HI Ben

Thanks for the comments

Adrian Brentnall wrote in message . ..
(snip)
1) There's still the original background noise on audio playback on
this PC - but it doesn't appear on the final CD, so it's not a big
worry. This noice was present with the original naff on-board sound -
so I'm wondering how both sound systems can show the same problem...?

Be sure to use good screened cable from the tapedeck to the PC and
keep away from mains cable etc. This way you avoid picking up RF
interference and 50hz mains interference.

Yes - always a good plan. The current cable is ok - but coupld
probably do with being 'properly' made (it's a botch of connectors at
the moment - you probably know how it is g)


However if you are only getting this noise thru the PC speakers while
monitoring your input then switch all the other inputs on windows
Volume control to off - especially MIC. You may also consider
reinstalling the audio drivers. I had to do this once. And check your
PC speakers - they could be picking up interference. especially if it
is not affecting recording.

Yes - just had one of those 'doh!' moments.......

On an idle whim - tried plugging a pair of headphones direct into the
output of the soundcard - odd - extraneous burbling noises gone
away.... - plug the phones back into the jack on the front of the PC
speakers - and the noise is back again.

Just been out to the shed, and found a pair of rather nice
mains-powered speakers - bodged another cable to connect them to the
PC (can you see a pattern here ?? g) - and, lo and behold, the
noise is gone. Just lovely clear, crisp, burble-free audio.

It's those horrible USB-powered speakers that came with the PC !!!!!

Can't decide now whether to

a) Contact the PC manufacturer and tell him what rubbish his speakers
are
b) Just get on with the recording and enjoy the lovely sound
c) Put the old speakers on the front drive and run the car over them a
couple of times (would make me feel better ! g)


2) The (reasonably good Sansui D-90) cassette deck that I'm using to
record from has buttons for bias equalisation and dolby. I'm currently
recording with the dolby switched 'off'. Presumably with the dolby
'on' I'd hear a reduction in background hiss. One website I was
advised against using the dolby NR in this situation - any comments /
ideas ?

Often, it comes down to having a bright but hissy signal with dolby
off to a less hissy but duller sound with it on. Depends on the
quality of the machine and tape used in recording. Were your tapes
recorded in Dolby? often, I compromise - example -a normal bias tape
recorded in Dolby but sounds a bit dull when played back in dolby -so
keep dolby off but play it back with CrO2 setting to roll off the high
end a bit.

Had a play last night with the filtering in Audigy - discovered that
it's got a wonderful 'noise' filter - so let it loose on the
'non-dolby' recording - cleaned it up a treat. Took about 8 minutes to
'clean' a full album - but the results are excellent - absolute
silence between tracks. So - we have a system !


Personally I find tape transfers like this a nigthmare - beg, borrow
or buy the music on cd or get on a P2P internet connection like e-Mule
and try to find the original music this way for better quality.

Agreed in principle. In practise, however, I have all of these tapes
and vinyl - and would like to make use of them. Trouble is the 'new'
car doesn't have a cassette player - so if I want my music on the move
then it's got to find its way onto CD - but it now looks as if this
goal is achievable.


3) The sound levels as shown on the decks own VU meters and the record
level meters on the PC software show that the left channel is about
3db lower (on average) than the right channel. I don't have a
calibrated set-up tape. When this deck came my way the heads were
badly 'gunged' - and it took a couple of applications of head cleaner
to clear them. Is this 'imbalance' more likely to be as a result of
mechanical misalignment of the tape head - or of an electonic
'out-of-adjustment' inside the deck.

The only sure way is to play the cassette you want to transfer in the
sansui deck, with dolby off, and align the tapehead by gently turning
the screw on its left with a non magnetic jewelers screwdriver till
you get the clearest, sharpest sound. When you obtain optimal
alignment, dub the tape to PC. It is painstaking but its the only way
to get top results in reporduction, ie.. by matching the original
alignment used in recording that tape.

I think I may just leave well alone on the mechanical side, and
correct the (slight) imbalance with the pan control on the line input.
Don't really want to start taking the deck apart if I don't have to...

So - many thanks - I think I have a result!
Isn't it always the most obvious things that you look at last - you
wouldn't think that I've been 'playing' with audio & electronics for
the best part of 40 years.........

