Recording on Analog

[otter272]

Is there a way to record something on an analog multi-track recorder and than transfer it to a computer in order to create an mp3 file?

[bennychico11]

yeah....a step in the wrong direction quality wise, but you can do it.
what gear are you using?

[otter272]

I'll be using either a Tascam 414 or a Tascam 424

[bennychico11]

you'll need to go RCA out of either your monitor or line outs into a soundcard. then using a simple wave recording software program, record what's on your Tascam into your computer. then make an mp3 of it.

[otter272]

oh ok, thanks...I just wanted to make sure that it could be done. Thanks again, I appreciate it.

[whyseye]

Originally Posted by bennychico11

yeah....a step in the wrong direction quality wise, but you can do it.
what gear are you using?

What gets lost in the transition? Do you still retain the sound qualities of analogue recording? Do you pick up noise? Lose detail?

Because I'm usually just recording dry voiceover tracks, there are times when it is just easier for me to record on tape, then put it on the computer if I need it in digital form as well. (I confess, I'm still pretty remedial at recording directly into Audacity....)

What am I sacrificing by doing it that way? Is the difference substantial enough to merit skipping that step at all times (unless the client wants it on tape)? Should I just learn and love Audacity until I can afford some real tracking/editing software? (But I need an LDC........wah!!)

[bennychico11]

what i meant by loss of quality is going from analog to an MP3 digital format. MP3s compress the sound (data compression...not amplitude compression) and in doing so you lose important sonic quality. ever seen a 50MB wave file get reduced to 5MB??? you're losing a bunch of information that way. search around the internet and you'll find out how MP3s do it.

now if you went to .WAV or .AIFF format it'd be fine. You're not losing anything there (although purists still say you wouldn't have the great analog sound anymore...but most people can't tell the difference).

[whyseye]

Thanks for the clarification!
Yeah, I can hear the loss on the MP3s, but the AIFF stuff sounded pretty good to me.....I was just worried that by monitoring through headphones that I was missing something important.

[Blue Bear Sound]

AIFF is the same as a WAV (different file header info) - they're both uncompressed, lossless, digital audio.

MP3s, MPEG, WMA are all lossy, data-compressed audio formats.