[linux-audio-user] Sound card question..

[Howard Sanner]

Ish Rattan wrote:
> 
> I am interested in transferring some audio from cassette
> tapes to CD. I know that I need a good tape deck (have one)
> but would like an opinion on the rest.
> 
> Is there a tool under linux (gnome/kde) taht will allow me
> to record the info to .wav files?

	Here's what I'd do (and have done many times with great
success). Get an Ensoniq ES1370 (not ES1371) sound card from
eBay. They show up fairly often and you should be no more than
$20 out of pocket for it. They are the best-sounding cheap sound
card around. The 1371 uses a different chipset and doesn't sound
as good.

	Keep your peak levels no higher than -6 dBFS or you'll overload
the sound card. If your tape deck has hot output (like a
professional machine does at +4, and that consumer machines do
not), you'll need some kind of attenuator between the tape deck
and sound card to avoid overloading the sound card's input
stages. This is a problem you can't fix with the mix applet (I've
tried). I therefore always put an outboard mixer between the tape
deck and the sound card because it allows me to tweak the level
the sound card sees very easily (and is required if I want to
record from my Ampexes with their +4 output, which is generally
what I'm doing).

	Record using Broadcast 2000, edit, save to WAV files, render,
etc., etc., as appropriate.

	Burn CD's using your favorite burning software. I like Eroaster
for audio CD's, myself, but there are many choices here, and they
all merely supply a graphical front end to cdrecord. So try them
all and see what works best for you. Record in disk at once (DAO)
mode unless you have a compelling reason not to.

					Howard Sanner
					flagstad at mindspring.com