Thanks all
Adrian
Suffolk UK

HI Ben

Thanks for the comments

Adrian Brentnall wrote in message . ..
(snip)
1) There's still the original background noise on audio playback on
this PC - but it doesn't appear on the final CD, so it's not a big
worry. This noice was present with the original naff on-board sound -
so I'm wondering how both sound systems can show the same problem...?

Be sure to use good screened cable from the tapedeck to the PC and
keep away from mains cable etc. This way you avoid picking up RF
interference and 50hz mains interference.

Yes - always a good plan. The current cable is ok - but coupld
probably do with being 'properly' made (it's a botch of connectors at
the moment - you probably know how it is g)


However if you are only getting this noise thru the PC speakers while
monitoring your input then switch all the other inputs on windows
Volume control to off - especially MIC. You may also consider
reinstalling the audio drivers. I had to do this once. And check your
PC speakers - they could be picking up interference. especially if it
is not affecting recording.

Yes - just had one of those 'doh!' moments.......

On an idle whim - tried plugging a pair of headphones direct into the
output of the soundcard - odd - extraneous burbling noises gone
away.... - plug the phones back into the jack on the front of the PC
speakers - and the noise is back again.

Just been out to the shed, and found a pair of rather nice
mains-powered speakers - bodged another cable to connect them to the
PC (can you see a pattern here ?? g) - and, lo and behold, the
noise is gone. Just lovely clear, crisp, burble-free audio.

It's those horrible USB-powered speakers that came with the PC !!!!!

Can't decide now whether to

a) Contact the PC manufacturer and tell him what rubbish his speakers
are
b) Just get on with the recording and enjoy the lovely sound
c) Put the old speakers on the front drive and run the car over them a
couple of times (would make me feel better ! g)


2) The (reasonably good Sansui D-90) cassette deck that I'm using to
record from has buttons for bias equalisation and dolby. I'm currently
recording with the dolby switched 'off'. Presumably with the dolby
'on' I'd hear a reduction in background hiss. One website I was
advised against using the dolby NR in this situation - any comments /
ideas ?

Often, it comes down to having a bright but hissy signal with dolby
off to a less hissy but duller sound with it on. Depends on the
quality of the machine and tape used in recording. Were your tapes
recorded in Dolby? often, I compromise - example -a normal bias tape
recorded in Dolby but sounds a bit dull when played back in dolby -so
keep dolby off but play it back with CrO2 setting to roll off the high
end a bit.

Had a play last night with the filtering in Audigy - discovered that
it's got a wonderful 'noise' filter - so let it loose on the
'non-dolby' recording - cleaned it up a treat. Took about 8 minutes to
'clean' a full album - but the results are excellent - absolute
silence between tracks. So - we have a system !


Personally I find tape transfers like this a nigthmare - beg, borrow
or buy the music on cd or get on a P2P internet connection like e-Mule
and try to find the original music this way for better quality.

Agreed in principle. In practise, however, I have all of these tapes
and vinyl - and would like to make use of them. Trouble is the 'new'
car doesn't have a cassette player - so if I want my music on the move
then it's got to find its way onto CD - but it now looks as if this
goal is achievable.


3) The sound levels as shown on the decks own VU meters and the record
level meters on the PC software show that the left channel is about
3db lower (on average) than the right channel. I don't have a
calibrated set-up tape. When this deck came my way the heads were
badly 'gunged' - and it took a couple of applications of head cleaner
to clear them. Is this 'imbalance' more likely to be as a result of
mechanical misalignment of the tape head - or of an electonic
'out-of-adjustment' inside the deck.

The only sure way is to play the cassette you want to transfer in the
sansui deck, with dolby off, and align the tapehead by gently turning
the screw on its left with a non magnetic jewelers screwdriver till
you get the clearest, sharpest sound. When you obtain optimal
alignment, dub the tape to PC. It is painstaking but its the only way
to get top results in reporduction, ie.. by matching the original
alignment used in recording that tape.

I think I may just leave well alone on the mechanical side, and
correct the (slight) imbalance with the pan control on the line input.
Don't really want to start taking the deck apart if I don't have to...

So - many thanks - I think I have a result!
Isn't it always the most obvious things that you look at last - you
wouldn't think that I've been 'playing' with audio & electronics for
the best part of 40 years.........

Thanks all
Adrian
Suffolk UK

HI Ben

Thanks for the comments

Adrian Brentnall wrote in message . ..
(snip)
1) There's still the original background noise on audio playback on
this PC - but it doesn't appear on the final CD, so it's not a big
worry. This noice was present with the original naff on-board sound -
so I'm wondering how both sound systems can show the same problem...?

