Convert Cassettes To Digital Options

[:-)]

Hello Friends,

Few weeks back, i luckily got hand on many 80's titles that i was looking for.. somewhat abt 40-50 titles on tape and tht too sealed ones manufactured in d year from 1996-1998 relased under venus & T-series.. the tapes are in top condition, im lookng frwrd to covert them into mp3's.. jus thought of taking help frm u guys.. i do hve a panasonic cassette player but d conditon is not ideal for converting tapes it has been kept waise ka waise for 2-3 years, dhool mitti jam gayi hai .. i hve been suggested by some members that a walkman works better than home stereo.. i hve shortlisted 2-3 sony walkman ranging from Rs1800-3000.. does a sony walkman or anyother really better for converting tapes than home stereo ?? as i was going through this thread i found Deewani mentioning a true line out is a must to get desirable results.. but in a walkman i dont think there is a line out jack avlble.. only d headphone jack is der, so one has to play wid d walkman for getting desirable volume level ya fir headhone jack is same as a line out jack in case of a walkman.. another thing i would like to ask is about the stereo cables, In India monster cables are not avlble as far my knowedlge goes, then which company stereo cables would be best to use.. rest i hve already gone through Deewani tips to convert tapes.. jus wan help regarding these 2 things.

Regards,
sOnu

[deewani]

i luckily got hand on many 80's titles that i was looking for.. somewhat abt 40-50 titles on tape and tht too sealed ones manufactured in d year from 1996-1998 relased under venus & T-series.............

i hve been suggested by some members that a walkman works better than home stereo

IMHO a walkman DOES NOT work better than a home stereo, for the very reason you have mentioned - a second variable is introduced because there is not a line out. That said, I have heard several recordings using walkmen and they can turn out decent. So it really depends on the type of quality you are striving for, I often find that clarity is compromised in those recordings. If you home stereo is dirty, open it up and clean it, also de-magnetize the heads.

As far as equivalent cables, just make sure the cables are of heavy gauge, well shielded, and have low impedance, and that there are 2 ribs - for stereo sound.

Lastly, use a GOOD pair of headphones to monitor the recording, especially during the hiss removal.

There are so many variables involved that lead to the end result as I mentioned before, so my philosophy is, try to minimize those by using the best equipment you can get your hands on, and monitoring the sound and watching the input levels carefully during the recording.

Any further help, you can ask in this thread, others may have other suggestions for you. Good luck. Curious though, aren't most albums in that time period already on CD?

[:-)]

i luckily got hand on many 80's titles that i was looking for.. somewhat abt 40-50 titles on tape and tht too sealed ones manufactured in d year from 1996-1998 relased under venus & T-series.............

i hve been suggested by some members that a walkman works better than home stereo

IMHO a walkman DOES NOT work better than a home stereo, for the very reason you have mentioned - a second variable is introduced because there is not a line out. That said, I have heard several recordings using walkmen and they can turn out decent. So it really depends on the type of quality you are striving for, I often find that clarity is compromised in those recordings. If you home stereo is dirty, open it up and clean it, also de-magnetize the heads.

As far as equivalent cables, just make sure the cables are of heavy gauge, well shielded, and have low impedance, and that there are 2 ribs - for stereo sound.

Lastly, use a GOOD pair of headphones to monitor the recording, especially during the hiss removal.

There are so many variables involved that lead to the end result as I mentioned before, so my philosophy is, try to minimize those by using the best equipment you can get your hands on, and monitoring the sound and watching the input levels carefully during the recording.

Any further help, you can ask in this thread, others may have other suggestions for you. Good luck. Curious though, aren't most albums in that time period already on CD?

Thanks for the useful info. D.. i will stick wid d idea of home stereo, mere chachaji ke paas Aiwa ka home stereo hai and tht too of the period u mention, but im not sure if it has independent Line out jack also tht system needs repairment.. will ckhck and let u know..

Talking abt titles, Deewani most of d titles frm 80's r der on CD's.. but d late 80's ones relased on T-series & Venus, most of which r not on CD's.. i will name few tht i hve on tapes.. Kroadh 90, Taqdeer Ka tamasha 90, Billo Badshah89, Aisa Pyar Kahan 86, Dosti dushmani 86 and many more..

Regards,
sOnu

[Sangeet]

i luckily got hand on many 80's titles that i was looking for.. somewhat abt 40-50 titles on tape and tht too sealed ones manufactured in d year from 1996-1998 relased under venus & T-series.............

Regards,
sOnu

Deewani must be referring to the date range 1996-1998 that you have mentioned in your post. May be its a typo.

Here is the answer to your other question
Zulm Ki Hukumat 92 - HMV
Baaz 92 - TIME
Aisa Pyar Kahan 86 - VENUS
Bewafai 85 - T series
Zakhmi Aurat 88 - IS it venus ( not sure)
Anjaane Rishte 89 - T series
Parda Hai Parda 92 - I am looking for this myself
Khoj 89- Venus
Paanch Paapi 89 - T series
Kirayadar 86 - HMV
Ghar Ghar Ki Kahani 88 - VENUS
Nafrat Ki Aandhi 89 - T series
Gola Barood 89 - Venus
Kali Ganga 90- T series

[:-)]

i luckily got hand on many 80's titles that i was looking for.. somewhat abt 40-50 titles on tape and tht too sealed ones manufactured in d year from 1996-1998 relased under venus & T-series.............

