https://wiki.themixingbowl.org/index.php?title=Digitising_cassette_tapes&feed=atom&action=historyDigitising cassette tapes - Revision history2024-03-28T10:23:37ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.32.1https://wiki.themixingbowl.org/index.php?title=Digitising_cassette_tapes&diff=4698&oldid=prevJaybeee at 14:45, 18 December 20212021-12-18T14:45:14Z<p></p>
<table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface">
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<tr class="diff-title" lang="en">
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">Revision as of 14:45, 18 December 2021</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l2" >Line 2:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 2:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#A Hi-Fi separates [https://jaybeee.themixingbowl.org/images/technics_rs-bx501.jpg cassette tape deck] (a portable cassette player walkman will work, but with reduced audio quality)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#A Hi-Fi separates [https://jaybeee.themixingbowl.org/images/technics_rs-bx501.jpg cassette tape deck] (a portable cassette player walkman will work, but with reduced audio quality)</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div># [https://jaybeee.themixingbowl.org/images/<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Leads</del>.jpg 3.5mm stereo to two phono plugs cable lead]: approx £5 in the UK (if you have a really good soundcard it will have two phono line-in sockets: so just get a standard interconnect cable)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div># [https://jaybeee.themixingbowl.org/images/<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">leads</ins>.jpg 3.5mm stereo to two phono plugs cable lead]: approx £5 in the UK (if you have a really good soundcard it will have two phono line-in sockets: so just get a standard interconnect cable)</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#A soundcard that accepts line-in: most motherboards these days have this on board</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#A soundcard that accepts line-in: most motherboards these days have this on board</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#* Or maybe use a [[DAP]] like the iriver H1xx series that has [[Rockbox]] installed ¦-)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#* Or maybe use a [[DAP]] like the iriver H1xx series that has [[Rockbox]] installed ¦-)</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#To clean the tape heads and other parts use pure denatured alcohol (recommended)/ isopropyl alcohol / good quality rubbing alcohol / surgical spirit or possibly a [https://jaybeee.themixingbowl.org/images/tdk_cleaner.jpg A cassette tape cleaner] and lint-free swabs / cotton wool buds / q-tips. This will help to capture a better sound since the cassette tapes will likely be old and dirty.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#To clean the tape heads and other parts use pure denatured alcohol (recommended) / isopropyl alcohol / good quality rubbing alcohol / surgical spirit or possibly a [https://jaybeee.themixingbowl.org/images/tdk_cleaner.jpg A cassette tape cleaner] and lint-free swabs / cotton wool buds / q-tips. This will help to capture a better sound since the cassette tapes will likely be old and dirty.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#* For more information and help check out this [http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Clean-a-Cassette-Recorder/ Instructables | How To Clean a Cassette Recorder guide]</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#* For more information and help check out this [http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Clean-a-Cassette-Recorder/ Instructables | How To Clean a Cassette Recorder guide]</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#A precision Philips demagnetised screwdriver to adjust the azimuth. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#A precision Philips demagnetised screwdriver to adjust the azimuth. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l16" >Line 16:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 16:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Check the pinch rollers are ok. I had to replace mine in 2015 as the rubber had started to degrade after 20 years and this meant it was "chewing" up tapes!</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Check the pinch rollers are ok. I had to replace mine in 2015 as the rubber had started to degrade after 20 years and this meant it was "chewing" up tapes!</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Fast forward and rewind the cassette tape before playing it. This will tighten up the tape inside and help prevent it being 'chewed-up' by the tape deck. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Fast forward and rewind the cassette tape before playing it. This will tighten up the tape inside and help prevent it being 'chewed-up' by the tape deck. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Connect the left & right plugs of the [https://jaybeee.themixingbowl.org/images/<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Leads</del>.jpg 3.5mm stereo to two phono plugs cable lead] to the [https://jaybeee.themixingbowl.org/images/technics_rs-bx501.jpg cassette tape deck] and the single 3.5mm stereo plug to the line-in on the soundcard.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Connect the left & right plugs of the [https://jaybeee.themixingbowl.org/images/<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">leads</ins>.jpg 3.5mm stereo to two phono plugs cable lead] to the [https://jaybeee.themixingbowl.org/images/technics_rs-bx501.jpg cassette tape deck] and the single 3.5mm stereo plug to the line-in on the soundcard.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Ensure the sound recording capabilities on your computer are enabled: (for windows) Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound > Manage audio devices > Audio tab > Recording > Line In - Properties > Device usage: enable.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Ensure the sound recording capabilities on your computer are enabled: (for windows) Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound > Manage audio devices > Audio tab > Recording > Line In - Properties > Device usage: enable.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Sample rate should be set to 44100Hz. Sample format should be set to 16-bit. Given the relative low quality of the analogue audio in the cassette tape, you'll be very unlikely to notice any improvement in sound quality with higher settings; CD is 44100Hz! </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Sample rate should be set to 44100Hz. Sample format should be set to 16-bit. Given the relative low quality of the analogue audio in the cassette tape, you'll be very unlikely to notice any improvement in sound quality with higher settings; CD is 44100Hz! </div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l31" >Line 31:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 31:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#You might also like to remove any 'hiss' or reduce certain noises (tape hum). [[Audacity]] has a 'Noise Removal' tool that is quite good. Be warned though: it will often result in a slight loss of high-end audio that might make it sound worse than the original. I don't normally perform this action unless there is a lot of hiss. [[Adobe Audition]] has a very good Noise Removal tool, but the program is also quite expensive.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#You might also like to remove any 'hiss' or reduce certain noises (tape hum). [[Audacity]] has a 'Noise Removal' tool that is quite good. Be warned though: it will often result in a slight loss of high-end audio that might make it sound worse than the original. I don't normally perform this action unless there is a lot of hiss. [[Adobe Audition]] has a very good Noise Removal tool, but the program is also quite expensive.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Once you've completed manipulating the audio, you could process the file with [[WaveGain]]. This is based upon the [[Replaygain]] standard and will effectively apply gain (volume) adjustments directly by adjusting the scaling of the samples. Unlike [[Replaygain]], this is not a lossless process and cannot be reversed. It means the files are adjusted to -89db, which often results in a smaller file size too, as most people tend to record at too high a level. If all music was the same relative volume, we'd never need to change the volume control on our equipment if we always wanted the same absolute volume. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Once you've completed manipulating the audio, you could process the file with [[WaveGain]]. This is based upon the [[Replaygain]] standard and will effectively apply gain (volume) adjustments directly by adjusting the scaling of the samples. Unlike [[Replaygain]], this is not a lossless process and cannot be reversed. It means the files are adjusted to -89db, which often results in a smaller file size too, as most people tend to record at too high a level. If all music was the same relative volume, we'd never need to change the volume control on our equipment if we always wanted the same absolute volume. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*If you have recorded the audio close to -89dB (i.e. the volume of the audio is not too far away from this level), then it may be better leaving it and not running [[WaveGain]] on it, instead using [[Replaygain<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">]] or [[MP3Gain</del>]] on the final lossless <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">and lossy </del>files.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*If you have recorded the audio close to -89dB (i.e. the volume of the audio is not too far away from this level), then it may be better leaving it and not running [[WaveGain]] on it, instead using [[Replaygain]] on the final lossless files.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>===Encoding===</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>===Encoding===</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Given the effort and time taken to capture and manipulate the audio, I'd highly recommend that the final file is encoded to a [[lossless]] format such as [[FLAC]] or [[WavPack]]. This means you are left with a perfect archival backup of the audio captured: it's smaller in file size than a wav file, and you are free to convert ([[transcode]]) to any of the [[lossy]] [[:Category:Audio Formats|Audio Formats]] you like whenever you like, such as [[AAC]], [[Opus]], [[MP3]] or [[Ogg Vorbis]] etc etc.