Burning cassettes to CD

[Dewey]

Hi all,

I have a question: I have several hundred Grateful Dead "bootlegs" that
I want to copy to CD before they turn to dust. I have tried playing
them directly into my PC but they come out sounding terrible. Hissy and
with odd clicking sounds. I presume this is due to internal noises
picked up on the audio inputs. So I am looking at the possibility of
buying a component burner. I am leaning towards the Sony RCD-W500C
because it apparently also has a 5 CD changer (my current changer is 10
years old and dying). But at $300 it's a little pricey. So I was hoping
maybe some folks could share whatever experiences they have. In
particular, is there an easy way to overcome the PC noise problem I'm
having? My Dead tapes are mostly of very high quality and I don't want
crummy copies of them. If there are other component changer/burners
people can recommend, that would be great too. Any help or advice would
be enormously appreciated.

Thanks
Dewey

[Lionel]

Dewey a écrit :
> Hi all,
>
> I have a question: I have several hundred Grateful Dead "bootlegs" that
> I want to copy to CD before they turn to dust. I have tried playing
> them directly into my PC but they come out sounding terrible. Hissy and
> with odd clicking sounds. I presume this is due to internal noises
> picked up on the audio inputs. So I am looking at the possibility of
> buying a component burner. I am leaning towards the Sony RCD-W500C
> because it apparently also has a 5 CD changer (my current changer is 10
> years old and dying). But at $300 it's a little pricey. So I was hoping
> maybe some folks could share whatever experiences they have. In
> particular, is there an easy way to overcome the PC noise problem I'm
> having? My Dead tapes are mostly of very high quality and I don't want
> crummy copies of them. If there are other component changer/burners
> people can recommend, that would be great too. Any help or advice would
> be enormously appreciated.
>
> Thanks
> Dewey
>

Forget your copies, most of GD concerts are available on :
www.archive.com. Most of these concerts are available in uncompressed
format (FLAC or Shorten).
You just need to download and burn... :-)

[Schizoid Man]

"Lionel" > wrote in message

> Forget your copies, most of GD concerts are available on :
> www.archive.com. Most of these concerts are available in uncompressed
> format (FLAC or Shorten).

Lionel, it's www.archive.org (if you're talking about the Internet Archives)

> You just need to download and burn... :-)

[Lionel]

Schizoid Man a écrit :
> "Lionel" > wrote in message
>
>
>>Forget your copies, most of GD concerts are available on :
>>www.archive.com. Most of these concerts are available in uncompressed
>>format (FLAC or Shorten).
>
>
> Lionel, it's www.archive.org (if you're talking about the Internet Archives)

Ooops... You are right. ;-)

I have discover here a very good guitarist : Jim Kelly (group Sled Dogs).
There are just 3 shows to download, the 1995 is the one I prefer.

>>You just need to download and burn... :-)

[Buzz]

"Dewey" > a écrit dans le message de news:
om...
> Hi all,
>
> I have a question: I have several hundred Grateful Dead "bootlegs" that
> I want to copy to CD before they turn to dust. I have tried playing
> them directly into my PC but they come out sounding terrible. Hissy and
> with odd clicking sounds. I presume this is due to internal noises
> picked up on the audio inputs. So I am looking at the possibility of
> buying a component burner. I am leaning towards the Sony RCD-W500C
> because it apparently also has a 5 CD changer (my current changer is 10
> years old and dying). But at $300 it's a little pricey. So I was hoping
> maybe some folks could share whatever experiences they have. In
> particular, is there an easy way to overcome the PC noise problem I'm
> having? My Dead tapes are mostly of very high quality and I don't want
> crummy copies of them. If there are other component changer/burners
> people can recommend, that would be great too. Any help or advice would
> be enormously appreciated.
>
> Thanks
> Dewey

================================================== ==

What equipment ?
What cassette reader ?
What PC ... Mother Board ... Processor .... Memory ... Operating System ?
What Sound Card ?
What software ?

On descent quality equipment, there are not many problems

--
Allen Reny
http://www.a-reny.com

[Dewey]

In response to Lionel:

Thanks for the info. I will check out that site. However, many of my
tapes are low gen dbx dubs of Aaron Yamaguchi masters and I highly
doubt those are widely available. Also, I did not say that I have about
200 "non-dead" tapes that I know no one else has. Thus, I still need a
system to digitize.

