Tape to CD Transfer

["Brock Heinzeroth" <heiney@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>>Greetings, good people...

>>I am now entirely engrossed in tape-to-PC-to-CD conversions of the 60+
shows I now have on tape.  I figure I'll get through >>all of them in the
year 2030.

>>Anybody else out there do such a conversion?  Any tipes or suggestions to
make the process easier with sacrificing quality >>would be greatly
appreciated.  Recommended WAV editors?  Do you create single-song WAVS or do
you create a massive tape->>side WAV and cut it into little pieces?
Inquiring minds want to know.

>>I just love the Presence Mirror Server, and I greatly appreciated it as
well.  For rabid live Zeppelin fans like myself, to >>have access to these
shows without any strings attached is like being 8-years-old on Christmas
morning again.  Great stuff!

>>Until next time, stay well...

>>David



Hi David,

I've been doing the same project for about 2 years now.  I know it's
probably not the best quality
that's out there, but if it's good enough to listen to on tape, then it's
good enough to listen
to on CD.  Plus most of my 275 plus shows were pretty good quality to begin
with.

The number one suggestion is patience, lots of patience.  Of course the wav
has to be ripped in
real time so an average complete show takes 120 to 220 minutes of real time.
Plus if you have
a slow machine like mine (Pentium II) it takes another 20-30 minutes to save
the wav.  And then
if you do any editing at all that takes more time to cut and paste pieces
together, etc. etc.
It truely is a labor of love.

I usuallly start with as close to 80 min blocks of waves as I can get.  I
look at the entire
time of the complete show and break it down songwise so I'm never working
with more than 1 cd's
worth of wave. When I have to flip the tape, I pause Cool Edit and then
restart it. For me it's
much easier to go back and edit at that point then it is to cut and splice.
Even when you cut and
splice you have to go back and edit anyways. Cutting and splicing takes
forever unless you have a
lightening fast machine. I started with my favorite shows and then did the
best recorded shows.
Personally I always make sure to consult Rey's book for proper running order
and completness.
Some of my shows had fragments on several different tapes.

It's actually been and continues to be fun project, but there are times I
wish it didn't
take so long.  On average a typical Zeppelin show transfered from tape to cd
takes me
about 6-8 hours of time and effort.  I use Cool-Edit Pro, rip it as one
complete wave, edit,
and then go back and listen over and over until I can determine the cue
points and then
I make a cue sheet and burn away.  No gaps, no pops, no clicks.  I use my
trusty
Nakamichi deck(s) and I can't tell a difference between the tape and the cd
when I'm
done.

I've even taken so old non-boot tapes that I recorded from L.P. and put them
on cd, because
I'm too cheap too go out and buy the damn thing on cd.  One that comes to
mind
is Deep Purple made in Japan.  I am an audiophile, and at the time had a
high-end
turntable and a Nakamichi Dragon cassette deck and that tape still sounds
awesome.
That tape was made in 1984.

If you have any specific questions drop me a line.  Happy burning

L8TR,

Brock