I have a young son and a busy job. I want to convert about 150
cassettes of my old radio shows, live tapes and other things onto
cd-r.

The problem is that I took one cassette last night, tried to follow
all the directions in the software and blew about 3 hours trying to
get it to work right- it never did.

So I ask ya, before I spend another 3 hours doing it "right" is there
a shortcut, possibly consumer, possibly pro device that will convert
cassettes to CDR en masse? I have the time to adjust all the live
tapes, but I don't have the time to convert about 50 copies of my
radio show from the 80s, you know? That would be 2 hours work every
day for 50 days! My dream device has to run on its own while I walk
away.

thanks for any info,

Don

I have a young son and a busy job. I want to convert about 150
cassettes of my old radio shows, live tapes and other things onto
cd-r.

The problem is that I took one cassette last night, tried to follow
all the directions in the software and blew about 3 hours trying to
get it to work right- it never did.

So I ask ya, before I spend another 3 hours doing it "right" is there
a shortcut, possibly consumer, possibly pro device that will convert
cassettes to CDR en masse? I have the time to adjust all the live
tapes, but I don't have the time to convert about 50 copies of my
radio show from the 80s, you know? That would be 2 hours work every
day for 50 days! My dream device has to run on its own while I walk
away.

thanks for any info,

Don


It's going to take that long no matter how you do it, but there is an easier
way with athe HHB 850 BurnIt.

Set the machine to analog sychro mode and it will stop burning wnen the
cassette stops.

You may need to fiddle with the auto tracking levels a bit, but it will allow
you to turn on the machine and then let it run by itself. At least you don't
have to baby-sit it.

Richard H. Kuschel
"I canna change the law of physics."-----Scotty

D wrote:
I have a young son and a busy job. I want to convert about 150
cassettes of my old radio shows, live tapes and other things onto
cd-r.

The problem is that I took one cassette last night, tried to follow
all the directions in the software and blew about 3 hours trying to
get it to work right- it never did.

So I ask ya, before I spend another 3 hours doing it "right" is there
a shortcut, possibly consumer, possibly pro device that will convert
cassettes to CDR en masse? I have the time to adjust all the live
tapes, but I don't have the time to convert about 50 copies of my
radio show from the 80s, you know? That would be 2 hours work every
day for 50 days!

I can't suggest a magic device that will solve the problem, but I can
suggest a more streamlined approach. I would get some real audio
editing software (Adobe Audition or something) and a 24-bit audio
card. With the 24-bit card, you can be pretty careless about
levels (as long as you err on the side of too quiet!!) because you
are taking much more accurate samples than a CD can reproduce.
Once you have the data in the computer, you can adjust the levels
automatically (i.e. "normalize") using the software without any real
loss of quality. That should take care of one of the more annoying
aspects of converting cassettes to digital.

Once you've got that going, all you've got to do is start the
software recording, then start the cassette tape. Then walk
away for 60 minutes or whatever length the program is. Watch
some TV, eat dinner, play with the kid, whatever. Once the
recording is done, just come back and edit the recording. You
can normalize the levels, then cut off the extra crud at the
end, maybe replace gaps (including the auto-reverse time) in
the program with silence, etc. If the programs are all similar
and you get good at it, you might be able to do the editing in,
say, 10 minutes per tape.

It's just a guess, but your total time might then be reduced
to something like 20 or 30 minutes a tape. If you make a
routine of it, you could have them all done in several months.
Just start the recording before dinner, come back after dinner
and do the edits, and then start the CD-R burning, and then
worry about the next one the next day.

Or just hire someone to do it...

- Logan

Logan Shaw wrote:

I can't suggest a magic device that will solve the problem,
but I can suggest a more streamlined approach. I would get
some real audio editing software (Adobe Audition or something)
and a 24-bit audio card.

The simplest way to get casette tape to CD's is a stand alone recorder,
record level needs to be set once only and then it runs unattended for
45 minutes at a time.

With the 24-bit card ....

Yees. And it ties up the computer for the duration of the transfer. Good
idea, but solves more than what is asked for. The suggestion of using a
stand alone recorder has the additional advantage of ensuring an
unrestored backup version for later restoration, there will be better
software tomorrow for quite some time yet.

You don't seem to mention Auditions capability of batch mode processing?
- it and say a Midiman Audiophile is certainly a capable combination and
yes, operator time pr. segment can be fairly short. But it takes time to
use software, and it certainly takes time to learn restoration, simplest
sometimes is best.

Or just hire someone to do it...

Great idea, at least the restoration side of it. It may or may not be
relevant for the transfer, depending on the quality of the tapes and the
deck and just how good it has to be. Sometimes goodenough is just that,
one just has to know when.

- Logan


Kind regards

Peter Larsen


--
*******************************************
* My site is at: http://www.muyiovatki.dk *
*******************************************

D wrote:

I have a young son and a busy job. I want to convert about 150
cassettes of my old radio shows, live tapes and other things onto
cd-r.

