Lazarus
07-04-2004, 06:34 PM
Right you basically have to get audio information from your tape to your soundcard.
Scenario 1: Proper Tape Deck to Cheap On-board/PCI card.
I would imagine if you have a load of tapes and are a certain age you will have a tape deck...as such you should be able to see on the back of the deck two phono sockets with Rec written by it...This is a proper level audio signal, an if its present use this...If not you can use the normal outputs that would go into the amp (be careful here though as the signal level may be too high).
Go to a shop like Maplins and get a 3.5mm jack to 2 phono...look at the website I found this in two seconds...
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<T>
<TR bgColor=#000033>
<TD width="4%">Options</TD>
<TD width="4%">Code</TD>
<TD width="44%" bgColor=#000033>Quick Buy / Description</TD>
<TD width="20%">Stock</TD>
<TD width="5%">PriceIncVAT</TD>
<TD align=middle colSpan=6>Pricing Information </TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD align=left bgColor=#003366 colSpan=5>Products </TD>
<TD noWrap width="8%" bgColor=#003366>1+ Ex VAT</TD>
<TD width="4%" bgColor=#003366>5</TD>
<TD width="4%" bgColor=#003366>10</TD>
<TD width="4%" bgColor=#003366>25</TD>
<TD width="4%" bgColor=#003366>100</TD>
<TD noWrap align=right width="5%" bgColor=#003366>Qty </TD></TR>
<TR bgColor=#ccccff>
<TD vAlign=center align=middle width="4%">< id=Options = value=L45AJ name=Options></TD>
<TD width="4%">L45AJ< = value=L45AJ name=OrderCode1></TD>
<TD width="44%" bgColor=#ccccff>BUY 1: (http://www.maplin.co.uk/ordering/ordering.asp?TotalItems=1&OrderCode1=L45AJ&Quantit y1=1&CartID=040407180850891) 3.5mm Jck - 2Ph 1.5m</TD>
<TD width="20%">In Stock </TD>
<TD width="5%">7.99</TD>
<TD width="8%">6.8</TD>
<TD width="4%">6.12</TD>
<TD width="4%">5.78</TD>
<TD width="4%">5.44</TD>
<TD width="4%">5.1</TD>
<TD align=right width="5%">< class=box maxLength=4 size=2 name=Quantity1> </TD></TR>
<TR bgColor=#ccccff>
<TD vAlign=center align=middle width="4%">< id=Options = value=L46AJ name=Options></TD>
<TD width="4%">L46AJ< = value=L46AJ name=OrderCode2></TD>
<TD width="44%" bgColor=#ccccff>BUY 1: (http://www.maplin.co.uk/ordering/ordering.asp?TotalItems=1&OrderCode1=L46AJ&Quantit y1=1&CartID=040407180850891) 3.5mm Jck - 2Ph 3m</TD>
<TD width="20%">In Stock </TD>
<TD width="5%">9.99</TD>
<TD width="8%">8.502</TD>
<TD width="4%">7.652</TD>
<TD width="4%">7.227</TD>
<TD width="4%">6.802</TD>
<TD width="4%">6.377</TD>
<TD align=right width="5%">< class=box maxLength=4 size=2 name=Quantity2> </TD></TR></T></T></T></TABLE>
Right, when you have this cable plug the two phono ends on to the corresponding plugs on the back of the tape deck (left and right)....then plug the 3.5mm Jack (like a headphones socket) into the Microphone or preferabley Line In socket. If you have a dead cheap soundcard, or on-board, you will have to use the Microphone socket which will usually be pink. If you really love your tapes it is well worth getting a good soundcard and a quality headcleaning unit for your tape deck...Once you have done this properly you don't have to do it ever again...Quality soundcards have a better Sampling Rate and the correct inputs for this kind of audio transfer...
Right once you have connected the tape deck to the audio input of the soundcard you should press play on the tape deck with a tape in...
If you can't hear anything check all levels to make sure the volume levels on the tape deck and the computers soundcard mixer is up. If you don't know how to change you soundcards record and playback levels double-click the little speaker symbol on the taskbar, go to Options-Properties and select record for record levels and playback for playback.
