New to Audacity but I have read some of the forums but can’t find what I’m looking for. Two issues.
I’m trying to transfer micro cassette recordings, for a friend, to the computer so that he can archive. The recorder / player is fifteen years old. In the instructions it says you can dub by connecting a cable from the “Ear” jack on the device to a “MIC” jack on the other device. In the Sony instructions it looks like the cable is a stereo cable as the male jack has three sections. No where in instructions does it say unit is stereo, it talks about Uni-directional or omni-directional mode fro recording.
I’m running Audacity 2.0.5, Windows 7, Ultimate, 64 bit. I’m trying to record from a Sony Clear Voice recorder model M-100MC. My sound card is a Creative Audigy 2ZS. I’ve tried using the Line in Jack and the MIC jack.
When I record using MIC in jack both the left and right meters show input. From one FAQ article I tried to get levels to touch -6 db. Playback is awful.
When I connect to Line In jack I only appear to get Left input. Playback is also bad. I tried changing levels to almost the point where the record level is zero, same issue just quieter.
I will admit there is noise on tape as the recordings were taken in a large room.
I’ve attached a small sample file.
My other issue is that if I get recording going and then stop it I can’t restart. What I wind up doing is Rescanning Audio Devices under preferences or I switch setting to say Line 3 and then back to Line 2. While a pain I would be happy to just get the recording clearer even if it means me re syncing every time.
Suggestions or links to corrective articles would be very appreciated.
The headphone output of my Pearlcorder is high-level mono, so it takes a mono plug to stereo socket adapter, and then on to the Stereo Line-In of the PC with one of these.
If you’re in the middle of Somalia and can’t get to a Radio shack, do the transfers with the Line-In connection and then split the stereo with the drop-down from the little black arrow on the left and then [X] delete the silent track. Then back to that drop-down and Mono.
File > Export
Since it’s an archive, I would use WAV (Microsoft) and not MP3. WAV is a perfect format and has no sound damage unlike MP3. The files are bigger, though. You pay for the MP3 small files.
In the instructions it says you can dub by connecting a cable from the “Ear” jack on the device to a “MIC” jack on the other device.
… I’ve tried using the Line in Jack and the MIC jack.
Line-in is correct. The microphone input is too sensitive.
In the Sony instructions it looks like the cable is a stereo cable as the male jack has three sections. No where in instructions does it say unit is stereo
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a stereo micro-cassette. But in any case, a stereo cable is probably “safer”. If it’s mono, but with a connector for stereo headphones, connecting a mono cable could short-out the signal. If you plug-in stereo headphones, do you hear both sides?
You can configure Windows for mono or stereo recording, but if one side is silent you can simply create a mono file after recording.
it talks about Uni-directional or omni-directional mode for recording.
Unidirectional and omnidirectional usually refer to types of microphone, not mono/stereo. (Directional microphones are usually called “cardioid” or “directional”.)
From one FAQ article I tried to get levels to touch -6 db. Playback is awful.
It’s usually best to turn-up the recording volume in Audacity, and then turn-down the player’s volume control if the signal is too high.
it talks about Uni-directional or omni-directional mode for recording.
That could also mean higher quality by recording both sides of the cassette for one show instead of allowing lower quality and flipping the tape over. Of course, the recording time is half when you only record one direction. My machine also has a speed control, so you need to get that right, too.
If they tried a stereo cable into Line-In and only got “Left,” then chances are good it’s a mono connection and they need the adapter, but as I said, you can continue with “Left” and make it into Mono later. If you’re obsessive, you can also make “Left” into two track in post production if you need it that way, but it is something of a waste.
After doing further research I believe the root of my issue is software related, drivers specifically. My Creative Labs sound card is quite old, bought for an XP home build, and from the web it appears plenty of people are having issues using the drivers on a 64 bit system. I went back to my old XP device and with the mono adapter it records very nicely. On the XP device I’m using the integrated sound chip, Soundmax on an Asus board.
There are new drivers which if I get motivated I will try on my 64 bit Windows 7 machine. My Windows 7 machine is almost three years old and I’ve never had a need to record so tempting fate with new drivers on a very old card may not be the best route to follow.