transferring cassettes to CD - Plusdeck 2C or other options

"Mike Rivers" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Aug 7, 7:11 pm, "Arny Krueger" wrote:

The best way to adjust azimuth is to have a mono test tape, and adjust
the
azimuth until tape heads tracking the top and bottom edges of the
recorded
track reproduce waves with identical timing.

That's the best way to adjust it to a standard, but the cassettes to
be played may not have been recorded with the heads set to that
standard.

Right. Since these are cassettes, the demands for precision are high due to
the slow speed, but the hardware is inherently sloppy.

And the real problem is with instability of the tape
relative to the head, both when recorded and again when played.

That's one reason why a system like the Nak's, that adjusted the azimuth on
the fly as needed, could improve sound quality so much.

For a "better than random" setup, making one adjustment before playing
a tape is probably sufficient, but it should be done for each tape.

In an ideal world there would be some test tones recorded at the beginning
and end of the tape, and between every musical selection.

"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
. ..
How do you know how to adjust the azimuth - or how would a device know
what the correct setting is? Is there some fail safe way to tell, or
do you have to use your own ears?

The best way to adjust azimuth is to have a mono test tape, and adjust the
azimuth until tape heads tracking the top and bottom edges of the recorded
track reproduce waves with identical timing.

That gets the player aligned with "standard" azimuth, which is of course
best if you're recording and playing back. But if you're playing back
cassettes which were probably recorded on a machine with the azimuth
misaligned, you need to set it by ear (or use a Nakamichi Dragon with its
automatic alignment). Best way to do that by ear is to adjust for maximum
high frequencies *with the playback summed to a mono signal*. Makes the
proper setting a *lot* easier to find -- yes, even on a signal that's
stereo. Ideally you dub through the computer and listen to the computer's
output summed to mono, so you can listen as you go and, as Mike says, stop
when you hear it getting off.

Peace,
Paul

On Aug 7, 9:24 pm, Paul MR wrote:

Indeed, the Dragon was an exceedingly high-end consumer machine. But it
is expensive overkill for most people's old cassette collections.

It depends. If you're really going to transfer 1000 cassettes, you
must really care about preserving that collection, and anything that
will make the copies better with less effort surely is worth an
investment of what amounts to about an extra buck a tape by the time
you get the Dragon and a good tune-up job. If you were to have the
collection transferred even semi-professionally, it would probably
cost $25 or more per tape, a $24,000 saving.

"Paul Stamler" wrote in message
...
"Arny Krueger" wrote in message
. ..
How do you know how to adjust the azimuth - or how would a device know
what the correct setting is? Is there some fail safe way to tell, or
do you have to use your own ears?

The best way to adjust azimuth is to have a mono test tape, and adjust
the
azimuth until tape heads tracking the top and bottom edges of the
recorded
track reproduce waves with identical timing.

That gets the player aligned with "standard" azimuth, which is of course
best if you're recording and playing back. But if you're playing back
cassettes which were probably recorded on a machine with the azimuth
misaligned, you need to set it by ear (or use a Nakamichi Dragon with its
automatic alignment).

Right. It's been too long since I seriously transcribed any cassettes.

Best way to do that by ear is to adjust for maximum
high frequencies *with the playback summed to a mono signal*. Makes the
proper setting a *lot* easier to find -- yes, even on a signal that's
stereo. Ideally you dub through the computer and listen to the computer's
output summed to mono, so you can listen as you go and, as Mike says, stop
when you hear it getting off.

Well, recently I got a preamp for my turntable and a new needle, and
have been buying a lot of vinyl lately of music I used to like in my
youth that I only had on cassette, and recording records directly to
digital. It's nice having the actual record to enjoy the art /etc,
even if the music itself is just an mp3 file. However I am finding a
lot of these records, especially the ones on independent labels, are
out of print or never came out on CD, and cost quite a bit on eBay. So
I went back to my tape collection. Yeah I do really care about
preserving my collection, I'm an avid record collector.

It depends. If you're really going to transfer 1000 cassettes, you
must really care about preserving that collection, and anything that
will make the copies better with less effort surely is worth an
investment of what amounts to about an extra buck a tape by the time
you get the Dragon and a good tune-up job. If you were to have the
collection transferred even semi-professionally, it would probably
cost $25 or more per tape, a $24,000 saving.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Has anyone had lots of experience with transferring large numbers of
cassettes (we're talking 500-1000) to CD or MP3? [snip]

Yes. I've had a lot of experience doing that. I wouldn't recommend it
unless the only alternative is to buy a new CD. If you feel that you
absolutely must have a CD copy of a cassette, and the material is out of
print, then use the same tape deck you made the original cassette on as the
source and make a .wav file of it on your computer.

But honestly, I wouldn't bother if there's a commercial CD available.

Norm Strong

Scott Dorsey wrote:

Just go the Nak Dragon route.

Might be a bit extreme.

Just going to a 3-head deck makes an immense improvement...

Just go the Nak Dragon route.

Might be a bit extreme.
Just going to a 3-head deck makes
an immense improvement...

There are two excellent reasons for using a Dragon. First, Nakamichi
playback heads tend to have more HF output than other manufacturers' heads.
This introduces its own set of problems, but it means you might get a better
transfer of a worn or dull-sounding tape. Second, the asymmetrical
diffused-resonance transport produces significantly lower audible modulation
noise.

dizzy wrote:
Scott Dorsey wrote:

Just go the Nak Dragon route.

Might be a bit extreme.

Try it.

Just going to a 3-head deck makes an immense improvement...

3-head design is a given. If it's not a 3-head deck, it's nearly impossible
even to get the record alignment right.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On Aug 7, 3:08 pm, Mike Rivers wrote:
On Aug 7, 5:55 pm, wrote:

How do you know how to adjust the azimuth - or how would a device know
what the correct setting is? Is there some fail safe way to tell, or
do you have to use your own ears?

You got it! On the bench, you can use a test cassette and an
oscilloscope but when ajusting the deck to match an already recorded
tape, your ears are the best guide. It's pretty apparent when you have
it right, or at least close enough. For routine transfers just for
fun, you can probalby get away with adjusting it once, but to to a
really good job, you need to listen continuously and when you hear it
getting off, stop the tape, stop the recording, re-adjust the azimuth,
continue the copying, and then edit the pieces together.

The automatic adjustment looks at phase difference between the
channels and drives a motor which adjusts the head.


Terence Blanchard's latest release, "A Tale of God's Will" is an
evocative emotional journey of a city whose spirit lives on through
the most devastating of circumstances - as told through the musical
genius of one of New Orleans' proudest residents - Terence
Blanchard. This marks the 2nd release for Terence on the famed Blue
Note Label and was composed for Spike Lee's HBO documentary, "When The
Levees Broke."


What are people saying about "A Tale of God's Will: A Requiem for
Katrina"

"With his soulful new album, Blanchard continues his crusade to
revitalize his hometown... a purposeful convergence of his film-composer
and jazz-musician identities... a melancholy suite that feels both
intensely personal and broadly cinematic."

-The New York Times


"...a triumph, an extended jazz suite that evokes a tragedy without
words and inspires emotions worthy of its subject."

-Washington Post


"Blanchard is a powerful storyteller. He doesn't need words to
express anger, frustration, heartbreak, resolve, hope or love-just a
trumpet."

-NPR


"[Blanchard] delivers his compelling and poignant reflections on the
catastrophe... In the tunes, there is anger and angst, lush melody and
woeful wails, pockets of grace and flood waters of melancholy."

-Billboard


a href=" http://www.bluenote.com/terenceblanchard/player/" A Tale Of
God's Will Ecard/a