Be sure to use good screened cable from the tapedeck to the PC and
keep away from mains cable etc. This way you avoid picking up RF
interference and 50hz mains interference.

Yes - always a good plan. The current cable is ok - but coupld
probably do with being 'properly' made (it's a botch of connectors at
the moment - you probably know how it is g)


However if you are only getting this noise thru the PC speakers while
monitoring your input then switch all the other inputs on windows
Volume control to off - especially MIC. You may also consider
reinstalling the audio drivers. I had to do this once. And check your
PC speakers - they could be picking up interference. especially if it
is not affecting recording.

Yes - just had one of those 'doh!' moments.......

On an idle whim - tried plugging a pair of headphones direct into the
output of the soundcard - odd - extraneous burbling noises gone
away.... - plug the phones back into the jack on the front of the PC
speakers - and the noise is back again.

Just been out to the shed, and found a pair of rather nice
mains-powered speakers - bodged another cable to connect them to the
PC (can you see a pattern here ?? g) - and, lo and behold, the
noise is gone. Just lovely clear, crisp, burble-free audio.

It's those horrible USB-powered speakers that came with the PC !!!!!

Can't decide now whether to

a) Contact the PC manufacturer and tell him what rubbish his speakers
are
b) Just get on with the recording and enjoy the lovely sound
c) Put the old speakers on the front drive and run the car over them a
couple of times (would make me feel better ! g)


2) The (reasonably good Sansui D-90) cassette deck that I'm using to
record from has buttons for bias equalisation and dolby. I'm currently
recording with the dolby switched 'off'. Presumably with the dolby
'on' I'd hear a reduction in background hiss. One website I was
advised against using the dolby NR in this situation - any comments /
ideas ?

Often, it comes down to having a bright but hissy signal with dolby
off to a less hissy but duller sound with it on. Depends on the
quality of the machine and tape used in recording. Were your tapes
recorded in Dolby? often, I compromise - example -a normal bias tape
recorded in Dolby but sounds a bit dull when played back in dolby -so
keep dolby off but play it back with CrO2 setting to roll off the high
end a bit.

Had a play last night with the filtering in Audigy - discovered that
it's got a wonderful 'noise' filter - so let it loose on the
'non-dolby' recording - cleaned it up a treat. Took about 8 minutes to
'clean' a full album - but the results are excellent - absolute
silence between tracks. So - we have a system !


Personally I find tape transfers like this a nigthmare - beg, borrow
or buy the music on cd or get on a P2P internet connection like e-Mule
and try to find the original music this way for better quality.

Agreed in principle. In practise, however, I have all of these tapes
and vinyl - and would like to make use of them. Trouble is the 'new'
car doesn't have a cassette player - so if I want my music on the move
then it's got to find its way onto CD - but it now looks as if this
goal is achievable.


3) The sound levels as shown on the decks own VU meters and the record
level meters on the PC software show that the left channel is about
3db lower (on average) than the right channel. I don't have a
calibrated set-up tape. When this deck came my way the heads were
badly 'gunged' - and it took a couple of applications of head cleaner
to clear them. Is this 'imbalance' more likely to be as a result of
mechanical misalignment of the tape head - or of an electonic
'out-of-adjustment' inside the deck.

The only sure way is to play the cassette you want to transfer in the
sansui deck, with dolby off, and align the tapehead by gently turning
the screw on its left with a non magnetic jewelers screwdriver till
you get the clearest, sharpest sound. When you obtain optimal
alignment, dub the tape to PC. It is painstaking but its the only way
to get top results in reporduction, ie.. by matching the original
alignment used in recording that tape.

I think I may just leave well alone on the mechanical side, and
correct the (slight) imbalance with the pan control on the line input.
Don't really want to start taking the deck apart if I don't have to...

So - many thanks - I think I have a result!
Isn't it always the most obvious things that you look at last - you
wouldn't think that I've been 'playing' with audio & electronics for
the best part of 40 years.........

Thanks all
Adrian
Suffolk UK

"Adrian Brentnall" wrote in message

HI Amy

Nope - the noise is present when the tape source is 'off' - also
present when all mixer inputs are muted. Seems to be a constant
(now)low-level burble - but additional noise occurs when the mouse is
moved. Done all the 'usual' stuff about checking for conflicting
interupts - but can't seem to get rid of it.