Regards,
sOnu

Deewani must be referring to the date range 1996-1998 that you have mentioned in your post. May be its a typo.

Here is the answer to your other question
Zulm Ki Hukumat 92 - HMV
Baaz 92 - TIME
Aisa Pyar Kahan 86 - VENUS
Bewafai 85 - T series
Zakhmi Aurat 88 - IS it venus ( not sure)
Anjaane Rishte 89 - T series
Parda Hai Parda 92 - I am looking for this myself
Khoj 89- Venus
Paanch Paapi 89 - T series
Kirayadar 86 - HMV
Ghar Ghar Ki Kahani 88 - VENUS
Nafrat Ki Aandhi 89 - T series
Gola Barood 89 - Venus
Kali Ganga 90- T series

Thnks for d info sangeet.. this will make my job easy.

Regards,
sOnu

[deewani]

Yes, as Sangeet said I was confused by your late 90s date range, but you are talking more mid 80s to early 90s I guess, so it makes sense now. Particularly the year 1986, many of the same titles can be found on T-series and Venus at that time. BTW Zakhmi Aurat is Weston, combo I have is with Subah Hone Tak.

[:-)]

de-magnetize the heads what does this means deewani ?? also thnks for d zakhmi aurat 1988 info.

Regards,
sOnu

[deewani]

de-magnetize the heads what does this means deewani ?? also thnks for d zakhmi aurat 1988 info.

Regards,
sOnu

It means if your deck is old and dirty like you have said, and the fact that you do not know what de-magnetizing means, it leads me to believe that the deck will not only be dirty, but also could be magnetized (which is caused by the very magnetic tape itself). After cleaning the deck if the cassettes still sound distorted, a commercial de-magnetizer cassette tape can be used (most of them recommend that you use them every 30 hours of play):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassette_demagnetizer
It looks just like a regular cassette, you are not to have the volume turned up on the system while playing it and it is to be played on one side only and then removed to avoid re-magnetizing the heads.

To better understand the whys and hows of cleaning and demagnetizing, you may want to learn which parts to clean (heads, capstans, pinch rollers): http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/cassette.htm

Most people recommend cottons swabs (Q-tips) for the cleaning part - I recommend foam swabs, that way bits of cotton do not stay in the system. All of this just depends on how far you want to go, there are audiophiles and then there are nuts. But any machine that has been neglected or stored in a non dust free environment merits a thorough cleaning. Also you have said your cassettes are brand new, that's the best possible source, but even brand new cassettes, still sealed, if stored improperly, may have rust on the metal parts inside. Take a peek at those parts before putting in your cassette player, if there is rust, transfer the reel to another case that is in good condition, you do not want to run that precious tape over rusted parts - ruining both the tape and the player. In my experience T-Series and Venus cassettes are usually very well made though, so you should not have that problem.

[meiowpk]

deewani,

for recording can use the lead which connects the ipod through the headphone socket to the hifi as the lead for recording cassettes to the computer?

i mean like using that ipod lead to connect my mini hi fi system to the computer?

[meiowpk]

dear friends,

i am stuck on the process of converting cassettes into mp3's.

I have this hi-fi:




And i use this lead



I connect the leads in the right places like the red and the white at the back of my hi fi and the other bit at the back of my pc, in the grey socket which is line in.

Can someone please tell me what i am doing wrong???

I went to control panel - Recording properties and it wouldnt me allow me to take of the mute option of the line in recording volume. Any one can help me please??



The audio source which i have on my computer is Realtek HD Audio Manager

[deewani]

Everything looks fine Khurram, Mute is not involved in the Recording Volume Window, you have selected Line In, that seems correct to me, what issue are you having? You are not hearing the audio? In the Master Audio control, do you have Line In Muted? If you have it muted then you cannot hear from the cassette player. Let me know I shall try and help. Refer the the screenshots I provided before, your window looks exactly the same so you are ok with the Recording Volume Window, you just have to check the Master Volume window, and make sure the correct ones are not Muted and the rest are....

[meiowpk]

deewani,

i have muted the mic volume in order to let the sound through the line volume, you can only chose one.

What is the next step.

[meiowpk]

i have inserted the wire in the line it output of the computer and the the other two phono leads red and white at the back of the hi fi. Still there is no sound coming. The program which i am using is goldwave.

I am making a mess out of it

[deewani]

i have inserted the wire in the line it output of the computer and the the other two phono leads red and white at the back of the hi fi. Still there is no sound coming. The program which i am using is goldwave.

I am making a mess out of it

I am not familiar with goldwave and can look it up later when I have more time, but everything you have done so far in those screenshots looks correct. You are correct you can only choose one input for recording at a time, and that is the Line In one as in your picture. Do me a favor and post a screenshot of your Master Volume Window as well. I suspect you are not hearing sound because you have muted the line in or the master volume. The one that looks like this:

[meiowpk]

Here is the screenshot