[Studiotalk] Cassette Deck for Digitizing Cassettes

[Malosh, Dan (MDE)]

Hi all,

(I apologize for this email being duplicated over two listservs.)

In Minnesota, we are making our final push to move away from our lingering cassette recordings.  A few are NLS RDs that we internally copied to cassettes many decades ago, but most are recordings from our partner agency up in St. Paul, Minnesota: MN9A.  They didn't retain masters on reels so we're left to work with cassette derivative "masters."

With that being said, here are my questions...

Has anyone recently purchased a cassette deck for digitizing analog talking books on a PC?  If so, which model did you use?  Personally, I want to purchase a new model with a USB connection, like the TEAC W-1200<https://teac-usa.com/cassete-deck-cd-players/w-1200-dual-cassette-deck> or (the nearly identical) Tascam 202MKVII<https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1413241-REG/tascam_202mkvii_professional_rack_mount_dual_cassette.html>.  I worry that buying some high-end deck from decades ago would be impossible to fix or maintain.

Also, did your library purchase an amp to enhance the recordings?  Do you have any recommendations?

Which software did you use?  (We have Sound Forge, HABC and Audacity.)  And, did you purchase a hiss removal plug-in?

I look forward to any suggestions or feedback.

Sincerely,
-Dan in Minnesota

Dan Malosh
Systems and Digital Services Librarian
507-384-6869  |  dan.malosh at state.mn.us<mailto:dan.malosh at state.mn.us>

Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library
388 SE 6th Ave, Faribault, MN 55021-6340
https://education.mn.gov/btbl | Library Catalog<https://webopac.klas.com/mn1aopac/> | MN BARD<https://nlsbard.loc.gov/login/MN1A>

[Braille and Talking Book Library]

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