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Given the effort and time taken to capture and manipulate the audio, I'd highly recommend that the final file is encoded to a [[lossless]] format such as [[FLAC]] or [[WavPack]]. This means you are left with a perfect archival backup of the audio captured: it's smaller in file size than a wav file, and you are free to convert ([[transcode]]) to any of the [[lossy]] [[:Category:Audio Formats|Audio Formats]] you like whenever you like, such as [[AAC]], [[Opus]], [[MP3]] or [[Ogg Vorbis]] etc etc.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#For <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">upping </del>at themixingbowl.org I'd recommend the file is encoded to [[MP3]] using the [[LAME]] encoder or to [[M4A]] ([[AAC]]).</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#For <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">uploading </ins>at themixingbowl.org I'd recommend the file is encoded to [[MP3]] using the [[LAME]] encoder or to [[M4A]] ([[AAC]]).</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#And don't forget to tag the file. If you can add as much relevant info into the tags and in a logical way, then the downloaders will not need to change the [[tagging]] and thus can keep seeding for longer (ever!)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#And don't forget to tag the file. If you can add as much relevant info into the tags and in a logical way, then the downloaders will not need to change the [[tagging]] and thus can keep seeding for longer (ever!)</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
</table>Jaybeeehttps://wiki.themixingbowl.org/index.php?title=Digitising_cassette_tapes&diff=4626&oldid=prevJaybeee: typos | tidying up | links | Win 10 sound location2020-07-13T11:43:12Z<p>typos | tidying up | links | Win 10 sound location</p>
<table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface">
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<tr class="diff-title" lang="en">
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">Revision as of 11:43, 13 July 2020</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l1" >Line 1:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 1:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==What You Need==</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==What You Need==</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#A Hi-Fi separates [<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">http</del>://<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">wiki</del>.themixingbowl.org<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">/w</del>/images/<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">6/63/Technics_rs</del>-bx501.jpg cassette tape deck] (a portable cassette player walkman will work, but with reduced audio quality)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#A Hi-Fi separates [<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">https</ins>://<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">jaybeee</ins>.themixingbowl.org/images/<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">technics_rs</ins>-bx501.jpg cassette tape deck] (a portable cassette player walkman will work, but with reduced audio quality)</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div># [<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">http</del>://<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">wiki</del>.themixingbowl.org<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">/w</del>/images<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">/6/6d</del>/Leads.jpg 3.5mm stereo to two phono plugs cable lead]: approx £5 in the UK (if you have a really good soundcard it will have two phono line-in sockets: so just get a standard interconnect cable)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div># [<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">https</ins>://<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">jaybeee</ins>.themixingbowl.org/images/Leads.jpg 3.5mm stereo to two phono plugs cable lead]: approx £5 in the UK (if you have a really good soundcard it will have two phono line-in sockets: so just get a standard interconnect cable)</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#A soundcard that accepts line-in: most motherboards these days have this on board</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#A soundcard that accepts line-in: most motherboards these days have this on board</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#* Or maybe use a [[DAP]] like the iriver H1xx series that has [[Rockbox]] installed ¦-)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#* Or maybe use a [[DAP]] like the iriver H1xx series that has [[Rockbox]] installed ¦-)</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#To clean the tape heads and other parts use pure <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">isopropyl alcohol / </del>denatured alcohol (recommended) / good quality rubbing alcohol / surgical spirit or possibly a [<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">http</del>://<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">wiki</del>.themixingbowl.org<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">/w</del>/images/<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">0/00/Tdk_cleaner</del>.jpg A cassette tape cleaner] and lint-free swabs / cotton wool buds / q-tips. This will help to capture a better sound since the cassette tapes will likely be old and dirty.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#To clean the tape heads and other parts use pure denatured alcohol (recommended)<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">/ isopropyl alcohol </ins>/ good quality rubbing alcohol / surgical spirit or possibly a [<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">https</ins>://<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">jaybeee</ins>.themixingbowl.org/images/<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">tdk_cleaner</ins>.jpg A cassette tape cleaner] and lint-free swabs / cotton wool buds / q-tips. This will help to capture a better sound since the cassette tapes will likely be old and dirty.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#* For more information and help check out this [http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Clean-a-Cassette-Recorder/ How To Clean a Cassette Recorder guide]</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#* For more information and help check out this [http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Clean-a-Cassette-Recorder/ <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Instructables | </ins>How To Clean a Cassette Recorder guide]</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#A precision Philips demagnetised screwdriver to adjust the azimuth. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#A precision Philips demagnetised screwdriver to adjust the azimuth. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#An audio capturing/editing software application. I personally use [[Audacity]] as it's very easy to use, is free and open source, and has many plug-ins available (LADSPA / Nyquist / VST Plug-Ins). There are other apps that will do the same job</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#An audio capturing/editing software application. I personally use [[Audacity]] as it's very easy to use, is free and open source, and has many plug-ins available (LADSPA / Nyquist / VST Plug-Ins). There are other apps that will do the same job</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#A [[lossless]] audio encoder like [[FLAC]] or [[WavPack]]: this is so that once you've got the audio in the state you're happy with, you can encode it to a lossless format for archival purposes. You can then transcode it to [[<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">MP3</del>]] etc for <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">upping</del></div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#A [[lossless]] audio encoder like [[FLAC]] or [[WavPack]]: this is so that once you've got the audio in the state you're happy with, you can encode it to a lossless format for archival purposes. You can then transcode it to [[<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">lossy</ins>]] <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">formats like MP3 </ins>etc for <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">sharing</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#A [[lossy]] audio encoder like [[LAME]] for [[MP3]]</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#A [[lossy]] audio encoder like [[LAME]] for [[MP3]]</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l16" >Line 16:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 16:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Check the pinch rollers are ok. I had to replace mine in 2015 as the rubber had started to degrade after 20 years and this meant it was "chewing" up tapes!</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Check the pinch rollers are ok. I had to replace mine in 2015 as the rubber had started to degrade after 20 years and this meant it was "chewing" up tapes!</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Fast forward and rewind the cassette tape before playing it. This will tighten up the tape inside and help prevent it being 'chewed-up' by the tape deck. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Fast forward and rewind the cassette tape before playing it. This will tighten up the tape inside and help prevent it being 'chewed-up' by the tape deck. