Recording cassettes to CDs

jolynyk · Post by **jolynyk** » 26 Jun 2013 7:39 am

I bought a USB Cassette recorder so I can copy all my cassettes to CDs.. Planning to use Audacity or is there a better program to do this?.. At the end of Side "A" & until side "B" starts... what is the best way to get rid of the empty space.. stop the recording process, or let it run & cut the dead space later.?? or stop both fast forward the tape till it gets to side "B" then start recording again?? Just didn't want to sit here & watch the whole tape play..

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 26 Jun 2013 8:34 am

I would stop the recorder, fast forward to side b, then resume recording, it's easy to go back into Audacity later and edit out any more dead space if you want to.

jolynyk · Post by **jolynyk** » 26 Jun 2013 8:37 am

Great thanks Andy... Good project for the rainy days, & we got lots of them..

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 26 Jun 2013 10:12 am

When I copy a Cassette, 33 1/3 LP or whatever to the PC, to create an audio CD, I break apart the individual songs. I can then create the Audio CD with each song separately (and in the same order they are on the other media).

I don't use Audacity but I'm sure it can do that. I use Goldware audio editor (a very good shareware program) to record and than I can separate and save each song separately.

jolynyk · Post by **jolynyk** » 26 Jun 2013 2:40 pm

Jack Stoner wrote:When I copy a Cassette, 33 1/3 LP or whatever to the PC, to create an audio CD, I break apart the individual songs. I can then create the Audio CD with each song separately (and in the same order they are on the other media).

I don't use Audacity but I'm sure it can do that. I use Goldware audio editor (a very good shareware program) to record and than I can separate and save each song separately.

Thanks Jack. I think i have that program called AVS Gold Wave Audio editor.. I'll try it..

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 26 Jun 2013 3:04 pm

Jack Stoner wrote:...I use Goldware audio editor (a very good shareware program)...

I looked for it on the internet, but found only Goldwave, which is not shareware. You can only download a trial version and after a few uses you have to buy it.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 27 Jun 2013 2:20 am

Goldwave used to be shareware. They have apparently changed it. I have a paid version so I don't get into how it is currently distributed. All the updates are covered under the one paid price (I've had it for 6 or 7 years). It is one of the better audio editors available, regardless of price.

The pop/click and noise reduction work great. I had an old Bluegrass LP that I wanted to convert to CD. It was noisy (pops, cracks, etc)and after working on it with Goldwave it came out with almost all the noise removed, but still maintained the fidelity.

Dennis Detweiler · Post by **Dennis Detweiler** » 27 Jun 2013 7:14 am

I'm transfering mine using a caveman system. I play the cassette into stereo rack mount gear: compressor, BBE Sonic Maximizer and Peavey Tube Sweetener. Then to a Teac CD recorder. I manually number each song as it is recorded to seperate for playback. I'm transfering old live band recordings from the 70's with great results.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 27 Jun 2013 8:50 am

I have a CD recorder in my stereo setup. I can copy Cassette's and records to CD. The only problem is that I have to hit stop between songs or it records all songs as one song. I guess I could load it into my audio editing program and break them apart.

jolynyk · Post by **jolynyk** » 27 Jun 2013 9:08 am

I tried a couple of programs including Goldwave & they also record the tapes as one long song. will have to try & figure out how to break them apart into separate songs.. probably by inserting dead space between songs..

Dennis Detweiler · Post by **Dennis Detweiler** » 27 Jun 2013 9:20 am

My live recordings have crowd noise and mc between songs. So, there's no dead space. My Teac cd recorder will automatically switch and number the next song if I program it to do so, but there has to be dead silence between songs which I don't have with these old live recordings. To do it manually, I just have to hit the record button between songs and it will change to the next song number. If there's too much time between songs, I push the pause button on the cd recorder and it changes to the next song number when I push the play button to continue. A little time consuming, but the cd recorder works fine for this situation. And, the rack mount gear between the tape player and cd recorder greatly enhnaces the old recordings. The Sonic Maximizer takes care of the tone without having to use an eq. The compressor balances the volumes. And, the tube preamp gives it a fatter sound.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 27 Jun 2013 11:32 am

I have a Philips CD recorder, and like yours, needs complete silence between tracks to do the automatic track number increase. I have even tried commercial tapes and with the minute amount of hiss, the recorder hears that and won't automatically advance, I have to sit with my remote and advance the track number by hand.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 27 Jun 2013 12:02 pm

I manually break them apart with Goldwave (and save each one). It takes a little effort, but pays off in the end.

I also have a "recording" program in Nero but don't use the Nero program since I have Goldwave and know how to use it.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 28 Jun 2013 8:38 am

I backed up all my reel-to-reel session tapes from the 50s and 60s onto CDs using a Philips CD Recorder. The problem is, you have to use Music CDs, which are more expensive, and the old Philips machine is very finnicky about which brands of CDs it likes to record on. There's a high wastage rate, which is all the more noticeable when you have to use over a hundred of them to cover all your reel-to-reel recordings. Ultimately I then copied all the CDs onto my computer hard disk, and made several backups, when someone pointed out that CDs have a limited life expectancy, and the open reel tapes may well outlive them.

Jerry Pack · Post by **Jerry Pack** » 30 Jun 2013 5:46 pm

I use a internet download called Polderbits, I think it is around $30.00. The whole tape is recorded then
you can play back and start a new track for each song.

jolynyk · Post by **jolynyk** » 30 Jun 2013 8:03 pm

Jerry Pack wrote:I use a internet download called Polderbits, I think it is around $30.00. The whole tape is recorded then
you can play back and start a new track for each song.

With PolderbitS, can you listen (monitor), to it while recording.. with the other programs I tried I can't hear the tape while recording, only after I transferred the tape.. It also says, but doesn't elaborate that you can separate the songs manually or automatically. So how does it do it automatically??

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 1 Jul 2013 2:58 pm

jolynyk wrote:...It also says, but doesn't elaborate that you can separate the songs manually or automatically. So how does it do it automatically??

It analyzes the recording and looks for silent spots. There are quite a few programs that will do that. They're not always accurate. Sometimes, especially on live recordings, there's no silence between tracks, so it won't recognize the start of a new track.

Nobody has mentioned MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab, which I've been using successfully for years...
http://www.softwarecasa.com/audio-cleaning-lab.html

jolynyk · Post by **jolynyk** » 1 Jul 2013 3:35 pm

Thanks Alan, Will Magix let you hear/monitor the recording through the computer speakers?? Or any of the other programs ??

jolynyk · Post by **jolynyk** » 1 Jul 2013 8:38 pm

Alan, I kept thinking of Magix after you mentioned it & I bought the program back in Dec of 09.. I bought it to make slide shows of our pictures. So I re-opened the program & where it says Get more programs, (which I've never looked at before), i see Audio Editor, but when I clicked on it, it says "not installed, do you want to download it?" Yup I did, plus all the other programs in there including the Burner..
So thanks for bringing Magix up.. I didn't use it much, but was great for Slide shows..
Will try it & see how it does with casettes & LP's..to CDs..

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