To Allen,

Ironically, my father sent me a link to the article on your site a
while back. To answer your questions: I have a Nakamichi CR7a and since
nearly all my tapes are dbx encoded I playback through a dbx 224xDS. I
tried plugging the dbx outs into the 3.5mm input on my laptop. I have a
Dell Latitude, ESS Maestro II card, "Dell" moboard, P3 mobile
processor, 256M DIMM, Win2k SP4. I tried recording with windows
recorder, music match, EAC and some others. Results always the same:
lots of static and clicking and popping.

I also have a desktop PC that I have not tried. It is a Pentium 233,
Win98 (first edition), 256M (?), and I have no idea what sound card as
the computer is 6 years old. It also has a 3.5mm stereo input. Should I
think about getting a sound card with RCA ins? Do they make those?

My idea was to use the component burner to make unedited CDRWs which I
would then rip onto my harddrive, edit and tag, and burn to CDR as MP3.
The Sony I saw (on their website) also has 5 CD changer so it would
replace my current Sony 5 disc changer that is really limping along.

I will peruse through your site in more detail but if you have any
direct advice you can give, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks,
Dewey

[Lionel]

Dewey wrote:
> In response to Lionel:
>
> Thanks for the info. I will check out that site. However, many of my
> tapes are low gen dbx dubs of Aaron Yamaguchi masters and I highly
> doubt those are widely available. Also, I did not say that I have about
> 200 "non-dead" tapes that I know no one else has. Thus, I still need a
> system to digitize.

You're welcome.
Good luck and "bon courage" !


>
> To Allen,
>
> Ironically, my father sent me a link to the article on your site a
> while back. To answer your questions: I have a Nakamichi CR7a and since
> nearly all my tapes are dbx encoded I playback through a dbx 224xDS. I
> tried plugging the dbx outs into the 3.5mm input on my laptop. I have a
> Dell Latitude, ESS Maestro II card, "Dell" moboard, P3 mobile
> processor, 256M DIMM, Win2k SP4. I tried recording with windows
> recorder, music match, EAC and some others. Results always the same:
> lots of static and clicking and popping.
>
> I also have a desktop PC that I have not tried. It is a Pentium 233,
> Win98 (first edition), 256M (?), and I have no idea what sound card as
> the computer is 6 years old. It also has a 3.5mm stereo input. Should I
> think about getting a sound card with RCA ins? Do they make those?
>
> My idea was to use the component burner to make unedited CDRWs which I
> would then rip onto my harddrive, edit and tag, and burn to CDR as MP3.
> The Sony I saw (on their website) also has 5 CD changer so it would
> replace my current Sony 5 disc changer that is really limping along.
>
> I will peruse through your site in more detail but if you have any
> direct advice you can give, I would really appreciate it.
>
> Thanks,
> Dewey
>

[Arny Krueger]

"Dewey" > wrote in message
ups.com
> Hi all,
>
> I have a question: I have several hundred Grateful Dead "bootlegs"
> that I want to copy to CD before they turn to dust. I have tried
> playing them directly into my PC but they come out sounding terrible.
> Hissy and with odd clicking sounds. I presume this is due to internal
> noises picked up on the audio inputs.

More likely - it was a matter of either the procedures you used, some
configuration issues with your PC, or simply the crappy audio interface that
many PCs, particularly older ones, come with.

>So I am looking at the
> possibility of buying a component burner. I am leaning towards the
> Sony RCD-W500C because it apparently also has a 5 CD changer (my
> current changer is 10 years old and dying). But at $300 it's a little
> pricey.

The upside of having a dedicated audio burner is that its a familiar
paradigm to work with. Downsides include the fact that you will probably pay
more for special *audio* CD media (unless you buy a *professional* burner),
and the fact that a lot of the noise reduction and editing options that PC
users take for granted won't be available. Start-up costs figure into the
equation as good PC CD burners are dirt cheap, and far faster.

>So I was hoping maybe some folks could share whatever
> experiences they have.

The *standard* LP transcription web sites have a lot of wisdom that also
applies to transcribing cassettes:

http://www.a-reny.com/iexplorer/restauration.html

http://www.delback.co.uk/lp-cdr.htm

>In particular, is there an easy way to
> overcome the PC noise problem I'm having?

There are several possible different problems. Specifically, what are your
symptoms?

> My Dead tapes are mostly of
> very high quality and I don't want crummy copies of them.

For ultimate quality, its hard to beat the best that the PC world offers.

