Poor quality tape transfer

[Sunny S]

I am utilizing LP & Tape assistant to transfer songs from old audio tape collections of mine. When I play the songs on my tape recorder, it plays the songs good. I am utilizing the headphone output of the player to connect to the microphone jack of my computer. The quality of music when it gets copied is very bad. There is too much distortions in the sound.

 

I have tried to listen to the music by connecting a headphone to the headphone jack of my player and it plays very well without any distortions. So I know that the output from the player i good. I have tried couple of different cables as well to know that it is not a cable issue.

 

Can some one help?

 

Sunny S

[tbrewst]

In the LP assistant why not just try hitting the Auto button just above and to the right of the meters?This should automatically adjust your recording volume to a resonable level.There is also a little slide lever just to the left of the Auto button you can adjust.

[Sunny S]

Hello,

 

I have tried the following:

 

I got myself a different tapes player that actually has an RCA output, and I bought a Y-Cable to connect it to the audio input of my computer.

SO I have stopped using the headphone output.

 

When I record now, I still see that the clipping is happening. The volume indicator keeps showing that the clipping is happening.

 

What I don't know is how to control that. There seems to be no place where I can control the input volume as you had mentioned. Where would I find this input volume control.

 

I looked at ( start>programs>accessories>entertainment>volume control), that only gives me access to the output volume from the computer. There is no input volume control.

 

The inputtape device doesn't have a volume control on it. It is a tape deck to be connected to an amplifier music system. So it doesn't have any volume control of its own.

 

Please help

[ogdens]

I am utilizing LP & Tape assistant to transfer songs from old audio tape collections of mine. When I play the songs on my tape recorder, it plays the songs good. I am utilizing the headphone output of the player to connect to the microphone jack of my computer. The quality of music when it gets copied is very bad. There is too much distortions in the sound.

 

I have tried to listen to the music by connecting a headphone to the headphone jack of my player and it plays very well without any distortions. So I know that the output from the player i good. I have tried couple of different cables as well to know that it is not a cable issue.

 

Can some one help?

 

Sunny S

 

Connect to the line-in jack of you sound card, not the mic jack.

[Jim B]

In the LP assistant why not just try hitting the Auto button just above and to the right of the meters?This should automatically adjust your recording volume to a resonable level.There is also a little slide lever just to the left of the Auto button you can adjust.

 

I've been messing with this all day and here's what I learned about recording level. About half way down the left side of the LP and Tape Assistant you will see "Recording Level". Next to that is is an AUTO button. Below recording level are two horizontal meter bars marked L and R. Hit the play button on your tape player and watch the bars. If the right end of the bars are turning red and the word "clip" appears, then your input level is too high. Hit the AUTO button while the tape is playing. A box will pop up saying "processing". If you watch the slider on the recording level bar you will probably see it move almost all the way to the left. The processing box will close. The L and R meter bars should show the the recording level at or just below the dark gray mark on the bars. You should be able to record at this level with no distortion in your music files. I found that if I hit the "+" once at the right end of the recording level slider bar, I'll get an occasional "clip" showing. I record at this level because the audio playback is a little stronger and I don't get any distortion.

Hope this helps.

[d_deweywright]

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QUOTE(Jim B @ Jan 6 2007, 09:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You should be able to record at this level with no distortion in your music files. I found that if I hit the "+" once at the right end of the recording level slider bar, I'll get an occasional "clip" showing. I record at this level because the audio playback is a little stronger and I don't get any distortion.

Hope this helps.

I'll suggest that what you're "not getting" is any audible distortion. If there's clipping, there's distortion, but depending on exactly what you're listening to, you may not be able to hear it.

[Jim B]

--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Jim B @ Jan 6 2007, 09:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->

You should be able to record at this level with no distortion in your music files. I found that if I hit the "+" once at the right end of the recording level slider bar, I'll get an occasional "clip" showing. I record at this level because the audio playback is a little stronger and I don't get any distortion.

Hope this helps.

 

I'll suggest that what you're "not getting" is any audible distortion. If there's clipping, there's distortion, but depending on exactly what you're listening to, you may not be able to hear it.

 

I agree with you 100%.

[ogdens]

Hello,

 

I have tried the following:

 

I got myself a different tapes player that actually has an RCA output, and I bought a Y-Cable to connect it to the audio input of my computer.