If you can hear your tape nowyou're getting there. if you cannot, then check your connections, make sure you haven't put cable into the headphones socket or something similar.
If your tape deck has some form of output meter check this, its best not to have this overloading. Additionally, you may wish to inspect what sort of features like Dolby,Bass Boost or Noise Reduction you have on you deck. Personally I would take all features off and have as pure a signal as possible going into your computer. If you have a quality piece of software you can tweak the sound later.
Right....Load up the software you will record the Audio/Tapes to your hard drive with (i.e. Wavelab, Soundforge, etc.), there will be a red record button press it. A level barshould now pop up...check the level is not going red or you will lose quality...press the appropriate record button as you shouldn't be recording yet, just monitoring...then press stop after a bit...
A wave should now appear. Have a look at this. If the wave you are looking at seems to have the peaks cut off (square) at the top you are losing data here. Reduce the recording level on the soundcard or the output of the tape deck to remedy this problem. If the wave seems to be particularly small, and the peaks dont go very high you have the opposite problem. Again you aren't getting all the data you should. Remedy this problem by increasing the output level of the tape deck or increasing the record level of your soundcard.
If you are the sort of person that does a "proper job", as they say down here in Plymouth, then you will spend some time getting the record level right. This can take some time, as theoretically (and quite often) tapes will have a particularly load part somewhere which will may overload. I would suggest in this case if you have a quality soundcard leave some space (headroom) for loud sections on the tape, alternatively you could listen to the tape monitor the louest part and set the record level for that.
I want to keep this quite simple really so I am not going into more technical areas because I don't want to make this sound difficult. Quite frankly once you start playing around you will see it is just like copying a tape from one tape deck to the other...However there are of course amazing things that computers allow you to do which we can get on to later.
Once you have got a level you are happy with you can record the whole tape.Have a look at the wave to see if there are any problems. If you didn't stipulate to your program that you wished to save the recording to a specific file and location before you recorded it I would save the file now, before the program crashes or something like that. This feature is possible in most software and I would use it if you can find it.
I'll continue another time...Edited by: Lazarus
Scenario 1: Proper Tape Deck to Cheap On-board/PCI card.
I would imagine if you have a load of tapes and are a certain age you will have a tape deck...as such you should be able to see on the back of the deck two phono sockets with Rec written by it...This is a proper level audio signal, an if its present use this...If not you can use the normal outputs that would go into the amp (be careful here though as the signal level may be too high).
Go to a shop like Maplins and get a 3.5mm jack to 2 phono...look at the website I found this in two seconds...
<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=2 width="100%" bgColor=#ffffff><T><T>
<T>
<TR bgColor=#000033>
<TD width="4%">Options</TD>
<TD width="4%">Code</TD>
<TD width="44%" bgColor=#000033>Quick Buy / Description</TD>
<TD width="20%">Stock</TD>
<TD width="5%">PriceIncVAT</TD>
<TD align=middle colSpan=6>Pricing Information </TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD align=left bgColor=#003366 colSpan=5>Products </TD>
<TD noWrap width="8%" bgColor=#003366>1+ Ex VAT</TD>
<TD width="4%" bgColor=#003366>5</TD>
<TD width="4%" bgColor=#003366>10</TD>
<TD width="4%" bgColor=#003366>25</TD>
<TD width="4%" bgColor=#003366>100</TD>
<TD noWrap align=right width="5%" bgColor=#003366>Qty </TD></TR>
<TR bgColor=#ccccff>
<TD vAlign=center align=middle width="4%">< id=Options = value=L45AJ name=Options></TD>
<TD width="4%">L45AJ< = value=L45AJ name=OrderCode1></TD>
<TD width="44%" bgColor=#ccccff>BUY 1: (http://www.maplin.co.uk/ordering/ordering.asp?TotalItems=1&OrderCode1=L45AJ&Quantit y1=1&CartID=040407180850891) 3.5mm Jck - 2Ph 1.5m</TD>
<TD width="20%">In Stock </TD>
<TD width="5%">7.99</TD>
<TD width="8%">6.8</TD>
<TD width="4%">6.12</TD>
<TD width="4%">5.78</TD>
<TD width="4%">5.44</TD>
<TD width="4%">5.1</TD>
