XFER cassette archive to MD advice

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Cherrycherry, Aug 19, 2017.

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  1. Cherrycherry

    Cherrycherry Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Le Froidtown
    Hi,
    I am interested in transferring old cassette music albums to MD. I know that there are multiple ways to archive older cassette recordings, but for this thread, I am only interested in cassette to minidisc transfer.
    My interest is in preserving the cassettes in digital format, and since I have a decent MD recorder and tons of blank/reusable Minidisc, I want to use them for this. I enjoy listening to MD.
    I don't intend to purchase any new hardware for this project/effort.
    I have old cassettes, many were recorded as Vinyl needle drops in the eighties, and for posterity, I want to preserve them. I also have some prerecorded cassettes which are not available on CD or are OOP.

    Since I will be sending the cassette signal analog out RCA to my MD recorder, does anyone have any suggestions or advice? Cassette unit output level? Dolby on/off? Dolby B/C?
    I wouldn't know if Dolby noise reduction was used on most of the old Vinyl recordings.
    I know that this isn't a never before been tried thing, but I didn't see any recent topics on this (I know, because almost no one uses minidisc anymore) and thought I would ask about it. Please ask if anything is unclear about the intent.
    Thank you.
     
    alexpop likes this.
  2. anorak2

    anorak2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    I recommend not to use MiniDisk, or any other obsolete format. Reason: Once your current playback machine breaks down, your archive is unreadable, because you can't get a new player, and you can't copy it to a different format either. If you insist on a physical format I'd say red book CD-R, because players will likely be available for many decades. (CD-R has a longevity problem though). But the thing to do these days is files, see discussion here.


    You don't have to, you own a computer already.

    If your computer doesn't have a decent soundcard or no line in (some laptops are like that), you would need an outboard USB soundcard. There are decent ones available for below 30 EUR here.

    If it's adjustable, the highest that doesn't overdrive the recording device.

    The same setting the cassette was recorded with.

    The same setting the cassette was recorded with.

    Then you have a problem. You should have written that down on each cassette at the time. If you haven't it's guesswork. Do you remember what options the machine hat you made the recordings with? Try any of those and listen which one sounds "right", that is the only way.
     
    shadowlord likes this.
  3. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Yeah.. I'm interested.
    I have loads of cassettes, my main concern in transferring would be reducing cassettes hiss factor.
     
  4. Chris Schoen

    Chris Schoen Rock 'n Roll !!!

    Location:
    Maryland, U.S.A.
    This is why using high quality tape is so important. The better the tape quality, the lower the noise ("hiss").
    I can't believe the prices for blank tape these days, even for low quality tape. Glad I have a few cases of good quality tape,
    that I bought years ago when I noticed it was getting scarce. Maxell XLII and TDK SA tape is preferred.
     
    clhboa and alexpop like this.
  5. anorak2

    anorak2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    Unfortunately that is not possible. A copy can't be better than the original, the best you can hope for is preserving what you've got and not any additional distortion. If you follow my advice and transfer to computer you could try a de-hiss filter in software before you convert to the destination format. But these filters can't work miracles, all they do is trade one problem for another which may sometimes be less noticeable, for example the filter might remove a sound that it thinks is noise but is actually part of the music. Better stay away from those unless you really are sure what you are doing.
     
    Shak Cohen and alexpop like this.
  6. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Ok thanks for info.
     
  7. forthlin

    forthlin Member Chris & Vickie Cyber Support Team

    That's reason enough right there, finding MD hardware is already challenging, give it a few more years and you'll be paying through the nose for basic gear if you can find it.

    I'd also suggest getting as flat a transfer as possible from the cassette. If you want to alter it by eliminating hiss or adding EQ do that after the fact. As new tech becomes available you'll be able to take advantage of it with the best possible version of your source material.
     
    anorak2 and alexpop like this.
  8. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Hiss : Before song starts /song fades.
     
  9. Cherrycherry

    Cherrycherry Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Le Froidtown
    Thank you, it is nice to get some replies, yet, I may not have provided enough information.
    I am doing this for fun, and I am not looking for suggestions on other formats to use or why MD is not a good format to use.
    Secondly, I have plenty of used and new minidiscs, as well as a few units to play the minidisc on.I also have a Newer minidisc/cd player in my stereo setup, which is where I plan to listen to them.
    The old cassettes I want to transfer: some are the pre-recorded albums, most of the others are vinyl needle drops done over twenty five years ago when we traded albums and recorded copies for each other.
    Of those, none of my friends nor myself marked down what Dolby NR was turned on or off, so I guess I'll experiment to find what sounds best on a cassette by cassette basis.
    I suppose that I will find what sounds best for me, I was just curious to find if anyone else had been making any recording and had suggestions.
    I may go check out tapeheads.net.

    @anorak2 , thank you for some of your suggestions.
     
  10. JohnO

    JohnO Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    What cassette deck model are you using for playback?
     
  11. Cherrycherry

    Cherrycherry Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Le Froidtown
    DENON DRM-710
     
  12. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    If it's just needledrop cassettes recordings etc..going straight into minidisc recorder I guess phono lead is all that's required, checking minidisc sound level while transferring. My main concern would be hiss between songs, but if that doesn't bother you, or the drop in sound reproduction (better sound with cd-recorder ) just go ahead and make a minidisc transfer.
     
  13. Cherrycherry

    Cherrycherry Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Le Froidtown
    I was thinking about track markers and such. I want to edit the MD with track marks and don't know if I will cut out the gaps between songs? Cut out the gaps but reinsert 3second silences?
    Place the track marks at the beginning of music or have each song start with silence?
    There are options to remove unwanted hiss between songs, but as you mentioned on the fade in fade outs, if it is there, I wouldn't know how to minimize it.

    I also will be figuring out my levels, I have cassette output level control, MD analog input control L/R separated, and MD digital input control to play with. I'll just start them all at default and monitor the MD input meters at first.
     
  14. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Think you'd have to use audicity free editor with computer for editing out hiss at the start/end of songs ...gets tricky and complicated. Not what your looking for, but for my eighties recordings that has to be my route.
    Gives me a headache thinking about it.
     
  15. JohnO

    JohnO Senior Member

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    You put the track marks at the beginning of each song only. Just like a CD.
    I will have some other thoughts about this when I sort them out.
     
    Last edited: Aug 20, 2017
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