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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Hi James,
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">At the Kentucky Talking Book Library, we don’t use any cassettes for analog to digital conversion – you are right – the noise floor is too high, and quality can
be poor. We have the original analog reel to reel master tapes of the recordings, and so we are using those to do our A to D conversions. Once we started baking our reel to reel tapes at low heat to remove moisture, we have had excellent results getting
playback without the tape sticking to the play head. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Ideally, when digitizing, it is best to use the master recording, or a copy that has been copied the fewest number of generations. Each time an analog recording
is copied, more noise is added to the recording, so if you try digitizing a cassette tape that would have gone out to patrons, that would probably be a third generation copy. A master cassette would be better, and the original session master tape would be
best of all.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">If you do need to use cassettes, the C1 payer is probably going to be your best bet– as you know, cassette TB are played at a tape seed twice as slow as normal
tape playback. I’m not aware of any commercial decks that can do that. However, I think most of your noise problems are going to come from the cassette copy itself, not from the C1 player (unless that particular player is defective).
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Another possible source of noise could be how are you connecting the player to your computer – What audio interface are you using to input the signal to your
computer? The C1 headphone out jack might be a higher level signal than regular line level, so setting levels correctly will keep distortion, hum, and noise from being added at input. Is the bad hum and noise audible from the C1 when listening by itself
on headphones, unconnected from the computer? If so, the noise is probably coming from the tape itself. If the tape is fine listening standalone, but noisy when recorded, you might have a signal level mismatch.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">If you need to use noise reduction, Adobe Audition has the best noise reduction for taking away tape hiss – Sound Forge also has something similar, but results
aren’t quite as good. Neither will be able to completely erase tape noise, but you can knock it down a good amount – maybe enough to make a terrible recording listenable, if not pleasant. It is important not to overdo noise reduction – if used too much,
it can create artificial artifacts in the audio, making it sound hollow, like talking through a tube. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#7B7B7B">Brian Bertucci<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Kentucky Talking Book Library Studio Coordinator<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">PO Box 537<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">300 Coffee Tree Rd.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">Frankfort KY 40602</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">-0537<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D">(502) 564-1790<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><a href="mailto:Brian.bertucci@ky.gov"><span style="color:#0563C1">Brian.bertucci@ky.gov</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://twitter.com/KyTBL"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="32" height="32" style="width:.3333in;height:.3333in" id="Picture_x0020_4" src="cid:image001.png@01D3F34E.24180930" alt="twitter"></span></a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/KDLA.KTBL/"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="32" height="32" style="width:.3333in;height:.3333in" id="Picture_x0020_3" src="cid:image002.png@01D3F34E.24180930" alt="facebook"></span></a><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> studiotalk <studiotalk-bounces@islemail.org>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>James Langton<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, May 24, 2018 9:32 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> studiotalk@islemail.org<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Studiotalk] analogue cassette to digital transfer<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">A question for any of you who are transferring NLS cassettes from analogue to digital : what are you using for playback of the cassettes?<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I tried playing the cassettes on an old NLS cassette player but the sound quality is so awful (with incredible hum and background noise) that I abandoned that immediately.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The solution seems to be an old 4-track cassette recorder or 'mini-studio', but many of them record/playback at DOUBLE speed, so I'm interested to know if there are specific brands/models that others are having success with.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks!<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">James<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">-- <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><b><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;color:black">James Langton|
</span></b><b><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;color:red">New York Public Library</span></b><span style="font-size:9.5pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><i><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;color:black">Manager, Audio Book Studio</span></i><span style="font-size:9.5pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;color:black">Andrew Heiskell Braille and Talking Book Library</span><span style="font-size:9.5pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><a href="https://maps.google.com/?q=40+West+20th+Street+%7C+New+York+%7C+NY+%7C+10011&entry=gmail&source=g" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;color:#1155CC">40 West
20th Street | New York | NY | 10011</span></a><span style="font-size:9.5pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;color:black">T:
</span><a href="tel:(212)%20621-0620" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;color:#1155CC">212-206 5403</span></a><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;color:black"> |
</span><a href="mailto:jillrothstein@nypl.org" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;color:#1155CC">jameslangton@nypl.org</span></a><span style="font-size:9.5pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><a href="http://www.nypl.org/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif;color:#1155CC;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="294" height="92" style="width:3.0625in;height:.9583in" id="_x0000_i1025" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/BuZnDYa0katHldlElm__IhQ44Ydy-BIFkx6ASsr83G6YF7Fy6jH4osiPD1ToPzrrRFjmz_lZL2qzhavi1FLpcEdT_b_7qvGQFFzPBcwOqJarzvZ2fBu40BDFrrFbnnlGpEULoQFu" alt="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/BuZnDYa0katHldlElm__IhQ44Ydy-BIFkx6ASsr83G6YF7Fy6jH4osiPD1ToPzrrRFjmz_lZL2qzhavi1FLpcEdT_b_7qvGQFFzPBcwOqJarzvZ2fBu40BDFrrFbnnlGpEULoQFu"></span></a><span style="font-size:9.5pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif">Inspire Life Long Learning</span></i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif"> |
<i>Advance Knowledge</i> | <i>Strengthen our Communities </i></span><o:p></o:p></p>
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