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[email protected] rdelaney2001@gmail.com is offline
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Default cassette conversion

A question probably asked a thousand times -

I have a box of old cassettes in the attic (like a
million other blokes). Rather than consigning them
to the dust bin, I'd convert them to MP3 files. Anybody
have suggestions for a converter?

I could buy one blind, from Amazon or Best Buy, but
I wonder if there are differences in quality, among
competing models.

I plan to do one tape per day. It should require minimal
baby sitting - just start it, then let it run to completion,
and switch off, on its own.

PS Some of the tapes are metal, some CrO2, some plain
vanilla (whatever that means). And differing cutoff filters.
So that's a complication. As I recall, there were players which could recognize these various types. How did they do that?

--
Rich
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Mike Rivers[_2_] Mike Rivers[_2_] is offline
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Default cassette conversion

On 6/1/2018 6:45 PM, wrote:
I have a box of old cassettes in the attic (like a
million other blokes). Rather than consigning them
to the dust bin, I'd convert them to MP3 files. Anybody
have suggestions for a converter?


I'm aware of boxes that have a cassette transport and spit out audio
data, usually via USB. I suppose they work, and although
analog-to-digital conversion isn't hard to do at least pretty well for
cheap, most probably have pretty poor quality cassette transports. For
$20-$30, you don't get a very precise mechanical assembly. If all you
want to do is get an easier way to listen to what's on your cassettes,
one of those would do. Looking at the "random" selection on Amazon, I'd
guess that the one from ION is probably the best of the lot. At least
it's distributed by a company that also offers up decent quality audio
products.

The best way to do the job, if you care about getting all the sound
quality you can off the cassette, is to get a decent cassette deck and a
decent computer audio interface. In the best of all worlds, you'd have a
Nakamichi Dragon but even a Sony or Yamaha or TEAC cassette deck from a
yard sale or thrift store, with a good cleaning, will probably be better
than what you get with a "converter." Mate a USB audio interface, even
an inexpensive one like a Behringer UCA-202 or -222 will do a better job
than whatever is in a "converter" box. Mate that with a program like
Audacity with its MP3 converter added (or splurge on disk space and use
"full cassette quality" 44.1 kHz WAV files, set the recording level
properly, and you'll get better results than shoving the cassette into
an unknown box and letting it do its thing.

Most cassette decks select the proper equalization curve for the type of
tape based on sensing notches in the shell as someone has explained
here. A deck will let you listen with Dolby noise reduction in or out
and decide which one sounds right if your cassettes aren't marked as to
whether they use it or not. There's no automatic way to detect that.

--

For a good time, call
http://mikeriversaudio.wordpress.com
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geoff geoff is offline
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Default cassette conversion

On 2/06/2018 1:15 PM, Mike Rivers wrote:
On 6/1/2018 6:45 PM, wrote:
I have a box of old cassettes in the attic (like a
million other blokes).Â* Rather than consigning them
to the dust bin, I'd convert them to MP3 files.Â* Anybody
have suggestions for a converter?


I'm aware of boxes that have a cassette transportÂ* and spit out audio
data, usually via USB. I suppose they work, and although
analog-to-digital conversion isn't hard to do at least pretty well for
cheap, most probably have pretty poor quality cassette transports. For
$20-$30, you don't get a very precise mechanical assembly. If all you
want to do is get an easier way to listen to what's on your cassettes,
one of those would do. Looking at the "random" selection on Amazon, I'd
guess that the one from ION is probably the best of the lot. At least
it's distributed by a company that also offers up decent quality audio
products.

The best way to do the job, if you care about getting all the sound
quality you can off the cassette, is to get a decent cassette deck and a
decent computer audio interface. In the best of all worlds, you'd have a
Nakamichi Dragon but even a Sony or Yamaha or TEAC cassette deck from a
yard sale or thrift store, with a good cleaning, will probably be better
than what you get with a "converter." Mate a USB audio interface, even
an inexpensive one like a Behringer UCA-202 or -222 will do a better job
than whatever is in a "converter" box. Mate that with a program like
Audacity with its MP3 converter added (or splurge on disk space and use
"full cassette quality" 44.1 kHz WAV files, set the recording level
properly, and you'll get better results than shoving the cassette into
an unknown box and letting it do its thing.