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Connect the left & right plugs of the [<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">http</del>://<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">wiki</del>.themixingbowl.org<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">/w</del>/images<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">/6/6d</del>/Leads.jpg 3.5mm stereo to two phono plugs cable lead] to the [<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">http</del>://<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">wiki</del>.themixingbowl.org<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">/w</del>/images/<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">6/63/Technics_rs</del>-bx501.jpg cassette tape deck] and the single 3.5mm stereo plug to the line-in on the soundcard</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Connect the left & right plugs of the [<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">https</ins>://<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">jaybeee</ins>.themixingbowl.org/images/Leads.jpg 3.5mm stereo to two phono plugs cable lead] to the [<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">https</ins>://<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">jaybeee</ins>.themixingbowl.org/images/<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">technics_rs</ins>-bx501.jpg cassette tape deck] and the single 3.5mm stereo plug to the line-in on the soundcard<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Ensure the sound recording capabilities on your computer are enabled: (for windows) Control Panel > <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Sounds </del>and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Audio Devices </del>> Audio tab > <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Sound recording </del>> <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Volume > tick '</del>Line In<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'</del></div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Ensure the sound recording capabilities on your computer are enabled: (for windows) Control Panel > <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Hardware </ins>and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Sound > Sound > Manage audio devices </ins>> Audio tab > <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Recording </ins>> Line In <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">- Properties > Device usage: enable.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Sample rate should be set to 44100Hz. Sample format should be set to 16-bit. Given the relative low quality of the analogue audio in the cassette tape, you'll be very unlikely to notice any improvement in sound quality with higher settings; CD is 44100Hz! </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Sample rate should be set to 44100Hz. Sample format should be set to 16-bit. Given the relative low quality of the analogue audio in the cassette tape, you'll be very unlikely to notice any improvement in sound quality with higher settings; CD is 44100Hz! </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*The only time I'd recommend higher settings, such as 48000Hz/96000Hz and 24-bit, is when you have a very good soundcard and a good quality recorded tape and/or you will be doing lots of manipulating of the recording. Each transform, such as Noise Reduction, will produce quantization errors. Ideally the editing program dithers the transform (if working in 16-bit), which means more noise added. However, due to the high intrinsic noise of recordings from cassettes, this is unlikely to be distinguishable for the 'normal' amount of editing (see 9. & 10. below)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*The only time I'd recommend higher settings, such as 48000Hz/96000Hz and 24-bit, is when you have a very good soundcard and a good quality recorded tape and / or you will be doing lots of manipulating of the recording. Each transform, such as Noise Reduction, will produce quantization errors. Ideally the editing program dithers the transform (if working in 16-bit), which means more noise added. However, due to the high intrinsic noise of recordings from cassettes, this is unlikely to be distinguishable for the 'normal' amount of editing (see 9. & 10. below)</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Play the tape and '''adjust the azimuth''' screw using the precision Philips head screwdriver. [https://themixingbowl.org/post/view/749482 See here] for more information on what the azimuth is and how to adjust it. Very basically, there's a small screw on the left of the play head if the heads are on the bottom going up as you push play. If the play head is on the Top (going down as you push play) then the screw you want to turn is on the right. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Play the tape and '''adjust the azimuth''' screw using the precision Philips head screwdriver. [https://themixingbowl.org/post/view/749482 See here] for more information on what the azimuth is and how to adjust it. Very basically, there's a small screw on the left of the play head if the heads are on the bottom going up as you push play. If the play head is on the Top (going down as you push play) then the screw you want to turn is on the right. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*Using small and slow turns of the screw in both directions, try to find out where the screw adjustment results in the clearest sound. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*Using small and slow turns of the screw in both directions, try to find out where the screw adjustment results in the clearest sound. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#**It's often best to find some audio with signing and lots of treble to really help identify the best position the screw needs to be in.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#**It's often best to find some audio with signing and lots of treble to really help identify the best position the screw needs to be in<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">. Even a section with hiss can help as the clearer the hiss the better</ins>.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*Make sure you adjust the azimuth on both sides of the tape.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*Make sure you adjust the azimuth on both sides of the tape <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">before recording</ins>.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*Only play tapes in one direction and '''do not''' use auto-reverse. This causes the head to change direction to allow playback in reverse, BUT it will slightly put it out of alignment and the resulting audio quality will be reduced. Solve this by adjusting the azimuth if the cassette tape was recorded using the auto-reverse functionality originally (see above).</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*Only play tapes in one direction and '''do not''' use auto-reverse. This causes the head to change direction to allow playback in reverse, BUT it will slightly put it out of alignment and the resulting audio quality will be reduced. Solve this by adjusting the azimuth if the cassette tape was recorded using the auto-reverse functionality originally (see above).</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#:'''The azimuth adjustment is vitally important. The sound quality gained from this simple and often minor adjustment is huge.'''</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#:'''The azimuth adjustment is vitally important. The sound quality gained from this simple and often minor adjustment is huge.'''</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Play the tape again and start recording: '''this is a test!''' because you'll need to fast forward to random parts of the tape to try and find the loudest section: use that as your basis to adjust the line in recording volume so that there is no clipping. Ideally, you want to capture the audio at -5db. In [[Audacity]] you can view the sound wave in db format, so that will show you what db level you are recording at. It's always better to record at a lower volume and then increase it after you've captured the audio. And don't get worried about it looking like it's at a low volume; it will be fine</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Play the tape again and start recording: '''this is a test!''' because you'll need to fast forward to random parts of the tape to try and find the loudest section: use that as your basis to adjust the line in recording volume so that there is no clipping. Ideally, you want to capture the audio at -5db. In [[Audacity]] you can view the sound wave in db format, so that will show you what db level you are recording at. It's always better to record at a <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">slightly </ins>lower volume and then increase it after you've captured the audio. And don't get worried about it looking like it's at a low volume; it will be fine<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#After you've sorted <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">out </del>the line-in recording volume level, you can start to record the audio.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#After you've sorted the line-in recording volume level, you can start to record the audio.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Once the recording process has finished, you might want to go through the audio to edit out any parts that you do not require. Namely the silence at the start and the end of the tape. If you <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">want to, it would also be wise to </del>fade in and fade out now whilst you have the audio in this 'raw' format</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Once the recording process has finished, you might want to go through the audio to edit out any parts that you do not require. Namely the silence at the start and the end of the tape. If <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">suitable, </ins>you <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">can </ins>fade in and fade out now whilst you have the audio in this 'raw' format<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#You might also like to remove any 'hiss' or reduce certain noises (tape hum). [[Audacity]] has a 'Noise Removal' tool that is quite good. Be warned though: it will often result in a slight loss of high-end audio that might make it sound worse than the original. I don't normally perform this action unless there is a lot of hiss. [[Adobe Audition]] has a very good Noise Removal tool, but the program is also quite expensive</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#You might also like to remove any 'hiss' or reduce certain noises (tape hum). [[Audacity]] has a 'Noise Removal' tool that is quite good. Be warned though: it will often result in a slight loss of high-end audio that might make it sound worse than the original. I don't normally perform this action unless there is a lot of hiss. [[Adobe Audition]] has a very good Noise Removal tool, but the program is also quite expensive<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Once you've completed manipulating the audio, you could process the file with [[WaveGain]]. This is based upon the [[Replaygain]] standard and will effectively apply gain (volume) adjustments directly by adjusting the scaling of the samples. Unlike [[Replaygain]], this is not a lossless process <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">an </del>cannot be reversed. It means the files are adjusted to -89db, which often results in a smaller file size too, as most people tend to record at too high a level. If all music was the same relative volume, we'd never need to change the volume control on our equipment if we always wanted the same absolute volume. