'warbling' when recording froma cassette???

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huckflinn
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'warbling' when recording froma cassette???

Post by huckflinn » Sun Oct 02, 2011 2:25 pm

please help!
seems simple.... connect tape player to computer, press 'play' , press 'record'.

but playback on computer sounds warbled and distorted?
i've attempted some adjustments and/or post recording effect editing..... no luck whatsoever.

i just want this to sound like it does when i play the tape.
any assistance in this most frustrating situation is greatly appreciated!!
thanks,
tom

waxcylinder
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Re: 'warbling' when recording froma cassette???

Post by waxcylinder » Sun Oct 02, 2011 2:56 pm

Playback of what: the Audacity project, a WAV file you have exported or an MP3 file you have exported etc.?


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huckflinn
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Re: 'warbling' when recording froma cassette???

Post by huckflinn » Sun Oct 02, 2011 3:58 pm

the playback on the audacity program.
after it's recorded, I hit play....
and it sounds not so good at all?!?
I've got windows 7.
maybe if I just burn the recording to a cd it'll sound normal?
but that doesn't make sense...
thanks for any guidance!

huckflinn
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Re: 'warbling' when recording froma cassette???

Post by huckflinn » Sun Oct 02, 2011 4:06 pm

just trying to transfer cassette recording to the computer so I can burn a cd.
wishing it would sound pretty close to how it sounds from the tapedeck...

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Re: 'warbling' when recording froma cassette???

Post by waxcylinder » Sun Oct 02, 2011 4:23 pm

Start off with a read and work-through of this set of tutorials from the manual: http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Tuto ... iscs_to_CD

If it's bad when you play it back in Audacity it will remain bad when you burn it to CD - so you need to fix whatever is wrong.

If your signal is overloaded it tends to sound harsh and nasty rather than warbly.

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waxcylinder
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Re: 'warbling' when recording froma cassette???

Post by waxcylinder » Sun Oct 02, 2011 4:28 pm

Huck,

how have you got your tapedeck connected to your computer:
1) the outputs from the deck,
2) the input on the computer?

Are you using a laptop or a full desktop PC?

What are your Audacity Preferences settings - I would suggest using the default 44100Hz for the project rate and 32-bit floating for the sample format? These are Audacity' s default settings.
huckflinn wrote:just trying to transfer cassette recording to the computer so I can burn a cd.
wishing it would sound pretty close to how it sounds from the tapedeck...
If it all gets connected properly and Audacity is setup properly then it should.


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huckflinn
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Re: 'warbling' when recording froma cassette???

Post by huckflinn » Sun Oct 02, 2011 4:45 pm

right, I totally agree - should be fine.

new laptop, new cassette player, new 1/8th audio connection cord.
one end plugged into 'headphones' on cassette player,
the other plugged into 'mic' on laptop.
ok- recording!
playback from laptop is just very sub-par...
warbly, slightly distorted, and not half of the sound quality I hear on cassette.
using all audacity default settings;
44100 hz, 32-bit floating....

the only thing I can imagine is that it is an old tape- which somehow doesn't transfer well to digital?
but you'd think it would record pretty much the way it sounds.
I donno.
it's a bummer- it's the last cassette copy of the studio recordings of the college band 20 years ago.
guess I can always just make cassette copies...
thanks again
tom

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Re: 'warbling' when recording froma cassette???

Post by waxcylinder » Sun Oct 02, 2011 5:27 pm

Ok,the signal from the headphone output of your cassette player is almost certainly far too hot for the mic imput on your laptop (Mics deliver a very low level signal indeed). You will probably need an external soundcard to handle the level you are dealing with. A coupleof suggestions are the Behringer UCA-202 or the more expensive (but with more features) Cakewalk UA-1G - the UCA-202 should do the job nicely for you. See this sticky thread: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=9477

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huckflinn
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Re: 'warbling' when recording froma cassette???

Post by huckflinn » Sun Oct 02, 2011 6:13 pm

now that sounds like a good answer!
at least it seems to make sense.

just tried a couple places to see who carries the behringer and cost but no luck yet.
have you got a ball park price for the cheapest way out?

can't thank you enough!
there is hope yet!
tom

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Re: 'warbling' when recording froma cassette???

Post by kozikowski » Sun Oct 02, 2011 7:04 pm

I dont remember where I got mine from, but here's one place.

http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-Control ... B000J0IIEQ

I think you can get it just at $30.

Everybody tries the same thing. Mic-In on a Windows laptop is designed to plug in a microphone or headset like this.

http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/pix/PCHeadset.jpg

It's intended for business or corporate conferencing, not home entertainment use. Your sound is much too powerful for Mic-In.

Here's mine.

http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/pix/UCA202.jpg

Koz

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