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General Vintage Technology Discussions For general discussions about vintage radio and other vintage electronics etc. |
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19th Apr 2022, 7:56 pm | #1 |
Dekatron
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Cassette tapes to CD
I hope this is in the right section, it seemed the most appropriate place.
I have some cassette tapes of sentimental value, but nothing to play them on. Please could someone transfer them to CD formula? All costs met, of course. Barry |
19th Apr 2022, 9:32 pm | #2 |
Octode
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Re: Cassette tapes to CD
I'd be happy to do this for you, but I wouldn't trust anything like that to the Royal Mail, so getting them to/from me might be difficult.
I couldn't do pukka printed CD labels either.
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20th Apr 2022, 1:15 pm | #3 |
Dekatron
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Re: Cassette tapes to CD
Richard, I could bring them to you, and collect. PM sent.
Barry |
20th Apr 2022, 4:17 pm | #4 |
Moderator
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Re: Cassette tapes to CD
Royal Mail Special Delivery is fully tracked and usually reliable. It's not cheap, but I often use it for things like critical documents. Nothing has ever been lost.
https://www.royalmail.com/sending/uk...guaranteed-1pm |
20th Apr 2022, 4:27 pm | #5 |
Octode
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Re: Cassette tapes to CD
No PM received yet? (My mailbox has plenty of room).
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20th Apr 2022, 6:14 pm | #6 |
Dekatron
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Re: Cassette tapes to CD
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22nd Apr 2022, 9:44 pm | #7 |
Heptode
Join Date: Oct 2018
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Re: Cassette tapes to CD
Just a suggestion, if you haven't got fixed up yet. Something like this might be another option.
I don't think TEAC make this model any more, but I'm sure other manufacturers make similar products (or you could probably track down a NOS or second-hand TEAC)
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22nd Apr 2022, 10:13 pm | #8 |
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Re: Cassette tapes to CD
If you just want to digitise a few cassettes, buying a deck to do it yourself is unlikely to be the best solution. It's a specialised job, even at the amateur level.
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23rd Apr 2022, 12:08 am | #9 |
Octode
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Liss, Hampshire, UK.
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Re: Cassette tapes to CD
To do the job properly requires a bit of knowledge about the cassette medium. Things like checking pressure pads and aligning the playback head to match the tape are important. You also need to select the right playback equalisation to match the tape type. In the old days you would have to also choose the right noise reduction settings but fortunately these days there are software alternatives which means that you can do the transfer with no noise reduction and then adjust the settings in software.
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23rd Apr 2022, 12:15 am | #10 |
Dekatron
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Re: Cassette tapes to CD
Software noise reduction? No, thanks. No imitation works as well as the original hardware in good shape (he said, patting his pampered A301s). There is nothing to stop you doing an initial digital transfer for preservation and doing the NR subsequently in an analogue processing loop. If your convertors are up to it, the double conversion is not an issue.
Incidentally, there are no decent cassette machines being made now. The only mechanisms are Chinese, of poor speed stability, and Dolby stopped licensing chips around 2014. With care, however, you can acquire and recondition suitable hardware, but, as Paul says, for small quantities it is more cost-effective to farm transfer out, especially when the learning curve is taken into account. Last edited by Ted Kendall; 23rd Apr 2022 at 12:22 am. |
23rd Apr 2022, 8:46 am | #11 |
Octode
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Re: Cassette tapes to CD
In discussion with the OP we are talking about nostalgia here, not high quality transcription. Which is a relief! Hopefully my Aiwa AD-F660 with its newly-fitted "play" pushbutton (https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=190268) will make a decent job. Nothing to lose by trying, anyway.
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23rd Apr 2022, 10:37 am | #12 |
Heptode
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Re: Cassette tapes to CD
Yes, Richard! That's precisely what I was assuming when I suggested the TEAC unit.
There seems to be such a tendency to over-complicate things these days.
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23rd Apr 2022, 10:38 am | #13 | |
Dekatron
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Re: Cassette tapes to CD
Quote:
Barry |
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23rd Apr 2022, 2:30 pm | #14 |
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Re: Cassette tapes to CD
The AD-F660 will make a good job of playing the tapes, assuming everything is working properly. It's a good quality 3 head consumer deck - not absolutely top drawer, but very decent.
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23rd Apr 2022, 4:29 pm | #15 |
Octode
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Re: Cassette tapes to CD
One thing nobody has mentioned yet, is the choice of Transfer medium.
I wouldn't recommend having anything important transferred only to a CD. CD-R's are notoriously unreliable. and not always long lived. If the decision to use a CD-R is for convenience so it can be played easily, that's fine, but make sure it is backed up digitally to say a Hard Drive as well. Ian |
23rd Apr 2022, 4:53 pm | #16 |
Octode
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Re: Cassette tapes to CD
>It's a good quality 3 head consumer deck - not absolutely top drawer, but very decent.
And in 2022, a mid-range deck that's in good condition will absolutely trounce a top drawer deck that's not been looked after correctly. They are highly specialist machines to keep anywhere near factory spec and few have the skill, knowledge or resources (read belts and various rubber parts) to do so. |
23rd Apr 2022, 11:51 pm | #17 |
Octode
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Re: Cassette tapes to CD
Well I wouldn't suggest software for Dolby A but I've used the Anaxwaves software for DBX and I've heard good things about their software for Dolby B and C.
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24th Apr 2022, 12:39 am | #18 |
Dekatron
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Re: Cassette tapes to CD
dbX is, to all intents and purposes, 2:1 compansion, so shouldn't be a huge task for software, I suppose. The inherent side effects would obscure most rough edges, anyway. For Dolby of any stripe, I'd have hardware.
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29th Apr 2022, 9:35 am | #19 |
Dekatron
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Re: Cassette tapes to CD
The cassettes have now been delivered to Dickie, so this thread can now be closed.
Barry |