Re: [ARSCLIST] audio cassettes

[Alexis Weatherl <alexisw@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Richard,

Have you considered cassette transfers using an Alesis Masterlink?  Our
HHB 850 CD burner recently died and I'm considering the Masterlink
purchase as an easy way to incorporate DSP for our circulating use copies
that we burn from cassette to CD.  Our preservation copies would still be
transferred flat.

Just curious if anyone else out there is using the Masterlink for such a
purpose and the pros/cons.

Thank you,

Alexis Weatherl
University of Hawaii

 --



On Wed, 28 Jan 2004, Richard L. Hess wrote:

> Don,
>
> Your feelings years ago were correct, but what else did we have that filled the
> same niche?
>
> Cassettes are actually, for the most part, proving to be reasonably robust. I
> just transferred some early-'70s cassettes and the biggest headache with the
> non-major-brand ones were that the splices failed.
>
> A bigger concern is how to play the tapes with the highest fidelity during the
> transfer process.
>
> Sadly, the Nakamichi Dragon has been discontinued for close to ten years, but
> it was perhaps the only machine that had a working automatic PLAYBACK azimuth
> adjustment. Nakamichi also made some with manual playback azimuth adjustment. I
> think there is a DR1 that has the manual adjustment going on eBay right now.
>
> I just bought my third Dragon--there were several on eBay for reasonable prices
> this week and I just couldn't say no.
>
> I continue to be amazed at the quality of the Dragon.
>
> My favorite transfer workstation for cassettes is a Dragon and a pair of Sony
> CDR-W33 CD recorders. One audio cable between the Dragon and the first CDR and
> then a TOSLINK optical cable between the first and the second CDR. Monitor off
> the analog output of the second CDR. Dirt simple. Two CD-R copies at the same
> time (use one remote to trigger track marks simultaneously on both writers).
>
> Cheers,
>
> Richard
> --
>
> Richard L. Hess
> http://www.richardhess.com/tape/
>
>
> Quoting Donald Allan Mccatty <ao1286@xxxxxxxxx>:
>
> >      Iâ??m new to the list and Iâ??m quite sure Iâ??m revealing my
> > ignorance, but whatâ??s the current status of audio cassettes?
> > Are they still the preferred format for anything (esp. oral
> > history)?  How does the immediate and long(how long?)term
> > future look for tape cassettes and recorders? How long can a
> > cassette tape be reliably stored? Years ago I taped a lot of
> > Bill Monroe live shows; I had real doubts about longevity
> > even at that time.
> >      Any recommended sources of info would be appreciated.
> >                                        -Don McCatty
> >                                         ao1286@xxxxxxxxx
> >
>