Thread: I Need An Idiots Guide For Ripping Tapes...............

..........using a Walkman using Audacity software please?

I have never ripped tapes before and i need a step by step guide as i haven't got a clue what i am doing I don't really use Audacity so i haven't got a clue about cleaning up recordings either

I want top quality rips (as well as can be expected for a tape anyway ) so i can share them with you lot

So if anyone can show me the light it would be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance

well if you need an idiot's guide Criminies only knows what I would need!!!! I can't even rip Xmas paper!!!

I'm sure the technophile boffins will be in shortly to address this matter

Same as ripping a vinyl

Ripping From Vinyl ... The What.cd Tutorial

i coudl do with the same, but for a mac book pro

simples.

connect walkman to sound card
open recording software.
if the software allows you to preview the recording level do it now and make sure the levels are not hitting orange or red so you have a good clean recording.
if the software doesnt have a preview option hit record and adjust your levels.
when happy stop recording and rewind your tape.
hit record on the software and then hit play on the tape.
when it's all played out hit stop and save the resultant waveform in whatever format you choose.

should be the same for mac or windows, just the individual software that will change...but most are the same in my experience.

for mac i recommend using amadeus pro.
windoze i'd got for soundforge, wavelab or audacity

Originally Posted by haze

simples.

connect walkman to sound card
open recording software.
if the software allows you to preview the recording level do it now and make sure the levels are not hitting orange or red so you have a good clean recording.
if the software doesnt have a preview option hit record and adjust your levels.
when happy stop recording and rewind your tape.
hit record on the software and then hit play on the tape.
when it's all played out hit stop and save the resultant waveform in whatever format you choose.

should be the same for mac or windows, just the individual software that will change...but most are the same in my experience.

for mac i recommend using amadeus pro.
windoze i'd got for soundforge, wavelab or audacity

Thanks Haze

Not as difficult as i imagined it to be

Originally Posted by Phizzal

Same as ripping a vinyl

Ripping From Vinyl ... The What.cd Tutorial

Thanks Phizzal - i will have a good read of this too

Although that What CD guide is ok, there are a couple of points I think are worth mentioning.

I tried Audacity many years ago, and chucked it in the bin very quickly. It is very easy to use, but also very basic, and I wanted more functionality. This may have changed in the last few years, but when I tried the demo version, it automatically stops recording after 30 minutes unless you buy the full version. This may be fine for ripping vinyl, but for recording sets or ripping tapes it's useless, unless you want to record in sections and try and rejoin with different software later.

I've been using Sony Soundforge since then, and it's a lot better, did everything I wanted it too, but it is a bit complicated to use some of the more advanced functions like noise reduction and stuff. Great software all the same,

After reading so many things about how brilliant it is, for the last 2 weeks been using Adobe Audition. I'm struggling a little bit with it cos I'm so used to using soundforge, but it's just a case of learning where the things you need are more than anything else. Audition has a couple of handy things, like a channel balancing thingie (when ripping tapes one channel is always louder than the other for some reason, an I've noticed the levels go up and down a lot). It also has quite an effective noise reduction system (I watched a youtube vid on it yesterday but yet to try it myself).

Also the walkman thing, I wouldn't rip with a walkman, I know it's cheap, but if you're after the best quality you can get from a tape (I know you are, lol) then beg, borrow or steal a seperates tape deck. Give the tape heads a clean with some cotton buds soaked in IPA and let them dry off before you start ripping the tapes, you will get much better sound quality than just ripping with a walkman.

*Edit* A bit more on the level changing thing, I've noticed on a lot of tapes, that the sound level goes up and down a lot, what you want to do is find the loudest part of the tape, then set the volume (line in level) on your sound card mixer so it's not clipping the waveform (going above 0.0dB or going into the red on the recording software) at the loudest part of the tape. Clipping is very bad, and you lose part of the audio that can never be recovered, so it's best to have it a little bit too quiet than a little bit too loud, you can always increase the volume in the software later (think that is covered in the What CD guide). I can't tell you how many tapes I've ripped over and over again because you get 30 minutes in and the volume suddenly jumps up It' annoying as hell, lol.

Originally Posted by Si Cosis

Although that What CD guide is ok, there are a couple of points I think are worth mentioning.

I tried Audacity many years ago, and chucked it in the bin very quickly. It is very easy to use, but also very basic, and I wanted more functionality. This may have changed in the last few years, but when I tried the demo version, it automatically stops recording after 30 minutes unless you buy the full version. This may be fine for ripping vinyl, but for recording sets or ripping tapes it's useless, unless you want to record in sections and try and rejoin with different software later.

I've been using Sony Soundforge since then, and it's a lot better, did everything I wanted it too, but it is a bit complicated to use some of the more advanced functions like noise reduction and stuff. Great software all the same,

After reading so many things about how brilliant it is, for the last 2 weeks been using Adobe Audition. I'm struggling a little bit with it cos I'm so used to using soundforge, but it's just a case of learning where the things you need are more than anything else. Audition has a couple of handy things, like a channel balancing thingie (when ripping tapes one channel is always louder than the other for some reason, an I've noticed the levels go up and down a lot). It also has quite an effective noise reduction system (I watched a youtube vid on it yesterday but yet to try it myself).

Also the walkman thing, I wouldn't rip with a walkman, I know it's cheap, but if you're after the best quality you can get from a tape (I know you are, lol) then beg, borrow or steal a seperates tape deck. Give the tape heads a clean with some cotton buds soaked in IPA and let them dry off before you start ripping the tapes, you will get much better sound quality than just ripping with a walkman.

*Edit* A bit more on the level changing thing, I've noticed on a lot of tapes, that the sound level goes up and down a lot, what you want to do is find the loudest part of the tape, then set the volume (line in level) on your sound card mixer so it's not clipping the waveform (going above 0.0dB or going into the red on the recording software) at the loudest part of the tape. Clipping is very bad, and you lose part of the audio that can never be recovered, so it's best to have it a little bit too quiet than a little bit too loud, you can always increase the volume in the software later (think that is covered in the What CD guide). I can't tell you how many tapes I've ripped over and over again because you get 30 minutes in and the volume suddenly jumps up It' annoying as hell, lol.

Thanks Si Cosis

I may well buy a new seperates tape deck at a later date. But i will use the Walkman for now just to see if i can rip tapes successfully first And to see if i can get to grips with software for cleaning up rips. I am a learner so i will start small and work my way to bigger things

I thought Audacity was a free software?

just had a quick google and I think you're right, Audacity is totally free now. Last time I used it could be going on for 10 years ago now, and way back then it was just a demo version that was free and that cut off after 30 minutes of recording. I've not tried it again since I started using soundforge.

It doesn't matter which software you use to record, it's just some have more fancy tools than others. As long as Audacity will last the distance (lol) then it's as good as any.

If you're just starting to rip tapes then I wouldn't be too bothered about cleaning up the recordings, most people do more damage than good when trying to clean them. I always just rip then upload, if people want to try and clean then up that is up to them. If a rip has been cleaned badly then it can (usually) never be restored. Same with vinyl rips, a lot of "click removers" try and remove things that are not actually clicks, and damage the rest of the track. I would much rather have a rip with a bit of noise and a few pops and clicks than somethin that sounds really bad all the way through cos someone has tried to clean it up and failed miserably.