Audacity Forum

I've been using Audacity now since version 1.2.
However I have just started using it for transfering old cassette tapes to digital format.

One thing I miss is a function which 'listens' for say 90 seconds of silence and automatically stop the recording (time could be adjustable) .

At present I have to be arround (or remember to return) for the end of the tape.

Many thanks

Peter

There already is such a function - see the "Sound Activated Recording" settings in Preferences: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/re ... ences.html

But I think you might be better off using Timer Record to turn the recording off after a specified amount of time (the lenght of a side o cassette tape say). See: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/timer_record.html

WC

Thanks for that advise, but its not quite what I was after.

The existing 'Sound activated recording' is fine except that it stops between tracks - I know I've tried it.

And the timer is ok if you know how long the tape (or LP) is, which would mean playing it through first - and missing the end that time. No not many tapes (or LPs) have their duration printed on them.

I also had a follow on thought that it may even be better to activate 'Pause' that way one could turn the tape/LP over and record the other side on the same project.

I use some other software for videos, and they have a facility which stops after a preset period of silence (eg Golden Videos & AVS4YOU).

Thank you
Peter

I agree that allowing a specified amount of silence before stopping would be a useful feature for 'Sound activated recording'.
It would also be useful if 'Sound activated recording' buffered the audio input so that, in effect, it starts recording just before the sound is detected. This would avoid missing the start of the first note. I think that these feature requests are already logged on the wiki.

For now, you could just set the timer to record for an hour (one side of a cassette) or 2 hours (2 sides of a cassette) or whatever is a generous maximum for the length of the cassette. Most Cassettes say their maximum playing time. It takes just a few seconds to delete the trailing silence from the recording.

Thank you for the information and I await the developments.

As you say at present just have to set it at 45-60 mins.

By the way though - I have done about 30 tapes so far (about another hundred to go) and not one of them has had the duration on it. I certainly can't recal having seen an LP with playing time on it.

Thanks

Peter

pads wrote: By the way though - I have done about 30 tapes so far (about another hundred to go) and not one of them has had the duration on it. I certainly can't recal having seen an LP with playing time on it.

True, but each track should have a time. You could do a quick add-up in your head (round each track up to the nearest minute).

-- Bill

Just looked at four tapes at random - none have times on them - neither track nor total.

Maybe your thinking of CDs.

Anyway - just a bit academic really.

Thanks anyway

Peter

Cassettes for home recording are usually marked as "C60" or "C90" or similar. The number refers to the total playing time in minutes.
Commercial pre-recorded cassette sometimes have track times listed, but even if they don't it is very rare for a pre-recorded cassette to be over an hour per side - usually more like 30 to 40 minutes per side.

Votes added at Wiki>Feature Requests