Converting 4 track cassette to digital tape speed tricks?

S

stoneattic

New member
I have a bunch of old tapes that my band did on a Tascam 424 way back in the day. They were recorded at the double tape speed (3-3/4 IPS).

I was wondering if there was software out there that would allow me to play the cassette back at normal speed (1-7/8 IPS) and then speed it up in software.

I realize the I will only be able to get to tracks 1 & 2, but think I can flip it and get tracks 3 & 4 backward and flip them digitally.
 
Just play them back at double the sample rate. Bring 'em in at 44.1, play 'em back at 88.2 (then just resample them to 44.1 if you choose).

Don't expect them to line up perfectly... There will most likely need to be some adjustments along the way.
 
Massive Master said:
Just play them back at double the sample rate. Bring 'em in at 44.1, play 'em back at 88.2 (then just resample them to 44.1 if you choose).

Don't expect them to line up perfectly... There will most likely need to be some adjustments along the way.
Click to expand...

Wow, great idea. That's so simple it never occurred to me. I kept thinking processing. I'll give it a try. Thanks!
 
A whole lot easier if you can find a machine similar to the one you recorded the tapes on, namely 4 tracks, 3.75ips, including any NR you might have originally used, and bounce all 4 tracks in one hit and remix digitally from there.

Otherwise, synchronising the two sets of tracks could range from difficult to a nightmare. Believe me, I've tried. No matter how much time you spend, you will never get the synch as good as if you bounce all tracks at once.
I suggest anybody who tells you otherwise has never tried it. Whereas digitally recorded tracks have a much more solid timebase, analog tracks tend to wander all over the place.

Sometimes people have to attempt to post-synchronise say movie footage and sound that were not time referenced to each other in the first place and so have no choice but to spend maybe many hours on the stuff, and it still will only be an approximation.

But the difference here is that your tracks ARE perfectly synchronised, on the original tape. By bouncing in only two tracks at a time, you destroy that precise link.

If your original stuff is important to you, why not do it justice?

The guys on the analog only forum should be be able to point you in the right direction re sourcing a suitable machine.

My 2 cent's worth.

Cheers Tim
 
Another simple solution: If you have access to a open-reel machine with at least two speeds, transfer from cassette to reel tape at the higher speed, than play back at the lower speed and transfer to digital on that pass.
 
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