I think you should go with Richard Kuschel's suggested approach.

The problem is that I took one cassette last night, tried to follow
all the directions in the software

ERR, undefined variable "the software". Look at what Magix has to offer,
not yet tested, I have and use other software.

and blew about 3 hours trying to
get it to work right- it never did.

It takes time to learn to operate any gadget, audio software included.

So I ask ya, before I spend another 3 hours doing it "right"
is there a shortcut, possibly consumer, possibly pro device
that will convert cassettes to CDR en masse?

Cassette deck to stand alone CD recorder strongly recommended.

I have the time to adjust all the live tapes, but I don't have
the time to convert about 50 copies of my radio show from the 80s,
you know? That would be 2 hours work every day for 50 days!
My dream device has to run on its own while I walk
away.

You can always look into processing it later if required, get it to
another media format while the tapedeck will play them.

Don


Kind regards

Peter Larsen




--
*******************************************
* My site is at: http://www.muyiovatki.dk *
*******************************************

(D) wrote in
om:

The problem is that I took one cassette last night, tried to follow
all the directions in the software and blew about 3 hours trying to
get it to work right- it never did.

Sounds like you're using an overly complex solution, or maybe just one that
doesn't fit your mindset. If so, check for apps with user interfaces you
find more intuitive.

Did you just try to record and burn the audio, or does the three hours
include cleaning (or otherwise processing) and track separation as well?

Personally I like CoolEdit (wich I believe is called Adobe Audition or
something like that nowadays) for recording, and Nero for burning. And I
like "CD Wave Editor" for splitting wav files to tracks. The combination of
these three apps fits my mind (but they may be disastrous for others).
Note: I allmost never just record and burn. The stuff I've transferred from
cassette to CD (mostly speech) has been recorded so badly that I've allways
had to do something to make it listenable.

So I ask ya, before I spend another 3 hours doing it "right" is there
a shortcut, possibly consumer, possibly pro device that will convert
cassettes to CDR en masse?

Never seen anything that does that automagically.

My dream device has to run on its own while I walk
away.

The most simple method is probably one of those hifi style CD recorders
that you connect directly to your hifi system. Works kinda like a cassette
deck but records on CDs instead. There's no opportunity for editing or
manual track separation, wich I'd certainly miss, but that might be
perfectly fine for you. Note: I've never used such a recorder myself, and
I've no idea how good/easy they actually are.

Regards
/Jonas

(D) wrote in message . com...
I have a young son and a busy job. I want to convert about 150
cassettes of my old radio shows, live tapes and other things onto
cd-r.

The problem is that I took one cassette last night, tried to follow
all the directions in the software and blew about 3 hours trying to
get it to work right- it never did.

So I ask ya, before I spend another 3 hours doing it "right" is there
a shortcut, possibly consumer, possibly pro device that will convert
cassettes to CDR en masse? I have the time to adjust all the live
tapes, but I don't have the time to convert about 50 copies of my
radio show from the 80s, you know? That would be 2 hours work every
day for 50 days! My dream device has to run on its own while I walk
away.

thanks for any info,

Don


Hi Don.

I finished a project much like you described about 1½ years ago;
except I had about 400 cassettes to convert. I used a total of 3 PC's
and 4 dual cassette decks. It took about 3 months, and happened while
I did other things (family, studio projects, gigs, work).

If you don't have the gear to do it, you'll need to buy or borrow it
to make it a fast process. Or you can pay someone to do it. What's it
worth to you? If you spend say, $500 on equipment, you still have to
take the time to do the work.

By far, most of the process is waiting for the cassettes to play. Once
you work out the bugs in your current system, I imagine you could dump
1-4 cassettes per day (breakfast, supper, mid-evening, late evening)
without severely interrupting your family dynamic.

-dave
www.themoodrings.com

Peter Larsen wrote:
Logan Shaw wrote:

I can't suggest a magic device that will solve the problem,
but I can suggest a more streamlined approach. I would get
some real audio editing software (Adobe Audition or something)
and a 24-bit audio card.

The simplest way to get casette tape to CD's is a stand alone recorder,
record level needs to be set once only and then it runs unattended for
45 minutes at a time.

I guess I'm just too anal-retentive, personally, to leave well
enough alone. I'd be playing large portions of the cassette
trying to figure out what the hottest level is, and then trying
to set the CD recorder to the optimal level for each individual
tape so that I neither go too high nor too low.

So, personally, with a 24-bit card, I'd feel much more at ease
because I could just record it 10 or 20 dB too low and let the
software take care of choosing the right level.

That's not the only reasonable way to do it, of course.

- Logan

Logan Shaw wrote:

The simplest way to get casette tape to CD's is a stand alone
recorder, record level needs to be set once only and then it
runs unattended for 45 minutes at a time.

