Recording from tape to computer

derrick

Still getting same error message as in post #18

shadowdragon

did it play in audcity ok in the Au format? it maybe that you recorded nothing if you didnt have your mic turned on/up?

derrick

vyseyboy wrote: »

The line-in on the sound card is usually blue-coloured (if they are colour coded,) and will be right next to the mic input. There's usually only three jacks on a basic sound card. Output to speakers (green,) Line-in (blue) and mic in (pink).

I also appear to have a fourth one coloured yellow.


"To get the coloured bars for monitoring the levels, you might need to click on the downward pointing arrow beneath where the bar should be (next to the little pic of a microphone) and select "enable meter"

I do not have that choice, just the ones in post #15

That drop down box,(with the mic symbol), does not give a mic setting only; -
Vertical Stereo, Linear, Monitor Input and Disable.

derrick

shadowdragon wrote: »

did it play in audcity ok in the Au format? it maybe that you recorded nothing if you didnt have your mic turned on/up?

I do not know what format it played in, just could not hear anything on playback, although I did hear the input through the speakers as I was recording.

derrick

Also why do I keep getting this message when recording as mentioned in post #18; -

Audacity Error
Can’t open file ‘C:/Documents and settings/user/Desktop/ICO recording_data/b00047.au (error 3: the system cannot find the path selected.)

derrick

OK I think I am winning, thanks for staying with this.

I was recording using wav and exporting as same, I have changed this to record via "line in" and when recorded a couple of minutes worth, stopped record and then File > export as Wav, it then played back through Windows media player after saving it to desktop!?

So if I do what I have just explained, but for the total length of the tape recording, save to desktop, I can then send it to cd recorder for copying to cd , correct?

derrick

I think it is now working and I am managing to record onto Audacity, but the length of the conversation on the tape is in excess of 40 minutes, the recording stops after about 10 minutes and if I am not there to watch and listen to it, i.e. monitor it for the total time of the recording I am not going to get it to work correctly.

Why is it stopping recording after about 10 minutes, it will carry on if I press record again, and is there an adjustment to make it record for longer?

What does "snap to....>snap on, snap off", mean under "edit" in the toolbar.

vyseyboy

I'm a bit stumped as to why it might be stopping. Do you have a screensaver which is kicking in? When you are recording, some text should appear at the VERY bottom of the program in a grey info bar, indicating how much recording space is left on your hard disc. This is > 40 minutes, yes?

The snap on / snap off is used when editing / "moving" sound clips that are already recorded. If you put snap on, when you "move" the recording it will snap the beginning of the clip to the nearest increment on the timeline i.e only allow you to move it by 50 ms for example at a time. If snap is off, you can move it by whatever increment you want. It's pretty irrelevant to your situation though, and shouldn't matter what it's set at.

derrick

vyseyboy wrote: »

I'm a bit stumped as to why it might be stopping. Do you have a screensaver which is kicking in? When you are recording, some text should appear at the VERY bottom of the program in a grey info bar, indicating how much recording space is left on your hard disc. This is > 40 minutes, yes?

The snap on / snap off is used when editing / "moving" sound clips that are already recorded. If you put snap on, when you "move" the recording it will snap the beginning of the clip to the nearest increment on the timeline i.e only allow you to move it by 50 ms for example at a time. If snap is off, you can move it by whatever increment you want. It's pretty irrelevant to your situation though, and shouldn't matter what it's set at.

Re screensaver, it might kick in but I was using the computer when it was recording, I have my monitor shut down after 5 minutes of non use, but it can' be that as I have had this record stop twice now after 10, & 12 minutes.

I am recording again now, and the grey bar has; -
Disk space remains for recording 10 hours and 13 minutes.
Project rate 44100. Cursor: 0:00.000000 min:sec [Snap-To Off]

The time remaining for recording decreases whilst recording.

This recording has now stopped mid way; -

Have just tried recording again and the recording has stopped after 20mins & 48 seconds according to the playback info on Windows Media Player.

The grey bar at the bottom now has; -

Disk space remains for recording 9 hours and 44 minutes.
Project rate 44100. Cursor: 0:00.000000 min:sec [Snap-To Off]

vyseyboy

Hmm. Other than resource conflicts / spyware etc. (does the PC generally run well?) I can't think of what else to try.

Maybe try halfing the project sampling rate (drop down box in the bottom left corner,) to 22050Hz, although this might cut a little of the high end from the recording (it shouldn't matter too much if the source is an old cassette, and it's contents are voice,)

Halfing the sample rate will reduce the load on your system / hard discs, and might allow it to record for longer, if the drop outs were caused by resource shortages.

Another possibility - do you have other programs running which might take control of your systems audio mixer? Anything multimedia-based running in the quickstart toolbars?!