Subject:Should I trust SF 50 Minutes from a 45 minute tape?

Posted by: good_dog

Date:1/17/2005 4:28:20 PM

I have a tape that's 45 minutes each side. I recorded one side to my HD. SoundFourge showed 50 minutes. I'm asuming you get a little more then exatly 45 minutes on a tape but not 50 minutes.

This must mean my tape player plays slow if 45 minutes takes 50 minutes to play. I can't tell by listening to it that it sounds slow.

Should I go by SF 50 minutes, ajusting the recording to play a few minutes faster ? How acurate is the SF timeing supoised to be?
Thank you, Chris.

P.S. My Ahead Nero 6 doesn't see my markers as tracks as some suggested on this bbs.

Subject:RE: Should I trust SF 50 Minutes from a 45 minute tape?

Reply by: mpd

Date:1/17/2005 5:17:32 PM

Was it a commercial tape, or a tape that you made?

If it was a tape that you made, was it recorded on the same deck as playback?

Subject:RE: Should I trust SF 50 Minutes from a 45 minute tape?

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:1/17/2005 5:55:42 PM

I would think your playback deck is running slow. I've used thousands of 90 minute tapes from Maxell, TDC, SONY, and a few other brands. They have all ranged from 46:50 to 47:10 per side. The only exceptions i came across were a few bulk-pack BASF mastering casettes that were about 45:20 per side, which included 10 seconds of leader at the beginning and end, so the tape itself was 45:00.

For a 47 minute tape to last 50 minutes it would have to play about 6.4% slow, or just about one semitone. This would be the same as the difference between G and G-flat. Unless you're an experienced musician you probably wouldn't notice this difference just from listening casually.

Sound Forge's timing is probably at least as accurate as your digital watch. If it says 50 minutes, i'm sure it's somewhere between 49:59.99 and 50:00.01.

Subject:RE: Should I trust SF 50 Minutes from a 45 minute tape?

Reply by: good_dog

Date:1/18/2005 7:03:44 PM

Thanks for replying. The tape is a Maxell XL 2. I did not record it. I bought the concert from someone. I never thought about that. Could be the other guys tape player that is slow. I will nock off 2-3 minutes off tapes if I get another "50" minute tape.
Thanks very much for the time of the tapes. That helps me alot. Thanks both of you. Chris.

Subject:RE: Should I trust SF 50 Minutes from a 45 minute tape?

Reply by: good_dog

Date:1/18/2005 7:23:23 PM

Wow! I said I couldn't tell that it was playing slow. I couldn't, but I sure could tell after I sped it up a few minutes. Sounds real good now. I couldn't tell it playing slow but I can tell when it's the right speed. Now I need to use one of my tapes to see if it's this tape deck or the one this tape is from. I hope it's not mine since I've transfered over 100 of my concerts already.

Subject:RE: Should I trust SF 50 Minutes from a 45 minute tape?

Reply by: mpd

Date:1/19/2005 7:54:38 AM

If you are going to be doing a lot of work with cassettes from other people, then you may want to look into a professional deck with pitch control, such as the Tascam 130. Analog pitch control simply changes the tape speed. Digital pitch control is a bit more complicated, and often has audible artifacts. If you can work closely with the person giving you tapes, then it is pretty easy to calibrate the decks with a test signal and a guitar tuner or the spectum analysis tool in SF.

Subject:RE: Should I trust SF 50 Minutes from a 45 minute tape?

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:1/20/2005 3:30:27 AM

If you get 50 minutes from that tape then it is your playback deck that is running slow. It wouldn't matter what speed the recording was done at, if you get something other than about 47 minutes, then your deck is playing the wrong speed.

Now, however, if the recording deck was at the wrong speed, ideally you want to have your playback deck match that speed as closely as possible. If that isn't possible, perhaps you should consider recording at 96KHz instead of 44.1KHz, then adjusting the sampling rate as necessary, then resampling back to 44.1KHz after you get the speed correct. This will introduce fewer artifacts and errors than if you adjust a 44.1KHz recording.

Subject:RE: Should I trust SF 50 Minutes from a 45 minute tape?

Reply by: good_dog

Date:1/20/2005 11:02:52 PM

Yes, I checked with a store bought tape. It had the time of each song. My Deck is running a little slow. I went through and made all my recordings about 6% faster.

I use Nero to burn my discs. I spent all day speeding up and re-burning a bunch of Cd's. I forgot to put a check to leave out the 2 second gaps. I wasted 14 discs. I even forgot to put the check in the box on the same recording 4 times in a row!!!!

One disc was 14 Tracks, 88 minutes, 44 Seconds WAV. I overburned it on a Maxell, 80 minute Disc and it Burned Successfully!!!!!! On the Disc I first burned I had to leave a song out. Glad I had to re-do it. I can't beleve I got the whole thing!!!!!!!!!!!

Since this is a new subject, I may have to start a new thred. I started useing SF to Record (Last year I used Creative Recorder to record, and SF to edit). Now, SF records from "Line In." I've looked to see if I can set it to, "What you hear" or someting like that. I have a DVD I want to play and record the Audio. I can't see anyware to set what input source SF records from. Can I change it?

The only other way is to run a long (25ft.) cord from my DVD player audio out, to the Line in on my Computer. Thanks for the replys, very much. Chris.

Subject:RE: Should I trust SF 50 Minutes from a 45 minute tape?

Reply by: MJhig

Date:1/21/2005 7:28:51 AM

SoundForge uses whatever input you select in your soundcard's RECORDING mixer window.

MJ

Subject:RE: Should I trust SF 50 Minutes from a 45 minute tape?

Reply by: good_dog

Date:1/21/2005 1:45:12 PM

My SoundBlaster Live doesn't have a choise to chose from. It just has "SB Live Wave Divice."

Subject:RE: Should I trust SF 50 Minutes from a 45 minute tape?

Reply by: MJhig

Date:1/21/2005 3:50:02 PM

In your soundcard's mixer not from within SoundForge.

Double-click the speaker icon in the system tray > Options > Properties > Recording > OK. Now select "What U Hear" or similar.


MJ