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Once you've completed manipulating the audio, you could process the file with [[WaveGain]]. This is based upon the [[Replaygain]] standard and will effectively apply gain (volume) adjustments directly by adjusting the scaling of the samples. Unlike [[Replaygain]], this is not a lossless process <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">and </ins>cannot be reversed. It means the files are adjusted to -89db, which often results in a smaller file size too, as most people tend to record at too high a level. If all music was the same relative volume, we'd never need to change the volume control on our equipment if we always wanted the same absolute volume. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*If you have recorded the audio close to -89dB (i.e. the volume of the audio is not too far away from this level), then it may be better leaving it and not running [[WaveGain]] on it, instead using [[Replaygain]] or [[MP3Gain]] on the final lossless and lossy files.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*If you have recorded the audio close to -89dB (i.e. the volume of the audio is not too far away from this level), then it may be better leaving it and not running [[WaveGain]] on it, instead using [[Replaygain]] or [[MP3Gain]] on the final lossless and lossy files.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>===Encoding===</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>===Encoding===</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Given the effort and time taken to capture and manipulate the audio, I'd highly recommend that the final file is encoded to a [[lossless]] format such as [[FLAC]] or [[WavPack]]. This means you are left with a perfect archival backup of the audio captured<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">, </del>it's smaller in file size than a wav file, and you are free to convert ([[transcode]]) to any of the [[lossy]] [[:Category:Audio Formats|Audio Formats]] you like whenever you like, such as [[<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">MP3</del>]] <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">or </del>[[<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Ogg Vorbis</del>]] or [[<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">AAC</del>]] etc etc</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Given the effort and time taken to capture and manipulate the audio, I'd highly recommend that the final file is encoded to a [[lossless]] format such as [[FLAC]] or [[WavPack]]. This means you are left with a perfect archival backup of the audio captured<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">: </ins>it's smaller in file size than a wav file, and you are free to convert ([[transcode]]) to any of the [[lossy]] [[:Category:Audio Formats|Audio Formats]] you like whenever you like, such as [[<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">AAC]], [[Opus</ins>]]<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">, </ins>[[<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">MP3</ins>]] or [[<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">Ogg Vorbis</ins>]] etc etc<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#For upping at themixingbowl.org I'd recommend the file is encoded to [[MP3]] using the [[LAME]] encoder. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#For upping at themixingbowl.org I'd recommend the file is encoded to [[MP3]] using the [[LAME]] encoder <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">or to [[M4A]] ([[AAC]])</ins>.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#And don't forget to tag the file. If you can add as much relevant info into the tags and in a logical way, then the downloaders will not need to change the [[tagging]] and thus can keep seeding for longer (ever!)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#And don't forget to tag the file. If you can add as much relevant info into the tags and in a logical way, then the downloaders will not need to change the [[tagging]] and thus can keep seeding for longer (ever!)</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==A Final Word==</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==A Final Word==</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>If you really value your cassette tapes recordings then <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">it's recommended you purchase </del>a high-end audio editor <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">as it will give </del>better results than free audio applications. You can also [<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">http</del>://<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">www</del>.<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">google.co.uk </del>search] the internet for perhaps a better, and <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">certainly </del>more detailed technical information about cassette tape audio capturing. This is just how [http://wiki.themixingbowl.org/User:Jaybeee jaybeee] does it with pleasing results from fairly cheap equipment and free software.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>If you really value your cassette tapes recordings then <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">purchasing </ins>a high-end audio editor <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">may yield </ins>better results than free audio applications. You can also [<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">https</ins>://<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">duckduckgo</ins>.<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">com/ </ins>search] the internet for perhaps a better, and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">maybe </ins>more detailed<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">, </ins>technical information about cassette tape audio capturing. This is just how [http://wiki.themixingbowl.org/User:Jaybeee jaybeee] does it with pleasing results from fairly cheap equipment and free software.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[Category:Uploading Own Recordings]]</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>[[Category:Uploading Own Recordings]]</div></td></tr>
</table>Jaybeeehttps://wiki.themixingbowl.org/index.php?title=Digitising_cassette_tapes&diff=4509&oldid=prevJaybeee: /* Capturing/Recording */2017-01-05T19:00:38Z<p><span dir="auto"><span class="autocomment">Capturing/Recording</span></span></p>
<table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface">
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<tr class="diff-title" lang="en">
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">Revision as of 19:00, 5 January 2017</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l19" >Line 19:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 19:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Ensure the sound recording capabilities on your computer are enabled: (for windows) Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Audio tab > Sound recording > Volume > tick 'Line In'</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Ensure the sound recording capabilities on your computer are enabled: (for windows) Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Audio tab > Sound recording > Volume > tick 'Line In'</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Sample rate should be set to 44100Hz. Sample format should be set to 16-bit. Given the relative low quality of the analogue audio in the cassette tape, you'll be very unlikely to notice any improvement in sound quality with higher settings; CD is 44100Hz! </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Sample rate should be set to 44100Hz. Sample format should be set to 16-bit. Given the relative low quality of the analogue audio in the cassette tape, you'll be very unlikely to notice any improvement in sound quality with higher settings; CD is 44100Hz! </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*The only time I'd recommend higher settings, such as 48000Hz and 24<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">-bit/36</del>-bit, is when you have a very good soundcard and a good quality recorded tape and/or you will be doing lots of manipulating of the recording. Each transform, such as Noise Reduction, will produce quantization errors. Ideally the editing program dithers the transform (if working in 16-bit), which means more noise added. However, due to the high intrinsic noise of recordings from cassettes, this is unlikely to be distinguishable for the 'normal' amount of editing (see 9. & 10. below)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*The only time I'd recommend higher settings, such as 48000Hz<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">/96000Hz </ins>and 24-bit, is when you have a very good soundcard and a good quality recorded tape and/or you will be doing lots of manipulating of the recording. Each transform, such as Noise Reduction, will produce quantization errors. Ideally the editing program dithers the transform (if working in 16-bit), which means more noise added. However, due to the high intrinsic noise of recordings from cassettes, this is unlikely to be distinguishable for the 'normal' amount of editing (see 9. & 10. below)</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Play the tape and '''adjust the azimuth''' screw using the precision Philips head screwdriver. [https://themixingbowl.org/post/view/749482 See here] for more information on what the azimuth is and how to adjust it. Very basically, there's a small screw on the left of the play head if the heads are on the bottom going up as you push play. If the play head is on the Top (going down as you push play) then the screw you want to turn is on the right. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Play the tape and '''adjust the azimuth''' screw using the precision Philips head screwdriver. [https://themixingbowl.org/post/view/749482 See here] for more information on what the azimuth is and how to adjust it. Very basically, there's a small screw on the left of the play head if the heads are on the bottom going up as you push play. If the play head is on the Top (going down as you push play) then the screw you want to turn is on the right. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*Using small and slow turns of the screw in both directions, try to find out where the screw adjustment results in the clearest sound. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*Using small and slow turns of the screw in both directions, try to find out where the screw adjustment results in the clearest sound. </div></td></tr>
