Audacity Forum

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

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


WC

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!

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...

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.

WC

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.


WC

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

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

WC

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

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