Subject:Proper way to import Cassette tape into SF Pro 9

Posted by: FixitMad0

Date:3/30/2016 11:00:56 AM

I was searching in this forum but maybe my search terms were not correct, but I"m trying to find the proper way to convert audio cassette tapes to a digital format so I can eventually convert them to a CD for my in-law.

He has some older cassette tapes and since cassette tapes are not known to last very long he wanted to me convert these to CD.

I was looking in the manual for SF Pro 9 and SF 5 but I could not find the "process" to convert this correctly.

I have the correct cables to attach an external cassette player to my sound card, but I wanted to know what the correct process is to convert this to eventually cd.

Any help would be appreciated or a link to a previous posting if I missed it somehow with my search terms.

Thanks.

Subject:RE: Proper way to import Cassette tape into SF Pro 9

Reply by: Geoff_Wood

Date:3/30/2016 3:43:45 PM

This is the most basic recording functionality you can do, and is identical for recording anything ! Try the manual P.135 . You could also search Youtube for basic Sound Forge tutorials.

Plug cassette deck Line Output into audio interface Line Input. Ensure the correct recording device and input is selected in Options|Preferences|Audio|Audio_Device_Type, and set your recording spec preferences in the Record dialogue Recording Attributes.

Your 'in-law' should not discard the cassettes, as there are circumstances where cassettes could be considered more durable than CDs. But for day-to-day use. with proper care, CDs will be more useful !

geoff

Subject:RE: Proper way to import Cassette tape into SF Pro 9

Reply by: FixitMad0

Date:3/30/2016 9:21:59 PM

Geoff,

Thanks for your help. I was just wanting to make sure I was not missing something especially in terms of the input levels and what is the correct way of importing them. My page 135 is talking about Synthesizing Audio?

Thanks.

Subject:RE: Proper way to import Cassette tape into SF Pro 9

Reply by: FixitMad0

Date:3/31/2016 11:15:21 AM

Geoff,

Thanks again. You got me thinking and I think I found the perfect video on youtube regarding what I was needing. I guess the Vinyl Restoration thing was throwing me off but this appears to be exactly what I need. (Vinyl Restoration applies to both Vinyl and Tape)

Here is the link in case anyone else needs to see how to import audio from Tape or Vinyl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsRvcz7iFzY
and this one with a little more details: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6KLocP2uXI


Thanks.

Subject:RE: Proper way to import Cassette tape into SF Pro 9

Reply by: rraud

Date:3/31/2016 11:33:12 AM

Line level output from the cassette deck to Line level input of your computers sound card or other A/D interface. Many computers with integrated sound cards only except microphone level, and the A/D converters are not very good so those factors should be taken into consideration. Record level wise, the highest peak on a song (or series of) should be close to, but NOT exceed 0dBFS. Anything over that would be clipped (distorted).

Subject:RE: Proper way to import Cassette tape into SF Pro 9

Reply by: Geoff_Wood

Date:3/31/2016 3:33:40 PM

Must have been an old version manual.

For current SF9 manual P.117
[link]http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/download/link?id=3249.1

Glad you found a useful tutorial !

cheers

geoff

Subject:RE: Proper way to import Cassette tape into SF Pro 9

Reply by: FixitMad0

Date:3/31/2016 4:01:48 PM

Thank you also rraud.

According to the video tutorial I was watching, they indicated a setting between -3 to -6 db range so I'm hoping I will be able to attain that when I try this weekend.

Thanks again.

Subject:RE: Proper way to import Cassette tape into SF Pro 9

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:3/31/2016 4:15:45 PM

I'd suggest also keeping the resulting WAV files as well as the CD. Possibly even make good quality MP3 files as well. CDs are somewhat passe these days as far as convenience is concerned. I converted a huge pile of old family recordings, maybe 30 tapes or so, and put them all on a single USB thumb drive to give out to the family. At home i've got a hard drive mounted with a few dozen GB of audio files accessible to any player device on my network.

Subject:RE: Proper way to import Cassette tape into SF Pro 9

Reply by: rraud

Date:4/1/2016 10:08:58 AM

-3 to -6dB would be the target peak level, depending on the material.. Depends on how much headroom is needed. Recording a live source generally requires more. Theoretically, -0.0 dBFS has the optimum signal to noise.
-3 to -6dB is not the dynamic range.

Subject:RE: Proper way to import Cassette tape into SF Pro 9

Reply by: FixitMad0

Date:4/3/2016 5:16:23 PM

Chienwork, rraud and Geoff,

Thank you for all your assistance. I think I am on my way to conversion. I will d\efinitely create .WAV files first then create a CD because my in-law wanted to get a CD "out of this". :-) I started thinking about recently converting all of my physical software on CD/DVD to ISO images on an external drive also as a backup.

I just need to figure out a good size to use and what would be duo able at least in terms of a physical drive going out. I still use CD/DVD's myself but I do see a need to keep an .ISO image of this software on a drive.

Thanks again!

Subject:RE: Proper way to import Cassette tape into SF Pro 9

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:4/3/2016 7:21:30 PM

I never bothered with .ISO files. I just have a media drive full of directories which are full of .wav, .mp3, .avi, .mp4, and a variety of other files. I share this drive on my LAN and any other device on the LAN can play them. It also makes it easier when i want to create a "mix" USB thumbdrive to play in the car. I drag the selection of directories i want over to the thumbdrive and that's all it takes.

Subject:RE: Proper way to import Cassette tape into SF Pro 9

Reply by: FixitMad0

Date:4/3/2016 8:36:02 PM

Chienworks,

I guess I was looking at if I ever need to re-create a CD/DVD again (Burn). I have a great program that allows me to pull up an ISO in a virtual drive so I can access the files that way as well.

Subject:RE: Proper way to import Cassette tape into SF Pro 9

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:4/3/2016 8:45:52 PM

I save the project file from either Vegas, Sound Forge, or Nero, depending on which one i created the original disc in, and then load that whenever i want to reburn.

Subject:RE: Proper way to import Cassette tape into SF Pro 9

Reply by: rraud

Date:4/4/2016 4:54:48 PM

I use <.iso> image files only for 'mass' duplication (more than a few) DVD copies or sending to a dup/rep house. Same for audio CDs, except using <.bin> image files. For audio, I always keep the master PCM <.wav> files if I need to edit in the future. (Sony's "Perfect clarity audio" <.pca> files save space with no audible loss if space is an issue) I prefer ImageBurn (freeware) for rendering an image or burning an image to disc.