Sounds like bus contention noise. Try turning off hardware acelleration in
your video card.

2) The (reasonably good Sansui D-90) cassette deck that I'm using to
record from has buttons for bias equalization and Dolby. I'm
currently recording with the Dolby switched 'off'. Presumably with
the Dolby 'on' I'd hear a reduction in background hiss. One website
I was advised against using the Dolby NR in this situation - any
comments / ideas ?

If the tape was made with Dolby, you should probably play it back
with Dolby.

The website I saw suggested that it was better to run the tape output
without dolby and then use software on the PC to clear up any tape
noise - but don't know why that should me any better than applying
dolby during replay at the tape deck...?

It's worse, because Dolby requires a specific decoding scheme, if you want
good frequency response.


On a 'listening test', applying dolby to the replay cuts a fair amount
of 'top' - would you expect that ?

Yes, the top is boosted by Dolby processing during recording. That's one
reason why it should be properly decoded.

"Adrian Brentnall" wrote in message

HI Amy

Nope - the noise is present when the tape source is 'off' - also
present when all mixer inputs are muted. Seems to be a constant
(now)low-level burble - but additional noise occurs when the mouse is
moved. Done all the 'usual' stuff about checking for conflicting
interupts - but can't seem to get rid of it.

Sounds like bus contention noise. Try turning off hardware acelleration in
your video card.

2) The (reasonably good Sansui D-90) cassette deck that I'm using to
record from has buttons for bias equalization and Dolby. I'm
currently recording with the Dolby switched 'off'. Presumably with
the Dolby 'on' I'd hear a reduction in background hiss. One website
I was advised against using the Dolby NR in this situation - any
comments / ideas ?

If the tape was made with Dolby, you should probably play it back
with Dolby.

The website I saw suggested that it was better to run the tape output
without dolby and then use software on the PC to clear up any tape
noise - but don't know why that should me any better than applying
dolby during replay at the tape deck...?

It's worse, because Dolby requires a specific decoding scheme, if you want
good frequency response.


On a 'listening test', applying dolby to the replay cuts a fair amount
of 'top' - would you expect that ?

Yes, the top is boosted by Dolby processing during recording. That's one
reason why it should be properly decoded.

"Adrian Brentnall" wrote in message

HI Amy

Nope - the noise is present when the tape source is 'off' - also
present when all mixer inputs are muted. Seems to be a constant
(now)low-level burble - but additional noise occurs when the mouse is
moved. Done all the 'usual' stuff about checking for conflicting
interupts - but can't seem to get rid of it.

Sounds like bus contention noise. Try turning off hardware acelleration in
your video card.

2) The (reasonably good Sansui D-90) cassette deck that I'm using to
record from has buttons for bias equalization and Dolby. I'm
currently recording with the Dolby switched 'off'. Presumably with
the Dolby 'on' I'd hear a reduction in background hiss. One website
I was advised against using the Dolby NR in this situation - any
comments / ideas ?

If the tape was made with Dolby, you should probably play it back
with Dolby.

The website I saw suggested that it was better to run the tape output
without dolby and then use software on the PC to clear up any tape
noise - but don't know why that should me any better than applying
dolby during replay at the tape deck...?

It's worse, because Dolby requires a specific decoding scheme, if you want
good frequency response.


On a 'listening test', applying dolby to the replay cuts a fair amount
of 'top' - would you expect that ?

Yes, the top is boosted by Dolby processing during recording. That's one
reason why it should be properly decoded.

Adrian,
glad you managed to solve the problems with the speakers - its really
satisfying when you discover such a simple and cheap solution (which
is rare these days!) :-) Also that you managed to clean up the tapes
too. So ...enjoy!
Ben



Adrian Brentnall wrote in message . ..
HI Ben

Thanks for the comments
(snip)

Adrian,
glad you managed to solve the problems with the speakers - its really
satisfying when you discover such a simple and cheap solution (which
is rare these days!) :-) Also that you managed to clean up the tapes
too. So ...enjoy!
Ben



Adrian Brentnall wrote in message . ..
HI Ben

Thanks for the comments
(snip)

Adrian,
glad you managed to solve the problems with the speakers - its really
satisfying when you discover such a simple and cheap solution (which
is rare these days!) :-) Also that you managed to clean up the tapes
too. So ...enjoy!
Ben



Adrian Brentnall wrote in message . ..
HI Ben

Thanks for the comments
(snip)