</table>Jaybeeehttps://wiki.themixingbowl.org/index.php?title=Digitising_cassette_tapes&diff=4488&oldid=prevJaybeee: /* Capturing/Recording */2016-03-27T14:45:10Z<p><span dir="auto"><span class="autocomment">Capturing/Recording</span></span></p>
<table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface">
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<tr class="diff-title" lang="en">
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">Revision as of 14:45, 27 March 2016</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l19" >Line 19:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 19:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Ensure the sound recording capabilities on your computer are enabled: (for windows) Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Audio tab > Sound recording > Volume > tick 'Line In'</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Ensure the sound recording capabilities on your computer are enabled: (for windows) Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Audio tab > Sound recording > Volume > tick 'Line In'</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Sample rate should be set to 44100Hz. Sample format should be set to 16-bit. Given the relative low quality of the analogue audio in the cassette tape, you'll be very unlikely to notice any improvement in sound quality with higher settings; CD is 44100Hz! </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Sample rate should be set to 44100Hz. Sample format should be set to 16-bit. Given the relative low quality of the analogue audio in the cassette tape, you'll be very unlikely to notice any improvement in sound quality with higher settings; CD is 44100Hz! </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*The only time I'd recommend higher settings, such as 48000Hz and 24-bit/36-bit, is when you have a very good soundcard and a good quality recorded tape and/or you will be doing lots of manipulating of the recording. Each transform, such as Noise Reduction, will produce quantization errors. Ideally the editing program dithers the transform (if working in 16-bit), which means more noise added. However, due to the high intrinsic noise of recordings from cassettes, this is unlikely to be distinguishable for the 'normal' amount of editing (see <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">7</del>. & <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">8</del>. below)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*The only time I'd recommend higher settings, such as 48000Hz and 24-bit/36-bit, is when you have a very good soundcard and a good quality recorded tape and/or you will be doing lots of manipulating of the recording. Each transform, such as Noise Reduction, will produce quantization errors. Ideally the editing program dithers the transform (if working in 16-bit), which means more noise added. However, due to the high intrinsic noise of recordings from cassettes, this is unlikely to be distinguishable for the 'normal' amount of editing (see <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">9</ins>. & <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">10</ins>. below)</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Play the tape and '''adjust the azimuth''' screw using the precision Philips head screwdriver. [https://themixingbowl.org/post/view/749482 See here] for more information on what the azimuth is and how to adjust it. Very basically, there's a small screw on the left of the play head if the heads are on the bottom going up as you push play. If the play head is on the Top (going down as you push play) then the screw you want to turn is on the right. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Play the tape and '''adjust the azimuth''' screw using the precision Philips head screwdriver. [https://themixingbowl.org/post/view/749482 See here] for more information on what the azimuth is and how to adjust it. Very basically, there's a small screw on the left of the play head if the heads are on the bottom going up as you push play. If the play head is on the Top (going down as you push play) then the screw you want to turn is on the right. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*Using small and slow turns of the screw in both directions, try to find out where the screw adjustment results in the clearest sound. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*Using small and slow turns of the screw in both directions, try to find out where the screw adjustment results in the clearest sound. </div></td></tr>
</table>Jaybeeehttps://wiki.themixingbowl.org/index.php?title=Digitising_cassette_tapes&diff=4487&oldid=prevJaybeee: /* Capturing/Recording */2016-03-27T14:40:34Z<p><span dir="auto"><span class="autocomment">Capturing/Recording</span></span></p>
<table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface">
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<tr class="diff-title" lang="en">
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">Revision as of 14:40, 27 March 2016</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l20" >Line 20:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 20:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Sample rate should be set to 44100Hz. Sample format should be set to 16-bit. Given the relative low quality of the analogue audio in the cassette tape, you'll be very unlikely to notice any improvement in sound quality with higher settings; CD is 44100Hz! </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Sample rate should be set to 44100Hz. Sample format should be set to 16-bit. Given the relative low quality of the analogue audio in the cassette tape, you'll be very unlikely to notice any improvement in sound quality with higher settings; CD is 44100Hz! </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*The only time I'd recommend higher settings, such as 48000Hz and 24-bit/36-bit, is when you have a very good soundcard and a good quality recorded tape and/or you will be doing lots of manipulating of the recording. Each transform, such as Noise Reduction, will produce quantization errors. Ideally the editing program dithers the transform (if working in 16-bit), which means more noise added. However, due to the high intrinsic noise of recordings from cassettes, this is unlikely to be distinguishable for the 'normal' amount of editing (see 7. & 8. below)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*The only time I'd recommend higher settings, such as 48000Hz and 24-bit/36-bit, is when you have a very good soundcard and a good quality recorded tape and/or you will be doing lots of manipulating of the recording. Each transform, such as Noise Reduction, will produce quantization errors. Ideally the editing program dithers the transform (if working in 16-bit), which means more noise added. However, due to the high intrinsic noise of recordings from cassettes, this is unlikely to be distinguishable for the 'normal' amount of editing (see 7. & 8. below)</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Play the tape and '''adjust the azimuth''' using the precision Philips head screwdriver. [https://themixingbowl.org/post/view/749482 See here] for more information on what the azimuth is and how to adjust it. Very basically, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">it</del>'s <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the one </del>on the left of the play head if the heads are on the bottom going up as you push play. If <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">they're </del>on the Top (going down as you push play) then the screw you want to turn is on the right. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Play the tape and '''adjust the azimuth''' <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">screw </ins>using the precision Philips head screwdriver. [https://themixingbowl.org/post/view/749482 See here] for more information on what the azimuth is and how to adjust it. Very basically, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">there</ins>'s <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">a small screw </ins>on the left of the play head if the heads are on the bottom going up as you push play. If <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">the play head is </ins>on the Top (going down as you push play) then the screw you want to turn is on the right. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*Using small and slow turns of the screw try to find out where the screw adjustment results in the clearest sound. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*Using small and slow turns of the screw <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">in both directions, </ins>try to find out where the screw adjustment results in the clearest sound. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*It's often best to find some audio with signing and lots of treble to really help identify the best position the screw needs to be in.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">*</ins>*It's often best to find some audio with signing and lots of treble to really help identify the best position the screw needs to be in.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">#*'''I cannot impress upon you just how important this azimuth adjustment is; the sound quality gained from this simple and often minor adjust is huge.'''</del></div></td><td colspan="2"> </td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*Make sure you adjust the azimuth on both sides of the tape.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*Make sure you adjust the azimuth on both sides of the tape.