Sure this has been asked before, but I just got a home PC at the weekend there, so indudge me if you can- what's the best/easiest way to burn a CD from old tapes?
Is it just a matter of inputting from a tape deck to the PC and then burning from there?
Is there a good way of "cleaning up" the tape sound before burning?
Any help much appreciated. I've got Nero on the PC.
PC's for Dummies #1
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Alias
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PC's for Dummies #1
I'm a comedian and poet, so anything that doesn't get a laugh is a poem. B.Hicks.
"Further modulation of the frequency rotation, Triggered waveband activation - near elation"
'Why are you so edgy, kid ?'
"Further modulation of the frequency rotation, Triggered waveband activation - near elation"
'Why are you so edgy, kid ?'
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theraven1979
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Re: PC's for Dummies #1
It is just a case of using some software to record the tape input then saving the tracks as mp3s, OGG or whatever. I generally stay away from the hiss removers etc as I believe that quality is lost in other areas. Although I know Dom would disagree with me.
Jim
Jim
Alias wrote:Sure this has been asked before, but I just got a home PC at the weekend there, so indudge me if you can- what's the best/easiest way to burn a CD from old tapes?
Is it just a matter of inputting from a tape deck to the PC and then burning from there?
Is there a good way of "cleaning up" the tape sound before burning?
Any help much appreciated. I've got Nero on the PC.
"I bathed in sun and walked in rain
It taught me how to laugh again"
It taught me how to laugh again"
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theraven1979
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Alias
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Just out of interest, I got recommended this too:
the "best" way...
http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/drives/7a8d/
Bit out of my league I think!
the "best" way...
http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/drives/7a8d/
Bit out of my league I think!
I'm a comedian and poet, so anything that doesn't get a laugh is a poem. B.Hicks.
"Further modulation of the frequency rotation, Triggered waveband activation - near elation"
'Why are you so edgy, kid ?'
"Further modulation of the frequency rotation, Triggered waveband activation - near elation"
'Why are you so edgy, kid ?'
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Skin Deep
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- Joined: 15 Jan 2005, 22:45
- Location: Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland
Basically what Jim said. Take the line outs (phonos left and right) to the line in of your PC's soundcard and record using your preferred audio editor. Mine is Wavelab (which I think is the best, naturally) but there is a whole host of choices out there (Adobe Audition, Cool Edit Pro..?).
As to reducing hiss and noise, yes there are many plug-ins to these editors you can use, but my advice would be to leave well alone. In my experience the original recording without any major doctoring is usually the best. I have altered the speed of some recordings if the original tape recording plays too fast or slow with very good results, and also some gain boosting has improved things in some cases. A little EQ-ing can help too but I have found that minor tweaks work best.
No doubt there'll be those who'll disagree with my thoughts, but I've managed to produce what I think to be very good results with the minimum of fuss.
Best of luck
As to reducing hiss and noise, yes there are many plug-ins to these editors you can use, but my advice would be to leave well alone. In my experience the original recording without any major doctoring is usually the best. I have altered the speed of some recordings if the original tape recording plays too fast or slow with very good results, and also some gain boosting has improved things in some cases. A little EQ-ing can help too but I have found that minor tweaks work best.
No doubt there'll be those who'll disagree with my thoughts, but I've managed to produce what I think to be very good results with the minimum of fuss.
Best of luck
"Life shows no mercy."
Hi Alias
I spend half my waking life doing such a thing! I have now settled on this product.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?Mod ... 41&T=29910
But this is only cos I don't have a dedicated sound card on my laptop.
You don;t say if you have a sound card. Some PCs don't. If you do have one, you can just connect the tape deck to the card, normally with a phon0 to 3.5mm jack lead (which are becoming popular with the ipod gang).
With regard to restoration, well that's a moot point. I have always been able to improve on things, but I have been playing with analogue equalisers and such like for 20 years (shit it's really that long) and now have a feel for what's going on... the software you can get is likely to leave you non-plussed. As a result, you will use default settings, and these will, as the others say, take more away from the music -- thus a straight transfer is what you should do.
If you have some shitey recordings I am happy to give you tips if you do want to fiddle.
Lastly, you need the CD wave cutter.
http://www.milosoftware.com/cdwave/
i use this in every CD/upload I create. It is the best way to create tracks for your CD. Intuitive and obvious.
AND, if you do have sound card and don't want to meddle with the sound, this has a really easy recorder module, which lets you create WAV files (for lossless quality). You can set it on a timer so it stops after 46 minutes or whatever, if you want to leave it going. You then cut the WAV file into tracks. Then use your CD burning software to make the CD... and that's another story... best for that imho is Jet Audio.. look it up!
Dom
I spend half my waking life doing such a thing! I have now settled on this product.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?Mod ... 41&T=29910
But this is only cos I don't have a dedicated sound card on my laptop.
You don;t say if you have a sound card. Some PCs don't. If you do have one, you can just connect the tape deck to the card, normally with a phon0 to 3.5mm jack lead (which are becoming popular with the ipod gang).
With regard to restoration, well that's a moot point. I have always been able to improve on things, but I have been playing with analogue equalisers and such like for 20 years (shit it's really that long) and now have a feel for what's going on... the software you can get is likely to leave you non-plussed. As a result, you will use default settings, and these will, as the others say, take more away from the music -- thus a straight transfer is what you should do.
If you have some shitey recordings I am happy to give you tips if you do want to fiddle.
Lastly, you need the CD wave cutter.
http://www.milosoftware.com/cdwave/
i use this in every CD/upload I create. It is the best way to create tracks for your CD. Intuitive and obvious.
AND, if you do have sound card and don't want to meddle with the sound, this has a really easy recorder module, which lets you create WAV files (for lossless quality). You can set it on a timer so it stops after 46 minutes or whatever, if you want to leave it going. You then cut the WAV file into tracks. Then use your CD burning software to make the CD... and that's another story... best for that imho is Jet Audio.. look it up!
Dom
"I think you guys are going to have to come up with some wonderful new lies, or people just aren't going to want to go on living." -- Slaughterhouse-Five
