Ya I would not use the headphone jack, Most of us must have a set of 1/4 to RCA cables laying around one would hope. I still have this RCA to 1/4" 8 channel  snake from my Tascam 8 track days. 

But that is why I pointed out the different noise reduction systems. Without the proper decoding you'll be fighting a mess. I have a nice Teac deck that has DOlby A-B and C. I think the DBX was only used on multi track, Think my Yamaha 4 track used it. 

You might want to consider demoing iZotope RX2

Be prepared to spend a day figuring out how it works!! 

Cactus Music


Ya I would not use the headphone jack, Most of us must have a set of 1/4 to RCA cables laying around one would hope. I still have this RCA to 1/4" 8 channel  snake from my Tascam 8 track days. 

  

I've got 4, courtesy of 2 Fostex D90 8 tracks

These home hi-fi units were popular at the stereo shops back when I was in to stereo shopping:

It actually has 16 cables in it! All colour coded and numbered. It just looks to cool to toss out but hasn't been used since the year 2000! 
Were those the Reel to reel version? I rented one once. Still have the reels. 

And that made me think of this.... some might forget this stuff. 

Don't forget to clean and de magnetize the heads! 

Cactus Music
And that made me think of this.... some might forget this stuff. 

Don't forget to clean and de magnetize the heads! 

Ha! Yep, that definitely helps. Just be sure to keep the demagnetizer away from the PC! 


My cassette deck is in the same rack as the PC, so just to be safe, I pull out the deck before doing any maintenance. Not sure if just having the demagnetizer near the PC would do anything, but I definitely don't want to find out!

Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://garrigus.com - SONAR X2 Power! - http://garrigus.com/?SonarX2Power
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar ProAudioTutor video tutorial series: http://garrigus.com/?ProAudioTutor
* Publisher of the DigiFreq free music technology newsletter: http://digifreq.com/?DigiFreq
* Publisher of the NewTechReview free consumer technology newsletter: http://newtechreview.com/?NewTechReview

I assume you can get an iPhone app to demag the heads now... right?

I assume you can get an iPhone app to demag the heads now... right? 


Ya and I also have a VST plug in that simulates what the tape player would sound like with dirty heads too! :) 


Hey Scott... I think there's nothing in a PC that magnets screw up. A friend of mine was just telling me about this strong magnet he found inside a hard drive?? I pondered that one. But then there's the PC speaker in there for sure.  It's the old school monitors that didn't like magnets. Remember those! 

Cactus Music

Hey Scott... I think there's nothing in a PC that magnets screw up. A friend of mine was just telling me about this strong magnet he found inside a hard drive?? I pondered that one. But then there's the PC speaker in there for sure.  It's the old school monitors that didn't like magnets. Remember those! 

Hey Johnny,


Yep, I remember those! You had to keep the speakers away from the computer monitor or you'd some nice rainbow colors on the sides of the display. 


Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://garrigus.com - SONAR X2 Power! - http://garrigus.com/?SonarX2Power
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar ProAudioTutor video tutorial series: http://garrigus.com/?ProAudioTutor
* Publisher of the DigiFreq free music technology newsletter: http://digifreq.com/?DigiFreq
* Publisher of the NewTechReview free consumer technology newsletter: http://newtechreview.com/?NewTechReview

Here are some tips:

Use the best cassette deck you can. They are not all created equal. Clean the transport and the heads thoroughly. 

Use the RCA outputs if possible. Generally the quality will be better there than the headphone jack.

With noise reduction try to determine if Dolby B, C or DBX was used. Most likely Dolby B was used. Listen and compare the sound with Dolby B ON or OFF. Sometimes it is better to leave it OFF and gain the extra high end. The times it works perfectly with it ON is if you are using the exact same machine that recorded the cassettes. If you feel the high end is dull and the Dolby B is over compensating then leave it OFF. That sounds better than having it ON. But if the music sounds good and normal with normal top end present with it ON then leave it ON. This is one of the most difficult aspects to cassette transfers, determining if Dolby needs to be ON or OFF while transferring. Use your ears here!

Dolby C is a much more viscous form of noise reduction. Playing back with Dolby B on a Dolby C encoded recording still won't sound right. You will hear it. Hopefully it will be a Dolby B encoded recording. There were far fewer Dolby C machines around.

Set the levels reasonably high coming in. You will find once you set the loudest point, the music will rarely go over that.

Try using EQ to perhaps improve the resultant captures the best you can. Do not mess with the sound on the way in, it is a mistake. Connect direct from the cassette deck direct to the audio interface. If you have to control level maybe run it through a very neutral level controlling stage. 

If all else fails send the tape to me. I have a seriously expensive Sony deck that sounds like a million dollars with a super precision dual motor/capstan transport and with Dolby B and C. It also has all sorts of EQ options for different tape types on playback too which can be helpful. I will transfer it for you.  

Thanks for bringing it up. I have got a lot of cassettes that were recorded with a very nice machine and they still sound amazing. I should transfer them too.  

Excellent advice Jeff.

I've ripped a lot of Stereo Cassettes, 4-Track Cassettes, and 8-Track cassettes over the years.

In all cases in my experience, with the exception of DBX, the rip turned out better with Dolby turned off.

With tape it's important to get the output as loud as you can, without clipping your converters in your sound card of course. Whenever you have to raise the volume or highs of a cassette rip in the box, you will emphasize all the bad noises associated with cassette's and RCA line outputs. The purpose of ripping them as loud as you can is to hide those noises.