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*Only play tapes in one direction and '''do not''' use auto-reverse. This causes the head to change direction to allow playback in reverse, BUT it will slightly put it out of alignment and the resulting audio quality will be reduced. Solve this by adjusting the azimuth if the cassette tape was recorded using the auto-reverse functionality originally (see above).</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*Only play tapes in one direction and '''do not''' use auto-reverse. This causes the head to change direction to allow playback in reverse, BUT it will slightly put it out of alignment and the resulting audio quality will be reduced. Solve this by adjusting the azimuth if the cassette tape was recorded using the auto-reverse functionality originally (see above).</div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">#:'''The azimuth adjustment is vitally important. The sound quality gained from this simple and often minor adjustment is huge.'''</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Play the tape again and start recording: '''this is a test!''' because you'll need to fast forward to random parts of the tape to try and find the loudest section: use that as your basis to adjust the line in recording volume so that there is no clipping. Ideally, you want to capture the audio at -5db. In [[Audacity]] you can view the sound wave in db format, so that will show you what db level you are recording at. It's always better to record at a lower volume and then increase it after you've captured the audio. And don't get worried about it looking like it's at a low volume; it will be fine</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Play the tape again and start recording: '''this is a test!''' because you'll need to fast forward to random parts of the tape to try and find the loudest section: use that as your basis to adjust the line in recording volume so that there is no clipping. Ideally, you want to capture the audio at -5db. In [[Audacity]] you can view the sound wave in db format, so that will show you what db level you are recording at. It's always better to record at a lower volume and then increase it after you've captured the audio. And don't get worried about it looking like it's at a low volume; it will be fine</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#After you've sorted out the line-in recording volume level, you can start to record the audio.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#After you've sorted out the line-in recording volume level, you can start to record the audio.</div></td></tr>
</table>Jaybeeehttps://wiki.themixingbowl.org/index.php?title=Digitising_cassette_tapes&diff=4486&oldid=prevJaybeee: /* Capturing/Recording */2016-03-27T14:35:01Z<p><span dir="auto"><span class="autocomment">Capturing/Recording</span></span></p>
<table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface">
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<tr class="diff-title" lang="en">
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">Revision as of 14:35, 27 March 2016</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l19" >Line 19:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 19:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Ensure the sound recording capabilities on your computer are enabled: (for windows) Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Audio tab > Sound recording > Volume > tick 'Line In'</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Ensure the sound recording capabilities on your computer are enabled: (for windows) Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Audio tab > Sound recording > Volume > tick 'Line In'</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Sample rate should be set to 44100Hz. Sample format should be set to 16-bit. Given the relative low quality of the analogue audio in the cassette tape, you'll be very unlikely to notice any improvement in sound quality with higher settings; CD is 44100Hz! </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Sample rate should be set to 44100Hz. Sample format should be set to 16-bit. Given the relative low quality of the analogue audio in the cassette tape, you'll be very unlikely to notice any improvement in sound quality with higher settings; CD is 44100Hz! </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">:</del>The only time I'd recommend higher settings, such as 48000Hz and 24-bit/36-bit, is when you have a very good soundcard and a good quality recorded tape and/or you will be doing lots of manipulating of the recording. Each transform, such as Noise Reduction, will produce quantization errors. Ideally the editing program dithers the transform (if working in 16-bit), which means more noise added. However, due to the high intrinsic noise of recordings from cassettes, this is unlikely to be distinguishable for the 'normal' amount of editing (see 7. & 8. below)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">*</ins>The only time I'd recommend higher settings, such as 48000Hz and 24-bit/36-bit, is when you have a very good soundcard and a good quality recorded tape and/or you will be doing lots of manipulating of the recording. Each transform, such as Noise Reduction, will produce quantization errors. Ideally the editing program dithers the transform (if working in 16-bit), which means more noise added. However, due to the high intrinsic noise of recordings from cassettes, this is unlikely to be distinguishable for the 'normal' amount of editing (see 7. & 8. below)</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Play the tape and '''adjust the azimuth''' using the precision Philips head screwdriver. [https://themixingbowl.org/post/view/749482 See here] for more information on what the azimuth is and how to adjust it. Very basically, it's the one on the left of the play head if the heads are on the bottom going up as you push play. If they're on the Top (going down as you push play) then the screw you want to turn is on the right. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Play the tape and '''adjust the azimuth''' using the precision Philips head screwdriver. [https://themixingbowl.org/post/view/749482 See here] for more information on what the azimuth is and how to adjust it. Very basically, it's the one on the left of the play head if the heads are on the bottom going up as you push play. If they're on the Top (going down as you push play) then the screw you want to turn is on the right. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*Using small and slow turns of the screw try to find out where the screw adjustment results in the clearest sound. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*Using small and slow turns of the screw try to find out where the screw adjustment results in the clearest sound. </div></td></tr>
</table>Jaybeeehttps://wiki.themixingbowl.org/index.php?title=Digitising_cassette_tapes&diff=4485&oldid=prevJaybeee: /* What To Do */2016-03-27T14:34:27Z<p><span dir="auto"><span class="autocomment">What To Do</span></span></p>
<table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface">
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<tr class="diff-title" lang="en">
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">Revision as of 14:34, 27 March 2016</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l14" >Line 14:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 14:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==What To Do== </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==What To Do== </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>===Capturing/Recording===</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>===Capturing/Recording===</div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">#Check the pinch rollers are ok. I had to replace mine in 2015 as the rubber had started to degrade after 20 years and this meant it was "chewing" up tapes!</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">#Fast forward and rewind the cassette tape before playing it. This will tighten up the tape inside and help prevent it being 'chewed-up' by the tape deck. </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Connect the left & right plugs of the [http://wiki.themixingbowl.org/w/images/6/6d/Leads.jpg 3.5mm stereo to two phono plugs cable lead] to the [http://wiki.themixingbowl.org/w/images/6/63/Technics_rs-bx501.jpg cassette tape deck] and the single 3.5mm stereo plug to the line-in on the soundcard</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Connect the left & right plugs of the [http://wiki.themixingbowl.org/w/images/6/6d/Leads.jpg 3.5mm stereo to two phono plugs cable lead] to the [http://wiki.themixingbowl.org/w/images/6/63/Technics_rs-bx501.jpg cassette tape deck] and the single 3.5mm stereo plug to the line-in on the soundcard</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Ensure the sound recording capabilities on your computer are enabled: (for windows) Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Audio tab > Sound recording > Volume > tick 'Line In'</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Ensure the sound recording capabilities on your computer are enabled: (for windows) Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Audio tab > Sound recording > Volume > tick 'Line In'</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">#*'''tip:''' fast forward and rewind the cassette tape before playing it. This will tighten up the tape inside and help prevent it being 'chewed-up' by the tape deck </del></div></td><td colspan="2"> </td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Sample rate should be set to 44100Hz. Sample format should be set to 16-bit. Given the relative low quality of the analogue audio in the cassette tape, you'll be very unlikely to notice any improvement in sound quality with higher settings; CD is 44100Hz! </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Sample rate should be set to 44100Hz. Sample format should be set to 16-bit. Given the relative low quality of the analogue audio in the cassette tape, you'll be very unlikely to notice any improvement in sound quality with higher settings; CD is 44100Hz! </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#:The only time I'd recommend higher settings, such as 48000Hz and 24-bit/36-bit, is when you have a very good soundcard and a good quality recorded tape and/or you will be doing lots of manipulating of the recording. Each transform, such as Noise Reduction, will produce quantization errors. Ideally the editing program dithers the transform (if working in 16-bit), which means more noise added. However, due to the high intrinsic noise of recordings from cassettes, this is unlikely to be distinguishable for the 'normal' amount of editing (see 7. & 8. below)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#:The only time I'd recommend higher settings, such as 48000Hz and 24-bit/36-bit, is when you have a very good soundcard and a good quality recorded tape and/or you will be doing lots of manipulating of the recording. Each transform, such as Noise Reduction, will produce quantization errors. Ideally the editing program dithers the transform (if working in 16-bit), which means more noise added. However, due to the high intrinsic noise of recordings from cassettes, this is unlikely to be distinguishable for the 'normal' amount of editing (see 7. & 8. below)</div></td></tr>
