audio cassette question

[Heart Break Kid]

im sure someone has asked this before, but for the sake of sounding redundant, what software should i use to record dirrectly from my tape deck to my mac?

i know how to set the hardware up - tape deck, 1/8 wire jack to my audio input of the mac and then i just go ahead and hit play

but what i dont know is the software i should use. I have cubase. would this do the trick?

 

[pepeleuepe]

Cubase will work perfectly fine. It's a little overkill for what you're doing, but it will definately work. Depending on how noisy your tapes are you could also use some noise reduction plug-ins with Cubase. The only one I know of for noise reduction is Ray Gun, but it hasn't been ported over to OS X yet. So unless you're still using Windows or OS 9, you might have to look for something else, or just leave the little bit of tape noise in there.

Good luck with the tape's .

 

[Heart Break Kid]

thanks i appreciate it

i know cubase is a bit overkill - but its an excuse for me to learn how to use the software. thanks again for the help - i really do apprecaite it

 

[benjaminpg]

Keep in mind that the microphone input on your mac is very likely only mono, which is not satisfactory for music. Also, they are not of the greatest quality, partly because it is located inside the computer. This is bad because there are all sorts of charges and noises inside your computer that can cause artifacts.

There are lots of simpler apps out there, but no free ones that I have found to work very well. I would recommend just keeping with cubase.

 

[unc32]

What is an audio cassette?

 

[LethalWolfe]

Originally posted by benjaminpg
Keep in mind that the microphone input on your mac is very likely only mono, which is not satisfactory for music. Also, they are not of the greatest quality, partly because it is located inside the computer. This is bad because there are all sorts of charges and noises inside your computer that can cause artifacts.

There are lots of simpler apps out there, but no free ones that I have found to work very well. I would recommend just keeping with cubase.

I don't know which computer he has, but it should have a stereo line in.


Lethal

 

[Heart Break Kid]

i got a 17" PB with 1 gig ram

 

[TMA]

Audion (http://www.panic.com) allows you to record into AIFF or MP3 straight from Sound In or Microphone port. If you're looking for quality I would recommend encoding into AIFF and using Sound in rather than microphone (if the PB has it?) You can always re-encode them into AAC or MP3 via iTunes at a later date.

Edit - Not a free app, but the shareware version allows you to try the feature for a while.

 

[orangefoodie]

Yeah, the 17" has a line in next to the headphone out jack --- though the quality of the line in is questionable, due to the aforementioned noise that's present in the system. I haven't really tested the quality myself, though I imagine it shouldn't be THAT bad. I was pleasantly surprised myself when I plugged my etys into the normal headphone jack and found actually decent sound... Coming from the PC world, it's a MILE of difference.