Recording Cassettes to MiniDisc

[BIGHMW]

I am thinking about recording some of my vintage cassette collection to MiniDisc from my TC-WR465 cassette to my MDS-E10 Pro MD Deck, as some of my tapes are extremely rare, especially in the case of my 1985 Paul Hardcastle self-titled (the one with the smash hit "19" and the orginal version of "Rainforest" on it) tape I got back then, and I wondered how good does a tape-to-MD recording sound, and whether or not I shoild use the Dolby B or C NR on it, to cut down the hiss from the tapes (some are as old as having been bought back in 1981).

My mangement, Len Enders of Label Cove Entertainment http://www.MySpace.com/dedenderz preserved his entire tape collection to MDs and then sold the tapes themselves, besides I heard that it would cut down the cost of having to buy the CDs of my tape collection, mainly by simply using a few "tweeks" that my pro decks can do rather than have to do a digital CD-to-MD transfer of all of them.

What do you think?

[Leandro]

I've recorded some tapes to MD and they usually sound great, especially with Dolby off. all the high end really adds to it IMO - I don't want noise reduction. The only downside is that tapes don't work in mono, as you get phasing which ruins it. What a damn shame, as I could get twice as much on an MD if it wasn't for that.

[Strungup]

on the TC 465 , you dont have Bias Adjustment , but at least Tape selection , on Tapes like the Hardcastle , Which is probable in Cobalt (doesnt the Tape itself look reealy dark , with almost a Blueish tint , instead of brown ?) just use the Cr2O2 tape setting , or Metal Tape setting .

Only use the Dolby on tapes that you yourself recorded , and recorded in Dolby , the Studio Master of Production Tapes in in Dolby "S" not "B" and the Production Tapes that you actually get , are NOT encoded the same way , just that Copy machines are of very high quality so there isnt much extra noise added.

so Production Tapes = tap selection (Norm,Cr2O2, Metal)

your Tapes done with dolby , use dolby

the 465 has Dolby B and C , those are two very different birds , Encoding with Dolby C when your recording gives much more natural results , but must be played back with Dolby C

[ZosoIV]

In my experience, it's better to capture the audio au naturale and then process it later in software. You'll never be able to undo the effects of Dolby if you record your tapes to MD with it turned on, but you WILL be able to filter out hiss later on if/when you upload your MD's to a computer. I would think that represents the more "future-proof" solution.

Edited March 2, 2008 by ZosoIV

[Avrin]

The need to enable DOLBY B NR depends on the quality of the source material. If this is a cassette that you have recorded yourself on the same deck with DOLBY B (or even C) enabled, then you should try enabling it during playback. This should make the frequency response flat in the appropriate range, and leave just enough highs.

In case of pre-recorded cassettes or cassettes recorded on another equipment, experiments will help. If enabling DOLBY B NR leaves enough highs - use it. Otherwise, don't. And don't forget that you'll almost always have to adjust the head azimuth for each side of a pre-recorded cassette, the process of which is an exact science by itself. After adjusting the azimuth, fast-forward the cassette to the end, and rewind it back, so the tape is smoothly laid out, and the azimuth does not change. Ideal playback is not always possible, especially on cheap clear glued cassettes, which often have required parts missing. If you have a precious record on such a cassette and want to do the transfer in the best possible way, you may consider disassembling it (by accurately cutting along the seam and breaking the cassette open) and moving the tape to a good cassette mechanism. You'll have to change the reels too, since they are oftern deformed in cheap cassettes.