</table>Jaybeeehttps://wiki.themixingbowl.org/index.php?title=Digitising_cassette_tapes&diff=4484&oldid=prevJaybeee: /* Capturing/Recording */2016-03-27T14:21:04Z<p><span dir="auto"><span class="autocomment">Capturing/Recording</span></span></p>
<table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface">
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<tr class="diff-title" lang="en">
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">Revision as of 14:21, 27 March 2016</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l19" >Line 19:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 19:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Sample rate should be set to 44100Hz. Sample format should be set to 16-bit. Given the relative low quality of the analogue audio in the cassette tape, you'll be very unlikely to notice any improvement in sound quality with higher settings; CD is 44100Hz! </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Sample rate should be set to 44100Hz. Sample format should be set to 16-bit. Given the relative low quality of the analogue audio in the cassette tape, you'll be very unlikely to notice any improvement in sound quality with higher settings; CD is 44100Hz! </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#:The only time I'd recommend higher settings, such as 48000Hz and 24-bit/36-bit, is when you have a very good soundcard and a good quality recorded tape and/or you will be doing lots of manipulating of the recording. Each transform, such as Noise Reduction, will produce quantization errors. Ideally the editing program dithers the transform (if working in 16-bit), which means more noise added. However, due to the high intrinsic noise of recordings from cassettes, this is unlikely to be distinguishable for the 'normal' amount of editing (see 7. & 8. below)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#:The only time I'd recommend higher settings, such as 48000Hz and 24-bit/36-bit, is when you have a very good soundcard and a good quality recorded tape and/or you will be doing lots of manipulating of the recording. Each transform, such as Noise Reduction, will produce quantization errors. Ideally the editing program dithers the transform (if working in 16-bit), which means more noise added. However, due to the high intrinsic noise of recordings from cassettes, this is unlikely to be distinguishable for the 'normal' amount of editing (see 7. & 8. below)</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Play the tape and adjust the azimuth using the precision Philips head screwdriver. [https://themixingbowl.org/post/view/749482 See here] for more information on what the azimuth is and how to adjust it. Very basically, it's the one on the left of the play head if the heads are on the bottom going up as you push play. If they're on the Top (going down as you push play) then the screw you want to turn is on the right. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Play the tape and <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">'''</ins>adjust the azimuth<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">''' </ins>using the precision Philips head screwdriver. [https://themixingbowl.org/post/view/749482 See here] for more information on what the azimuth is and how to adjust it. Very basically, it's the one on the left of the play head if the heads are on the bottom going up as you push play. If they're on the Top (going down as you push play) then the screw you want to turn is on the right. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*Using small and slow turns of the screw try to find out where the screw adjustment results in the clearest sound. </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*Using small and slow turns of the screw try to find out where the screw adjustment results in the clearest sound. </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*It's often best to find some audio with signing and lots of treble to really help identify the best position the screw needs to be in.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#*It's often best to find some audio with signing and lots of treble to really help identify the best position the screw needs to be in.</div></td></tr>
</table>Jaybeeehttps://wiki.themixingbowl.org/index.php?title=Digitising_cassette_tapes&diff=4483&oldid=prevJaybeee: /* What To Do */2016-03-27T14:20:33Z<p><span dir="auto"><span class="autocomment">What To Do</span></span></p>
<table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface">
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<tr class="diff-title" lang="en">
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">Revision as of 14:20, 27 March 2016</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l16" >Line 16:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 16:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Connect the left & right plugs of the [http://wiki.themixingbowl.org/w/images/6/6d/Leads.jpg 3.5mm stereo to two phono plugs cable lead] to the [http://wiki.themixingbowl.org/w/images/6/63/Technics_rs-bx501.jpg cassette tape deck] and the single 3.5mm stereo plug to the line-in on the soundcard</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Connect the left & right plugs of the [http://wiki.themixingbowl.org/w/images/6/6d/Leads.jpg 3.5mm stereo to two phono plugs cable lead] to the [http://wiki.themixingbowl.org/w/images/6/63/Technics_rs-bx501.jpg cassette tape deck] and the single 3.5mm stereo plug to the line-in on the soundcard</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Ensure the sound recording capabilities on your computer are enabled: (for windows) Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Audio tab > Sound recording > Volume > tick 'Line In'</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Ensure the sound recording capabilities on your computer are enabled: (for windows) Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Audio tab > Sound recording > Volume > tick 'Line In'</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">:</del>'''tip:''' fast forward and rewind the cassette tape before playing it. This will tighten up the tape inside and help prevent it being 'chewed-up' by the tape deck </div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">*</ins>'''tip:''' fast forward and rewind the cassette tape before playing it. This will tighten up the tape inside and help prevent it being 'chewed-up' by the tape deck </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Sample rate should be set to 44100Hz. Sample format should be set to 16-bit. Given the relative low quality of the analogue audio in the cassette tape, you'll be very unlikely to notice any improvement in sound quality with higher settings; CD is 44100Hz! </div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Sample rate should be set to 44100Hz. Sample format should be set to 16-bit. Given the relative low quality of the analogue audio in the cassette tape, you'll be very unlikely to notice any improvement in sound quality with higher settings; CD is 44100Hz! </div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#:The only time I'd recommend higher settings, such as 48000Hz and 24-bit/36-bit, is when you have a very good soundcard and a good quality recorded tape and/or you will be doing lots of manipulating of the recording. Each transform, such as Noise Reduction, will produce quantization errors. Ideally the editing program dithers the transform (if working in 16-bit), which means more noise added. However, due to the high intrinsic noise of recordings from cassettes, this is unlikely to be distinguishable for the 'normal' amount of editing (see 7. & 8. below)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#:The only time I'd recommend higher settings, such as 48000Hz and 24-bit/36-bit, is when you have a very good soundcard and a good quality recorded tape and/or you will be doing lots of manipulating of the recording. Each transform, such as Noise Reduction, will produce quantization errors. Ideally the editing program dithers the transform (if working in 16-bit), which means more noise added. However, due to the high intrinsic noise of recordings from cassettes, this is unlikely to be distinguishable for the 'normal' amount of editing (see 7. & 8. below)</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Play the tape and start recording: '''this is a test!''' because you'll need to fast forward to random parts of the tape to try and find the loudest section: use that as your basis to adjust the line in recording volume so that there is no clipping. Ideally, you want to capture the audio at -5db. In [[Audacity]] you can view the sound wave in db format, so that will show you what db level you are recording at. It's always better to record at a lower volume and then increase it after you've captured the audio. And don't get worried about it looking like it's at a low volume; it will be fine</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Play the tape <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">and adjust the azimuth using the precision Philips head screwdriver. [https://themixingbowl.org/post/view/749482 See here] for more information on what the azimuth is and how to adjust it. Very basically, it's the one on the left of the play head if the heads are on the bottom going up as you push play. If they're on the Top (going down as you push play) then the screw you want to turn is on the right. </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#After you've sorted out the line-in recording volume level, you can start to record the audio.<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">.. press record basically</del></div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">#*Using small and slow turns of the screw try to find out where the screw adjustment results in the clearest sound. </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">#*It's often best to find some audio with signing and lots of treble to really help identify the best position the screw needs to be in.