Why digitise? Your audio cassette collection's digital future

  1. Introduction
  2. About this resource
  3. The Reilly collection
  4. Reasons to digitise
  5. Current project
  6. Digital formats
  7. Useful links
  8. Disclaimer

Dr Linda Barwick
PARADISEC, Transient Building F12
University of Sydney
NSW 2006

July 2001
revised September 2005


Information about current project and procedures used

1. Brief technical description

  • Collection of cassette recordings of music and speech 1973-1976
  • Original recording machine no longer available
  • Original tapestock variable in quality and state of preservation
  • Stereo recordings, some automatic volume control, no Dolby
  • Digitisation for preservation, community access, and research
  • Procedures had to be carried out in situ in collector's home

2. Measures to ensure appropriate quality transfer

  • use of good quality components and cabling
  • careful setting of levels on playback machine and in recording software to ensure optimal signal-to-noise ratio
  • setting of bit rate and sample rate to CD-audio quality (16bit 44.1khz)
  • use of standard uncompressed PCM file format to maximise ease of future management of digital file

3. Hardware

  • Sony professional Walkman stereo-corder WM-D6C (heads recently cleaned and aligned)
  • Cabling: stereo miniplug line out > twin RCA > twin canon plugs > Digigram VX Pocket PCMCIA soundcard
  • Apple Powerbook G3 400mhz with 192 meg RAM, running system 9.0.4
  • VST CD-R/W internal CD drive/burner

4. Software

  • Sound recording: SoundEdit 16 v II, set to 16-bit stereo AIFF 44.1khz
  • Processing: normalized after recording to boost levels to 100% (Soundedit)
  • Split into tracks: CD Spin doctor
  • Burn to CD: Toast Titanium 5.0
Introduction
About this resource
Reilly collection
Why digitise
Procedures
Digital formats
Links
Disclaimer

© Linda Barwick 2001, 2003