<TD align=right width="5%">< class=box maxLength=4 size=2 name=Quantity1> </TD></TR>
<TR bgColor=#ccccff>
<TD vAlign=center align=middle width="4%">< id=Options = value=L46AJ name=Options></TD>
<TD width="4%">L46AJ< = value=L46AJ name=OrderCode2></TD>
<TD width="44%" bgColor=#ccccff>BUY 1: (http://www.maplin.co.uk/ordering/ordering.asp?TotalItems=1&OrderCode1=L46AJ&Quantit y1=1&CartID=040407180850891) 3.5mm Jck - 2Ph 3m</TD>
<TD width="20%">In Stock </TD>
<TD width="5%">9.99</TD>
<TD width="8%">8.502</TD>
<TD width="4%">7.652</TD>
<TD width="4%">7.227</TD>
<TD width="4%">6.802</TD>
<TD width="4%">6.377</TD>
<TD align=right width="5%">< class=box maxLength=4 size=2 name=Quantity2> </TD></TR></T></T></T></TABLE>
Right, when you have this cable plug the two phono ends on to the corresponding plugs on the back of the tape deck (left and right)....then plug the 3.5mm Jack (like a headphones socket) into the Microphone or preferabley Line In socket. If you have a dead cheap soundcard, or on-board, you will have to use the Microphone socket which will usually be pink. If you really love your tapes it is well worth getting a good soundcard and a quality headcleaning unit for your tape deck...Once you have done this properly you don't have to do it ever again...Quality soundcards have a better Sampling Rate and the correct inputs for this kind of audio transfer...
Right once you have connected the tape deck to the audio input of the soundcard you should press play on the tape deck with a tape in...
If you can't hear anything check all levels to make sure the volume levels on the tape deck and the computers soundcard mixer is up. If you don't know how to change you soundcards record and playback levels double-click the little speaker symbol on the taskbar, go to Options-Properties and select record for record levels and playback for playback.
If you can hear your tape nowyou're getting there. if you cannot, then check your connections, make sure you haven't put cable into the headphones socket or something similar.
If your tape deck has some form of output meter check this, its best not to have this overloading. Additionally, you may wish to inspect what sort of features like Dolby,Bass Boost or Noise Reduction you have on you deck. Personally I would take all features off and have as pure a signal as possible going into your computer. If you have a quality piece of software you can tweak the sound later.
Right....Load up the software you will record the Audio/Tapes to your hard drive with (i.e. Wavelab, Soundforge, etc.), there will be a red record button press it. A level barshould now pop up...check the level is not going red or you will lose quality...press the appropriate record button as you shouldn't be recording yet, just monitoring...then press stop after a bit...
A wave should now appear. Have a look at this. If the wave you are looking at seems to have the peaks cut off (square) at the top you are losing data here. Reduce the recording level on the soundcard or the output of the tape deck to remedy this problem. If the wave seems to be particularly small, and the peaks dont go very high you have the opposite problem. Again you aren't getting all the data you should. Remedy this problem by increasing the output level of the tape deck or increasing the record level of your soundcard.
If you are the sort of person that does a "proper job", as they say down here in Plymouth, then you will spend some time getting the record level right. This can take some time, as theoretically (and quite often) tapes will have a particularly load part somewhere which will may overload. I would suggest in this case if you have a quality soundcard leave some space (headroom) for loud sections on the tape, alternatively you could listen to the tape monitor the louest part and set the record level for that.
I want to keep this quite simple really so I am not going into more technical areas because I don't want to make this sound difficult. Quite frankly once you start playing around you will see it is just like copying a tape from one tape deck to the other...However there are of course amazing things that computers allow you to do which we can get on to later.
Once you have got a level you are happy with you can record the whole tape.Have a look at the wave to see if there are any problems. If you didn't stipulate to your program that you wished to save the recording to a specific file and location before you recorded it I would save the file now, before the program crashes or something like that. This feature is possible in most software and I would use it if you can find it.
I'll continue another time...Edited by: Lazarus