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">#*'''I cannot impress upon you just how important this azimuth adjustment is; the sound quality gained from this simple and often minor adjust is huge.'''</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">#*Make sure you adjust the azimuth on both sides of the tape.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">#*Only play tapes in one direction and '''do not''' use auto-reverse. This causes the head to change direction to allow playback in reverse, BUT it will slightly put it out of alignment and the resulting audio quality will be reduced. Solve this by adjusting the azimuth if the cassette tape was recorded using the auto-reverse functionality originally (see above).</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">#Play the tape again </ins>and start recording: '''this is a test!''' because you'll need to fast forward to random parts of the tape to try and find the loudest section: use that as your basis to adjust the line in recording volume so that there is no clipping. Ideally, you want to capture the audio at -5db. In [[Audacity]] you can view the sound wave in db format, so that will show you what db level you are recording at. It's always better to record at a lower volume and then increase it after you've captured the audio. And don't get worried about it looking like it's at a low volume; it will be fine</div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#After you've sorted out the line-in recording volume level, you can start to record the audio.</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Once the recording process has finished, you might want to go through the audio to edit out any parts that you do not require. Namely the silence at the start and the end of the tape. If you want to, it would also be wise to fade in and fade out now whilst you have the audio in this 'raw' format</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Once the recording process has finished, you might want to go through the audio to edit out any parts that you do not require. Namely the silence at the start and the end of the tape. If you want to, it would also be wise to fade in and fade out now whilst you have the audio in this 'raw' format</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#You might also like to remove any 'hiss' or reduce certain noises (tape hum). [[Audacity]] has a 'Noise Removal' tool that is quite good. Be warned though: it will often result in a slight loss of high-end audio that might make it sound worse than the original. I don't normally perform this action unless there is a lot of hiss. [[Adobe Audition]] has a very good Noise Removal tool, but the program is also quite expensive</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#You might also like to remove any 'hiss' or reduce certain noises (tape hum). [[Audacity]] has a 'Noise Removal' tool that is quite good. Be warned though: it will often result in a slight loss of high-end audio that might make it sound worse than the original. I don't normally perform this action unless there is a lot of hiss. [[Adobe Audition]] has a very good Noise Removal tool, but the program is also quite expensive</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Once you've completed manipulating the audio, <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">I'd recommend running </del>the file <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">through </del>[[WaveGain]]. This is based upon the [[Replaygain]] standard and will effectively apply gain (volume) adjustments directly by adjusting the scaling of the samples. Unlike [[Replaygain]], this is not a lossless process an cannot be reversed. It <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">basically </del>means the files are adjusted to -89db, which <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">normally </del>results in a smaller file size too, as most people tend to record at too high a level. If all music was the same relative volume, we'd never need to change the volume control on our equipment if we always wanted the same absolute volume</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#Once you've completed manipulating the audio, <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">you could process </ins>the file <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">with </ins>[[WaveGain]]. This is based upon the [[Replaygain]] standard and will effectively apply gain (volume) adjustments directly by adjusting the scaling of the samples. Unlike [[Replaygain]], this is not a lossless process an cannot be reversed. It means the files are adjusted to -89db, which <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">often </ins>results in a smaller file size too, as most people tend to record at too high a level. If all music was the same relative volume, we'd never need to change the volume control on our equipment if we always wanted the same absolute volume<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">. </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">#*If you have recorded the audio close to -89dB (i.e. the volume of the audio is not too far away from this level), then it may be better leaving it and not running [[WaveGain]] on it, instead using [[Replaygain]] or [[MP3Gain]] on the final lossless and lossy files.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>===Encoding===</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>===Encoding===</div></td></tr>
</table>Jaybeeehttps://wiki.themixingbowl.org/index.php?title=Digitising_cassette_tapes&diff=4482&oldid=prevJaybeee at 12:05, 27 March 20162016-03-27T12:05:15Z<p></p>
<table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface">
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<col class="diff-marker" />
<col class="diff-content" />
<tr class="diff-title" lang="en">
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td>
<td colspan="2" style="background-color: #fff; color: #222; text-align: center;">Revision as of 12:05, 27 March 2016</td>
</tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l4" >Line 4:</td>
<td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 4:</td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div># [http://wiki.themixingbowl.org/w/images/6/6d/Leads.jpg 3.5mm stereo to two phono plugs cable lead]: approx £5 in the UK (if you have a really good soundcard it will have two phono line-in sockets: so just get a standard interconnect cable)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div># [http://wiki.themixingbowl.org/w/images/6/6d/Leads.jpg 3.5mm stereo to two phono plugs cable lead]: approx £5 in the UK (if you have a really good soundcard it will have two phono line-in sockets: so just get a standard interconnect cable)</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#A soundcard that accepts line-in: most motherboards these days have this on board</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#A soundcard that accepts line-in: most motherboards these days have this on board</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#<del class="diffchange diffchange-inline"># </del>Or maybe use a [[DAP]] like the iriver H1xx series that has [[Rockbox]] installed ¦-)</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">* </ins>Or maybe use a [[DAP]] like the iriver H1xx series that has [[Rockbox]] installed ¦-)</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#[http://wiki.themixingbowl.org/w/images/0/00/Tdk_cleaner.jpg A cassette tape cleaner] <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">to clean tape heads or use pure isopropyl alcohol </del>and lint-free swabs <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">(</del>cotton wool buds <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline">will be ok also)</del>. This will help to capture a better sound since the cassette tapes will likely be old and dirty</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">To clean the tape heads and other parts use pure isopropyl alcohol / denatured alcohol (recommended) / good quality rubbing alcohol / surgical spirit or possibly a </ins>[http://wiki.themixingbowl.org/w/images/0/00/Tdk_cleaner.jpg A cassette tape cleaner] and lint-free swabs <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">/ </ins>cotton wool buds <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">/ q-tips</ins>. This will help to capture a better sound since the cassette tapes will likely be old and dirty<ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">.</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">#* For more information and help check out this [http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Clean-a-Cassette-Recorder/ How To Clean a Cassette Recorder guide]</ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"> </td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline">#A precision Philips demagnetised screwdriver to adjust the azimuth. </ins></div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#An audio capturing/editing software application. I personally use [[Audacity]] as it's very easy to use, is free and open source, and has many plug-ins available (LADSPA / Nyquist / VST Plug-Ins). There are other apps that will do the same job</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#An audio capturing/editing software application. I personally use [[Audacity]] as it's very easy to use, is free and open source, and has many plug-ins available (LADSPA / Nyquist / VST Plug-Ins). There are other apps that will do the same job</div></td></tr>
<tr><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#A [[lossless]] audio encoder like [[FLAC]] or [[WavPack]]: this is so that once you've got the audio in the state you're happy with, you can encode it to a lossless format for archival purposes. You can then transcode it to [[MP3]] etc for upping</div></td><td class='diff-marker'> </td><td style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #222; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #eaecf0; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>#A [[lossless]] audio encoder like [[FLAC]] or [[WavPack]]: this is so that once you've got the audio in the state you're happy with, you can encode it to a lossless format for archival purposes. You can then transcode it to [[MP3]] etc for upping</div></td></tr>
</table>Jaybeee