[Dewey]

Buzz wrote:
> "Dewey" > a =E9crit dans le message de news:
> om...
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I have a question: I have several hundred Grateful Dead "bootlegs"
that
> > I want to copy to CD before they turn to dust. I have tried playing
> > them directly into my PC but they come out sounding terrible. Hissy
and
> > with odd clicking sounds. I presume this is due to internal noises
> > picked up on the audio inputs. So I am looking at the possibility
of
> > buying a component burner. I am leaning towards the Sony RCD-W500C
> > because it apparently also has a 5 CD changer (my current changer
is 10
> > years old and dying). But at $300 it's a little pricey. So I was
hoping
> > maybe some folks could share whatever experiences they have. In
> > particular, is there an easy way to overcome the PC noise problem
I'm
> > having? My Dead tapes are mostly of very high quality and I don't
want
> > crummy copies of them. If there are other component changer/burners
> > people can recommend, that would be great too. Any help or advice
would
> > be enormously appreciated.
> >
> > Thanks
> > Dewey
>
> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3 D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3 D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D
>
> What equipment ?
> What cassette reader ?
> What PC ... Mother Board ... Processor .... Memory ... Operating
System ?
> What Sound Card ?
> What software ?
>
> On descent quality equipment, there are not many problems
>
Hi Allen and others,

I made my decision and as my 5 CD changer was fritzed and I needed a
new one, I bought the Sony RCD-W500C dual deck, 5 CD changer and CD
recorder. It works great and I have transfered several tapes to CD. Now
I need to edit the tracks to make individual MP3s for each song and
whatever other editing I want to do. I know many people recommend Cool
Edit but I was wondering if there are any other comparable programs. I
have Nero Wave Editor and it seems very clunky. I also have something
called CD Wave Editor 1.62 and Exact Audio Copy. Really all I want to
do is break the tracks apart in such a way that they will still play
without gaps or pauses - as they would if they were separate tracks on
a commercial CD. Is this possible? Any recommendations would be greatly
appreciated.

Thanks!

[Dewey]

Dewey wrote:
> Buzz wrote:
> > "Dewey" > a =E9crit dans le message de news:
> > om...
> > > Hi all,
> > >
> > > I have a question: I have several hundred Grateful Dead
"bootlegs"
> that
> > > I want to copy to CD before they turn to dust. I have tried
playing
> > > them directly into my PC but they come out sounding terrible.
Hissy
> and
> > > with odd clicking sounds. I presume this is due to internal
noises
> > > picked up on the audio inputs. So I am looking at the possibility
> of
> > > buying a component burner. I am leaning towards the Sony
RCD-W500C
> > > because it apparently also has a 5 CD changer (my current changer
> is 10
> > > years old and dying). But at $300 it's a little pricey. So I was
> hoping
> > > maybe some folks could share whatever experiences they have. In
> > > particular, is there an easy way to overcome the PC noise problem
> I'm
> > > having? My Dead tapes are mostly of very high quality and I don't
> want
> > > crummy copies of them. If there are other component
changer/burners
> > > people can recommend, that would be great too. Any help or advice
> would
> > > be enormously appreciated.
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > > Dewey
> >
> > =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3 D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3 D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D
> >
> > What equipment ?
> > What cassette reader ?
> > What PC ... Mother Board ... Processor .... Memory ... Operating
> System ?
> > What Sound Card ?
> > What software ?
> >
> > On descent quality equipment, there are not many problems
> >
> Hi Allen and others,
>
> I made my decision and as my 5 CD changer was fritzed and I needed a
> new one, I bought the Sony RCD-W500C dual deck, 5 CD changer and CD
> recorder. It works great and I have transfered several tapes to CD.
Now
> I need to edit the tracks to make individual MP3s for each song and
> whatever other editing I want to do. I know many people recommend
Cool
> Edit but I was wondering if there are any other comparable programs.
I
> have Nero Wave Editor and it seems very clunky. I also have something
> called CD Wave Editor 1.62 and Exact Audio Copy. Really all I want to
> do is break the tracks apart in such a way that they will still play
> without gaps or pauses - as they would if they were separate tracks
on
> a commercial CD. Is this possible? Any recommendations would be
greatly
> appreciated.
>
> Thanks!

Let me add that I've played around with Gold Wave too. It seems very
powerful. I cannot find cool edit - I keep getting cannot find server
errors for all the links I've tried. I like Gold Wave so far. I have a
general question for anyone who has done editing before - these
programs all seem to be able to edit either .wav or .mp3 files and I
wanted to know if there are advantages/disadvantages to either option.
Clearly mp3s are much smaller than wavs and that's an advantage - is
there a disadvantage to editing the mp3 instead of the wav?
Thanks again for all the help!