[LAU] USB interface for backing up old tracks mastered on cassette

Ralf Mardorf ralf.mardorf at alice-dsl.net
Thu Jan 17 12:16:50 CET 2019


My 4-Track Yamaha does 40 Hz to 14 KHz, a good HiFi cassette player
should be way better. Regarding frequency response the cassette
player's maintenance is much important, to allow proper recording.
If the tape heads and capstans were demagnetize on a regular basis, the
recording quality of a good cassette player isn't that bad, so high
quality digitisation might make an audible difference. However, I don't
know if a cheap audio interface is good enough, but the interface might
be just a part of the digital chain, sample frequency, dithering, good
software are important, too. I tested mastering my 4-Track recordings
with a Yamaha DAT recorder at 32 KHz, 12 bit (2 Hz to 14.5 KHz), which
was good enough for most recordings, but sometimes it did cause
artefacts. 48 KHz, 16 bit (2 Hz to 22 KHz) was always good.

Comparing my RME HDSPe AIO Linux audio recordings of high quality
audio signals (I never recorded audio from a cassette player with
Linux) with the Sony DAT recorder, the audio quality of the DAT
recorder is way better, while the monitoring of the RME HDSPe AIO is
without audio flaws, issues are present when playing with Linux
recorded audio signals.

However, we don't need to discuss any claim, neither Jeremy's 12kHz,
nor my Linux recording issue claim, instead just order an audio
interface, make a few test recordings and if you shouldn't be
satisfied, return the audio interface to the dealer. Important is only
what you are able to hear.

Btw. the audio quality of my Behringer ADA8000, my Focusrite Scarlett
18i20 (2nd gen), my TerraTec EWX 24/96 and a Presonus 1818VSL I
returned to the dealer is less good, than what my end of the 80s cheap
Pioneer HiFi amp is able to perform, just the audio quality of the
RME HDSPe AIO beats the aged HiFi amp's audio quality.

I wonder, if the analog domain of a Behringer UCA202 could keep up with
the output of a good HiFi cassette player. The cassette player output
does bias the sound, as well as the analog input of a cheap audio
interface.

-- 
pacman -Q linux{,-rt{-securityink,-cornflower,,-pussytoes}}|cut -d\  -f2
4.20.2.arch1-1
4.19.15_rt12-0
4.19.13_rt10-0
4.19.10_rt8-0
4.18.16_rt9-1


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