled environment, the time is ticking. Tape is just mylar with glue and rust particles sticking to it. As the tape ages, the glue dries, and there is tape shred and particles left on the heads, pinch roller and capstan of your tape deck every time you play them. This increases noise and decreases the quality.