I guess I'm just too anal-retentive, personally, to leave well
enough alone. I'd be playing large portions of the cassette
trying to figure out what the hottest level is, ... [snip]

It is irrelevant, the hottest level on analog tape is tape saturation
and it can occur at random everywhere on a casette. You don't want to
clip it and make it worse. Average level may vary wildly between
casettes or it may not, but it doesn't matter.

and then trying to set the CD recorder to the optimal level for
each individual tape so that I neither go too high nor too low.

You will not go too low by the method suggested above. There is a simple
reason: you copy from - shall I be kind - 60 dB dynamic range (50 is
more real world like it) to 90 dB dynamic range. You can miss the barn
door by 40 dB and still be at least within the same county, and probably
within the same farm yard.

So, personally, with a 24-bit card, I'd feel much more at ease
because I could just record it 10 or 20 dB too low

Don't do that, it will quite probably sound better to use the uppermost
bit. Determine the largest possible output from the casette deck and
adjust so that it is at say -1 to -3 dB dB full scale and leave it like
that.

You want to keep that level setting constant because doing that
increases your options for later batch processing, not keeping the
transfer level constant voids some of the options for later batch
processing.

and let the software take care of choosing the right level.

Software is utterly incompetent in that regard.

That's not the only reasonable way to do it, of course.

Being lazy is sometimes constructive. It is a large enough pile of work
to do as it is, there is no need to make it complicated. Make it simple
and keep it simple, so that you do not have to remember too much. Having
done it all in a standard way makes it much easier to get back to it if
interrupted.

- Logan


Kind regards

Peter Larsen

--
*******************************************
* My site is at: http://www.muyiovatki.dk *
*******************************************

Logan Shaw wrote:

The simplest way to get casette tape to CD's is a stand alone
recorder, record level needs to be set once only and then it
runs unattended for 45 minutes at a time.

I guess I'm just too anal-retentive, personally, to leave well
enough alone. I'd be playing large portions of the cassette
trying to figure out what the hottest level is, ... [snip]

It is irrelevant, the hottest level on analog tape is tape saturation
and it can occur at random everywhere on a casette. You don't want to
clip it and make it worse. Average level may vary wildly between
casettes or it may not, but it doesn't matter.

and then trying to set the CD recorder to the optimal level for
each individual tape so that I neither go too high nor too low.

You will not go too low by the method suggested above. There is a simple
reason: you copy from - shall I be kind - 60 dB dynamic range (50 is
more real world like it) to 90 dB dynamic range. You can miss the barn
door by 40 dB and still be at least within the same county, and probably
within the same farm yard.

So, personally, with a 24-bit card, I'd feel much more at ease
because I could just record it 10 or 20 dB too low

Don't do that, it will quite probably sound better to use the uppermost
bit. Determine the largest possible output from the casette deck and
adjust so that it is at say -1 to -3 dB dB full scale and leave it like
that.

You want to keep that level setting constant because doing that
increases your options for later batch processing, not keeping the
transfer level constant voids some of the options for later batch
processing.

and let the software take care of choosing the right level.

Software is utterly incompetent in that regard.

That's not the only reasonable way to do it, of course.

Being lazy is sometimes constructive. It is a large enough pile of work
to do as it is, there is no need to make it complicated. Make it simple
and keep it simple, so that you do not have to remember too much. Having
done it all in a standard way makes it much easier to get back to it if
interrupted.

- Logan


Kind regards

Peter Larsen

--
*******************************************
* My site is at: http://www.muyiovatki.dk *
*******************************************

Jonas Eckerman wrote:

Personally I like CoolEdit (wich I believe is called Adobe Audition or
something like that nowadays) for recording, and Nero for burning. And I
like "CD Wave Editor" for splitting wav files to tracks.

The version 1.5 of Adobe Audition (former CoolEdit Pro 2.1) has CD
burning integrated. No need for a special "CD Wave Editor" for splitting
wav files to tracks."

The most simple method is probably one of those hifi style CD recorders
that you connect directly to your hifi system. Works kinda like a cassette
deck but records on CDs instead. There's no opportunity for editing or
manual track separation,

Sure there is. Track change can be initiated by pressing a button (on
a remote control) or automatically when the signal drops below a certain
level for more than 4 seconds. At least the low cost consumer CD recorders
have these features. The downside is, consumer CD recorders need special
blanks.

Norbert

Jonas Eckerman wrote:

Personally I like CoolEdit (wich I believe is called Adobe Audition or
something like that nowadays) for recording, and Nero for burning. And I
like "CD Wave Editor" for splitting wav files to tracks.

The version 1.5 of Adobe Audition (former CoolEdit Pro 2.1) has CD
burning integrated. No need for a special "CD Wave Editor" for splitting
wav files to tracks."

The most simple method is probably one of those hifi style CD recorders
that you connect directly to your hifi system. Works kinda like a cassette
deck but records on CDs instead. There's no opportunity for editing or
manual track separation,

Sure there is. Track change can be initiated by pressing a button (on
a remote control) or automatically when the signal drops below a certain
level for more than 4 seconds. At least the low cost consumer CD recorders
have these features. The downside is, consumer CD recorders need special
blanks.

Norbert