Audio acquisition: what program?

[Maelmoro]

I want to record some old musics (cassettes) via RCA cable to PC
microphone: what program for Windows can I use?

Massimo

[Jenn[_2_]]

In article >,
Maelmoro > wrote:

> I want to record some old musics (cassettes) via RCA cable to PC
> microphone: what program for Windows can I use?
>
> Massimo

Audacity is one choice. It's free.

[hophead]

In article -
september.org>, says...
>
> In article >,
> Maelmoro > wrote:
>
> > I want to record some old musics (cassettes) via RCA cable to PC
> > microphone: what program for Windows can I use?
> >
> > Massimo
>
> Audacity is one choice. It's free.

Audacity is a good program, though it does have a learning curve. It's
very powerful and as Jenn said, the price is right.

A few things: if you are capturing this using a microphone-in
(especially on a notebook computer) be aware that they are almost always
monophonic. If you are capturing stereo music, you need a stereo line in
(very rare on notebook computer sound cards), or a USB sound card. They
can be purchased fairly cheaply.

If you want a simple program for Windows, "Spin it Again" by Acoustica
is pretty easy to use. It does cost a bit (I think something like $25.00
or so) but it handles simple recording tasks well and has some basic
clean-up functions if you wish to use them.

[Maelmoro]

> Audacity is a good program, though it does have a learning curve.

Do you mean a learning curve recording/acquiring?

> A few things: if you are capturing this using a microphone-in
> (especially on a notebook computer) be aware that they are almost always
> monophonic. If you are capturing stereo music, you need a stereo line in
> (very rare on notebook computer sound cards), or a USB sound card. They
> can be purchased fairly cheaply.

Well, the source is an old cassette (I suppose cassette is stereo but maybe
the content, my voice talking recorded 30 years ago, should be mono) and I
use its RCA (white/red connectors); the other side of the cable goes into
microphone in of my desktop PC, and I'm afraid it's mono (how can I discover
if it's or not?). So, is this situation good? Or have I to change something?
(and in this case: why? what's the improvement?)

> If you want a simple program for Windows, "Spin it Again" by Acoustica
> is pretty easy to use. It does cost a bit (I think something like $25.00

I looked for a free program..

> or so) but it handles simple recording tasks well and has some basic
> clean-up functions if you wish to use them.

Hasn't Audacity any kind of clean-up function?

Why does default Windows recorder work more than 60 seconds? Was I wrong
something recording?


Thank you so much,

Massimo

[hophead]

In article >, says...
>
> > Audacity is a good program, though it does have a learning curve.
>
> Do you mean a learning curve recording/acquiring?

Well, it's a very powerful program for audio editing, but for recording
it shouldn't be too bad. Download a copy and see for yourself:
<http://audacity.sourceforge.net/>

>
> Well, the source is an old cassette (I suppose cassette is stereo but maybe
> the content, my voice talking recorded 30 years ago, should be mono) and I
> use its RCA (white/red connectors); the other side of the cable goes into
> microphone in of my desktop PC, and I'm afraid it's mono (how can I discover
> if it's or not?). So, is this situation good? Or have I to change something?
> (and in this case: why? what's the improvement?)

Don't worry about the stereo vs mono in this case: you can safely
capture these voice recordings with your current setup.

> Hasn't Audacity any kind of clean-up function?

I've never used Audacity to do that, but there's not much it can't do.
Audacity won't have a simple one button "remove tape hiss" interface for
example, but since these are voice recordings rather than music I doubt
that cleaning up will be much of an issue for you.

> Why does default Windows recorder work more than 60 seconds? Was I wrong
> something recording?

Now that I don't know, but often the utilities supplied with Windows are
not very capable.

But give Audacity a try: there may be other free solutions, but it will
do what you want.

[[email protected]]

For old voice cassette recordings, it is likely that the most valuable
tool for cleaning it up will be noise reduction... where you can sample
the noise in a quiet spot and then remove it. In my experience, old
homemade cassettes of voice most commonly have a clear hum and some hiss.
Simple noise reduction with sampling often does a great job of cleaning
this up, while leaving the voice clear. More dangerous of course if the
material is music. I'm almost positive that Audacity has this function.

hophead > wrote:
: In article >, says...
: >
: > > Audacity is a good program, though it does have a learning curve.
: >
: > Do you mean a learning curve recording/acquiring?

: Well, it's a very powerful program for audio editing, but for recording
: it shouldn't be too bad. Download a copy and see for yourself:
: <http://audacity.sourceforge.net/>

: >
: > Well, the source is an old cassette (I suppose cassette is stereo but maybe
: > the content, my voice talking recorded 30 years ago, should be mono) and I
: > use its RCA (white/red connectors); the other side of the cable goes into
: > microphone in of my desktop PC, and I'm afraid it's mono (how can I discover
: > if it's or not?). So, is this situation good? Or have I to change something?
: > (and in this case: why? what's the improvement?)

: Don't worry about the stereo vs mono in this case: you can safely
: capture these voice recordings with your current setup.
:
: > Hasn't Audacity any kind of clean-up function?

: I've never used Audacity to do that, but there's not much it can't do.
: Audacity won't have a simple one button "remove tape hiss" interface for
: example, but since these are voice recordings rather than music I doubt
: that cleaning up will be much of an issue for you.

: > Why does default Windows recorder work more than 60 seconds? Was I wrong
: > something recording?

: Now that I don't know, but often the utilities supplied with Windows are
: not very capable.

: But give Audacity a try: there may be other free solutions, but it will
: do what you want.