SO I have stopped using the headphone output.

 

When I record now, I still see that the clipping is happening. The volume indicator keeps showing that the clipping is happening.

 

What I don't know is how to control that. There seems to be no place where I can control the input volume as you had mentioned. Where would I find this input volume control.

 

I looked at ( start>programs>accessories>entertainment>volume control), that only gives me access to the output volume from the computer. There is no input volume control.

 

The inputtape device doesn't have a volume control on it. It is a tape deck to be connected to an amplifier music system. So it doesn't have any volume control of its own.

 

Please help

 

There is a difference between which inputs are made available to the soundcard's output, and which one is made available for recording.

Open up the Windows Volume Control utility. (This is usually available by double-clicking the little yellow icon of a loudspeaker in the system tray. If it's not there, go via Start|Programs|Accessories|Multimedia, or perhaps Start|Progams|Accessories|Entertainment). A screen titled "Volume Control" appears. On this screen you will see a selection of inputs. Each one can be individually switched on or off using its "mute" checkbox. All those which are not muted are available for playback through the soundcard's output, and their relative volumes can be controlled using the appropriate sliders. Thus, this screen behaves like a simple mixer, allowing multiple sources to be gathered together for output.

 

OK, all this is fine, and allows you to pass the input through to the output, but: it doesn't make the unmuted inputs available for recording to hard disk. To do this, select the "Properties" item from the "Options" menu. A screen titled "Properties" will appear. In the box titled "Adjust volume for", there are radio buttons: select the one for Recording. A list of available inputs appears in the box beneath "Show the following volume controls", and you should ensure that all the various inputs you may wish to record are checked in that list. Now press "OK", and the main screen's title changes to "Recording Control". This screen presents the inputs available for recording, and to activate the one you want, check its associated "Select" checkbox. The recording level can be adjusted using the selected input's volume slider; note that you can adjust this while recording (just like you can with the level control on a tape deck). You may also see a simple level meter (like the LEDs on a cassette deck) next to some inputs on some soundcards; whether they appear depends on the particular facilities provided by the soundcard's driver. However, this meter is uncalibrated and most hard disk recording packages are likely to have better metering. Once you have set the required record level, you can close down the Volume Control utility and the settings will remain unchanged (usually).

[d_deweywright]

Connect to the line-in jack of you sound card, not the mic jack.

I would also suggest using the Line-Out from the back of your tape deck, not the headphone output, which may be too "hot" (too much output) for the line-in.

[Sunny S]

Thanks to both of you, I tired the Line in and that is much better, but still needs some work. As far as the line out is concerned, I don't have a line out from my player. I only have an headphone output.

 

The reception on my computer as I am recording is very good, but the quality of recording is not. Any ideas as to what might be the reason.

 

I am using .wav format; PCM encoder. 44.100hz @ 16bits per sample. That was basically the default format. Anything else I should look at to get a better output.

[d_deweywright]

Thanks to both of you, I tired the Line in and that is much better, but still needs some work. As far as the line out is concerned, I don't have a line out from my player. I only have an headphone output.

 

The reception on my computer as I am recording is very good, but the quality of recording is not. Any ideas as to what might be the reason.

 

I am using .wav format; PCM encoder. 44.100hz @ 16bits per sample. That was basically the default format. Anything else I should look at to get a better output.

Well, what sort of tape deck are you using? My quick guess is that you're overdriving the input and getting clipping. As you record, there is a volume indicator, if it is going to the top of the red, then you are recording too loudly. Try turning down the volume on the headphones so it peaks at the bottom of the red indicators once in awhile.

 

Let us know if that helps.

[ogdens]

Thanks to both of you, I tired the Line in and that is much better, but still needs some work. As far as the line out is concerned, I don't have a line out from my player. I only have an headphone output.

 

The reception on my computer as I am recording is very good, but the quality of recording is not. Any ideas as to what might be the reason.

 

I am using .wav format; PCM encoder. 44.100hz @ 16bits per sample. That was basically the default format. Anything else I should look at to get a better output.

 

To add to what Dave has said..............Have you tried playing with the settings in the Volume Control (start>programs>accessories>entertainment>volume control

 

It sure sounds like you are overdriving your input to the sound card.