Burning audio cd's

[Autoeng]

I've got some speaking (i.e. no music) cassettes that I am copying to my PC and I need some help. I am using Roxio Media Manager 9 to capture the audio. I can burn with MS Media Player, ITunes, Roxio or basically whatever is on my pc.

1) I am recording at 128kbs CBR in stereo at 44.100khz, 16 bits in mp3 format. Recordings are turning out fine but they are 41+mb. I can record in various formats. Should I change any of these setting for more optimal disk storage or quality?

2) The recordings are 40+ minutes in length. That means that I can't fit two on a cd so one cassette = 2 cd's. That can get bothersome. Anything I can do to get more on a cd. The cd's are 700mb 80 minute. My guess is that one minute of recording is one minute of cd space so I'm screwed.

3) I've got some old music cassettes that would be nice to have on cd. Any advice as to settings for those?

Thanks

 

[Vassago]

I've got some speaking (i.e. no music) cassettes that I am copying to my PC and I need some help. I am using Roxio Media Manager 9 to capture the audio. I can burn with MS Media Player, ITunes, Roxio or basically whatever is on my pc.

1) I am recording at 128kbs CBR in stereo at 44.100khz, 16 bits in mp3 format. Recordings are turning out fine but they are 41+mb. I can record in various formats. Should I change any of these setting for more optimal disk storage or quality?

2) The recordings are 40+ minutes in length. That means that I can't fit two on a cd so one cassette = 2 cd's. That can get bothersome. Anything I can do to get more on a cd. The cd's are 700mb 80 minute. My guess is that one minute of recording is one minute of cd space so I'm screwed.

3) I've got some old music cassettes that would be nice to have on cd. Any advice as to settings for those?

Thanks

Hey Auto, long time no see. (I don't come here much)

1. I assume that these speech cassettes have a lot of silent areas where you can't hear anything in between words, sentences, etc. I would recommend VBR instead of CBR. CBR means that it records at a constant bitrate of 128. If you use VBR, it'll cut the bitrate down in areas that are quiet, lowering your file size considerably. It's pretty useful for audio files without music. I would set the minimum to 32 or 64 and the max to 128. You probably won't notice any degrading.

2) You can split the audio files you record so that you can fit one and 3/4ths on each cd, this should cut down your cd usage. There are free mp3 splitters out there. A very good one is Audacity, which you can use to cut and join mp3s so they stay one track if you wish.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

There aren't any ways viable for you to burn more than 80 minutes onto normal cdrs. There are rare variations of cds that have more space, but most players won't play them correctly, if at all.

3) I would set these up as 128 CBR, as going any higher won't yield better quality. Cassettes are just not as good as cds. You can then use Audacity in the link above to split the single mp3 into multiple files, one for each song, to burn to cd as separate tracks.

Hope some of this is helpful.

Vassago

 

[Autoeng]

Thank you Vass. I don't come around much anymore either. Are you still in Florida? Where?

 

[Rich]

Cassettes are just not as good as cds.

Highly debateable surely?

 

[Ron_dK]

I've got some speaking (i.e. no music) cassettes that I am copying to my PC and I need some help.

.....I've got some old music cassettes that would be nice to have on cd. Any advice as to settings for those?

I agree with Vass that Audacity is the way to go.
But as an alternative, there is a new gadget : USB cassette deck. For some $140 you can buy a deck with which you can record directly into your PC or iPod etc.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/audio/9778/

As a second alternative, why not record it on a DVD. This will give you some 4.7 Gig in lieu of 700 Mb.

 

[Vassago]

Highly debateable surely?

When I speak of "better" I mean technology wise. Anyone can debate on the "natural" sound cassettes and vinyls provide. By better, I mean that cds are digital vs the analog sound cassettes and vinyls supply.

 

[Vassago]

I agree with Vass that Audacity is the way to go.
But as an alternative, there is a new gadget : USB cassette deck. For some $140 you can buy a deck with which you can record directly into your PC or iPod etc.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/audio/9778/

As a second alternative, why not record it on a DVD. This will give you some 4.7 Gig in lieu of 700 Mb.

I think he is trying to burn them as audio cds. Surely he can fit many mp3 recordings on one cd, not just one and a half. Even if he were to do dvd audio, it would only 120 minutes, which isn't much more help.

Rak is right though. If you can Autoeng, it would be easier on dvd in mp3 format, and it would save a lot of space.