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Subject:Audio Cassette to Pc & Tips Help I'm a Novice
Posted by: Funkyirishman
Date:1/3/2003 5:43:03 PM

Hi There
I have just purchased Soundforge 6 and was playing around with it. What I bought it for was to transfer my audio cassettes and vinyl to my Pc so that I can burn onto CD.
Are there any tips out there ? I have recorded a few tracks but the sound is a bit off when I play them back?? Should I turn the sound down on my stereo when recording or is there another way ?? Also any tips which you think maybe useful can you let me know
Cheers

Subject:RE: Audio Cassette to Pc & Tips Help I'm a Novice
Reply by: larryo
Date:1/3/2003 7:00:18 PM

you dont mention specifically whats "off" about your playback. try to initially keep the chain in recording as short as possible-ie go direct from your rca outs on cassette to your sound card inputs,make sure your levels are stable on the front end and that,most importantly,you don't clip the sound forge inputs. best to go a bit conservative initially. you could always use the normalize feature after to balance your levels.

Subject:RE: Audio Cassette to Pc & Tips Help I'm a Novice
Reply by: MJhig
Date:1/3/2003 10:12:16 PM

There's a wealth of information on this topic in this forum already, you can access it by plugging keywords such as "cassette", "LP", "splitting tracks" etc. into the search.

MJ

Subject:RE: Audio Cassette to Pc & Tips Help I'm a Novice
Reply by: stusy
Date:1/5/2003 9:47:20 PM

Look into purchasing a small mixer, like the Mackie 1202 VLZ pro, if not just for organizing your "desktop"...I goof around with my turntable and gleaning stuff off my MASSIVE wax collection as well, and havin a mixer inbetween helps me to simplify things a little bit...

Subject:RE: Audio Cassette to Pc & Tips Help I'm a Novice
Reply by: pb
Date:1/6/2003 1:44:01 PM

Mixer is a must. I have a Mackie 1202 and a Yamaha 16X2 but opted to buy a cheapo mixer from Radio Shack that comes with phono in. It has no EQ but it's great for setting the levels. I was tryng to do the vinyl transfers via phono->line converter->Mackie and find the Rat Shack option much tidier.

Subject:RE: Audio Cassette to Pc & Tips Help I'm a Novice
Reply by: stusy
Date:1/7/2003 7:50:35 PM

What's the nomenclature on that cheapo Radio Shack mixer hello...?

Subject:RE: Audio Cassette to Pc & Tips Help I'm a Novice
Reply by: musicvid10
Date:1/8/2003 1:38:40 AM

Stusy,
For phono to line I use a Spirit Powerpad. It's got RIAA inputs, XLR, Line, and 35 watt stereo amp to drive monitors. Pretty clean, too.

Subject:RE: Audio Cassette to Pc & Tips Help I'm a Novice
Reply by: stusy
Date:1/8/2003 9:05:24 PM

Prob is: I already have a mixer that I'm satisfied with...I need ideas on how to hookup a turntable to a mackie, OR directly into my computer (is that possible?)...I could go into another tape player that has phono I spose, but does anybody, ANYBODY have any suggestions...what does one usually do..? I have a cassette player hooked up, of course, and CD burner/player, but heck, I've got oodles of kickass recordings in wax, and they are CLASSIC...any help would be enlightening...

Subject:RE: Audio Cassette to Pc & Tips Help I'm a Novice
Reply by: captn_spalding
Date:1/8/2003 9:24:39 PM

Check this site:

http://www.paia.com/riaa.htm

I use something simlar.

..spalding

Subject:RE: Audio Cassette to Pc & Tips Help I'm a Novice
Reply by: inspector
Date:1/9/2003 8:52:51 AM

Comprehensive information on LP-CD transfer:

http://www.delback.co.uk/lp-cdr.htm

Steve

Subject:RE: Audio Cassette to Pc & Tips Help I'm a Novice
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:1/9/2003 9:09:42 AM

"I need ideas on how to hookup a turntable to a mackie"

I have an SP1200 that I hook up through my Yamaha mixer. Inbetween them I have a small Neumark Turntable mixer. This will accept Phono inputs then output "line level" outputs that can then be connected to a mixing board. Connecting the Phono outs from the turntable to a Mic/Line Input of your mackie will cause noise issues like "Hum", due to an Impedance missmatch from Phono Out to Line In. This is why you need the inbetween stage of a turntable preamp/mixer. The one I got cost about $175 at the time and is pretty clean. The good thing is that it serves a dual purpose. Sometimes I get sessions that I need to record and clean up old Vinyl or steal a loop from and then it's also there, if someone wants to do some scratching and record that into their song. You can find pretty good Neumark's now for around $75-$100 that will serve your purpose if you don't plan on doing the scratching part ability.

Subject:RE: Audio Cassette to Pc & Tips Help I'm a Novice
Reply by: stusy
Date:1/9/2003 9:10:58 PM

I have an old Toshiba quartz lock direct drive SR-Q100 which has cueing, anti-skating, etc..don't know much about it except it has a power line, and a red and a white shielded RCA with a ground(?) line on one black line (together), so I think I'm in the ballpark..? and I should look at this Neumark turntable mixer..? and not at Radio Shack..? hey...

thanks all for some nice info...

Subject:RE: Audio Cassette to Pc & Tips Help I'm a Novice
Reply by: Chienworks
Date:1/9/2003 9:53:58 PM

There are several phono preamps available on the market that are very inexpensive, usually $35 or so. They are a very small box with two RCA input jacks, two RCA output jacks, and a grounding screw. They'll amplify the phono cartridge's output and deliver a line level signal appropriate to feed into a mixer, tape deck, amplifier, or directly to the computer's sound card. The other important feature is that they supply the proper RIAA phono EQ without which LP playback sounds very tinny and hissy. You'll also have to determine whether your turntable has a ceramic or magnetic cartridge (no pro equipment uses ceramic, most of the better, newer home equipment uses magnetic too). Ceramic and magnetic cartridges require different amounts of amplification and the preamp must be either specific to the cartridge you have, or can be switched between them. Magnetic cartridges also come in two types, moving coil and moving magnet. There isn't much difference between them, but if you find out which you have then you may be able to find a preamp specific for that too.

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