All,
John wrote:
> But, as you probably know, CD-R's don't last all that long. They
> are certainly not archive material.
So what is the current accepted way to archive digitized recordings?
I use CD, DVD and hard drive and try to make multiple copies, but I
don't have everything backed up on hard drives just yet.
FWIW, I digitize cassette recordings direct from my Sony WMD6C
walkman (on which many of my own cassette recordings were made), with
audio lead running direct to iMac computer. This is a very simple
system useful for a limited number of tapes. The quality of copying
seems excellent, no added hums or anything. Considering that the
original recordings had tape and environmental noise, then perhaps
the super-pro systems would be overkill for my purposes. I also need
to be careful with things like the type of tape used for original,
and have the correct setting for that. Keep the tape heads clean and
demagnetised. Tapes recorded with Dolby are a pest and hard to
reproduce accurately without noise pumping etc. The main thing with
digitizing cassettes as I see it, is to do it NOW rather than wait a
few years, as the cassettes do deteriorate markedly over the years,
losing high frequencies and succumbing to print through.
Vicki Powys
Australia
On 27/09/2009, at 4:42 AM, John wrote:
> --- In naturerecordists@ yahoogroups. com, "marcelo"
> <bioacusticaucr@ ...> wrote:
>>
>> Thanks John,
>>
>> Yes, they are all cassettes. We do have digital recorders, a
>> Marantz PMD 660 and a Marantz PMD 620. However those are mostly
>> for getting recordings in the field. Digitizing 700 cassettes can
>> easily take several months so it doesn't make sense to keep them
>> in the lab all that time. Even if we may use one of those
>> exclusively in digitizing I think that recording straight to a
>> hard drive is much faster and those digital recorders can't do
>> that. So we have to buy a device. I am mostly concerned about the
>> quality of the cassette tape desk. What should be the minimum
>> requirements in order to keep the quality of the recordings? We
>> are applying for funding to get this equipment so, what would be a
>> good cassette tape desk? One more question: Does the quality of
>> the cable connecting the tape desk with the computer matter?
>>
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>>
>> Marcelo Araya
>> Laboratorio de Bioac=FAstica
>> UCR
> If you are going to do 700 tapes, I'd get a dedicated deck, a USB
> or Firewire digital interface (which really does all the work), and
> then you'll have high quality components all through the chain of
> conversion.
>
> Even modest analog to digital converters might suffice, depending
> on your goals. When I capture live audio to a computer
> (essentially the same thing you are doing), I use a fireface 800,
> which is known to have some of the best analog to digital
> converters out there. Since you are going to do two channels, at
> most, you can use its little brother, the fireface 400. If these
> are unreplacable recordings, then I'd use the best converters I
> could find. If you are just cataloging sounds that you just want
> to keep, but aren't critical, PreSonus or M-audio gear is very
> good, and really you could use any firewire interface out there. I
> use a Presonus DigimaxFS to expand my Fireface 800 and it connects
> via ADAT optical. The pre-amps and A/D converters are very clean.
>
> Note, I can tell a clear difference between my M-Audio Firewire810
> interface and my RME Fireface 800 or 400. The M-Audio is okay, but
> the RME is just cleaner and does a better job. The PreSonus
> channels are nearly as good as the RME.
>
> For simplicity sake, USB is less finicky, and you are going to be
> feeding line level audio into the interface. So you don't need
> phantom power, XLR inputs, etc. Something like this:
>
> http://www.guitarcenter.com/PreSonus-Audiobox-USB-104841978-
> i1388074.gc
>
> ...would do very nicely. The front inputs are combination XLR and
> 1/4", and you can take a high quality tape deck, feed the RCA out
> into the 1/4" in, and it will go straight to the hard drive. I
> record 10 channels simultaneously on a laptop on occasion via
> firewire. You will have at most two channels and this should work
> well on almost any computer through the lower speed USB line. That
> unit has pre-amps and A/D converters that are fairly highly rated
> by the people who use them. I like my PreSonus pre-amp, A/D
> interface.
>
> Here is a run down on cassette decks and technology:
>
> http://www.cs. cmu.edu/~ mleone/gdead/ taping-guide/ part1.html
>
> Something like this unit should allow you do go digital between the
> SPDIF out of the unit to the SPDIF in on the digital interface,
> which should give you as noise free conversion as possible.
>
> http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/CC222SLmk2/
>
> Here is the list of Tascam alternatives,
>
> http://www.sweetwater.com/c797--TASCAM--Cassette_Decks?
> gclid=3DCI7t5v31j50CF dFJ2god9XqK2w
>
> You may note that several of those Tascam units also allowed tape -
> > CD conversion. But, as you probably know, CD-R's don't last all
> that long. They are certainly not archive material.
>
>
>
>
>
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