Most cassette decks select the proper equalization curve for the type of
tape based on sensing notches in the shell as someone has explained
here. A deck will let you listen with Dolby noise reduction in or out
and decide which one sounds right if your cassettes aren't marked as to
whether they use it or not. There's no automatic way to detect that.



Depending on the nature of the cassettes, a cassette deck straight into
the mic/line in of a laptop or desktop may be sufficient quality.

geoff
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[email protected] mkolber1@gmail.com is offline
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Default cassette conversion


I have a box of old cassettes in the attic (like a
million other blokes).Â* Rather than consigning them
to the dust bin, I'd convert them to MP3 files.Â* Anybody
have suggestions for a converter?



if the material is available from iTnes or elsewhere in digital format, unless you spend a lot of money and effort on the copy, the quality will be better if you just get a digital version.

Of course if the material is not available, then.....

m


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Trevor Trevor is offline
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Default cassette conversion

On 2/06/2018 2:19 PM, geoff wrote:
If on CD go down to a used record store and buy for next-to-nothing.Then
if a digital file is what you want to end up with simply rip it, and
you'll have the full-quality real CD for backup. An dthe cassette if
thing really get desperate !


IF it's available on CD, you are NEVER going to be that desperate. Throw
the cassette in the bin where it belongs!

Trevor.

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Scott Dorsey Scott Dorsey is offline
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Default cassette conversion

wrote:
I have a box of old cassettes in the attic (like a
million other blokes). Rather than consigning them
to the dust bin, I'd convert them to MP3 files. Anybody
have suggestions for a converter?


What's your budget?

Playing cassettes cleanly is actually a bit of a pain in the neck, due
to azimuth stability problems. You can buy a Nak Dragon and spend a lot
of money, but it'll let you be able to do unattended transfers without
having to worry about azimuth error. (You'll still have to worry about
getting Dolby levels right, though). For less money you can get a Tascam 122,
spend some money to get new belts on it and add an extender to make the
azimuth screw more accessible.

I could buy one blind, from Amazon or Best Buy, but
I wonder if there are differences in quality, among
competing models.


For the most part, any cassette deck based on a stamped metal chassis is
going to have stability problems.

I plan to do one tape per day. It should require minimal
baby sitting - just start it, then let it run to completion,
and switch off, on its own.

PS Some of the tapes are metal, some CrO2, some plain
vanilla (whatever that means). And differing cutoff filters.
So that's a complication. As I recall, there were players which could recognize these various types. How did they do that?


They used notches in the back of the tape, but you're better off not trusting
the notches because they aren't always correct. Some people would deliberately
set them up wrong to make tapes brighter (to compensate for the azimuth always
being wrong).

God, I hated cassettes.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."
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Bill[_20_] Bill[_20_] is offline
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Default cassette conversion

In message , Scott Dorsey
writes
God, I hated cassettes.


Yes, and I'm perhaps in the same position as the OP. I have a bunch of
cassettes made of live shows. I used them to listen in the car to get a
feel for structure and problem areas before editing the master tapes for
broadcast.

I should be ashamed to admit that, when I saw a cassette to usb
converter in the local Aldi supermarket's remainder area for just under
5 UK pounds, I invested in it.

It's "good enough" and a very handy way of doing it. In my case, I dump
the audio into Audition, lay down the odd marker, and either store it or
put it onto something that will play in the car now.

I just couldn't be bothered fiddling with azimuth etc. for ultimate, but
still mediocre, quality.
--
Bill
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geoff geoff is offline
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Default cassette conversion

On 4/06/2018 10:18 PM, Bill wrote:
In message , Scott Dorsey
writes
God, I hated cassettes.


Yes, and I'm perhaps in the same position as the OP. I have a bunch of
cassettes made of live shows. I used them to listen in the car to get a
feel for structure and problem areas before editing the master tapes for
broadcast.

I should be ashamed to admit that, when I saw a cassette to usb
converter in the local Aldi supermarket's remainder area for just under
5 UK pounds, I invested in it.

It's "good enough" and a very handy way of doing it. In my case, I dump
the audio into Audition, lay down the odd marker, and either store it or
put it onto something that will play in the car now.

I just couldn't be bothered fiddling with azimuth etc. for ultimate, but
still mediocre, quality.



You can easily do some coarse EQ to maybe improve things, with little
effort. WFT. Good enough for purpose !

cheers

geoff
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