[TriLUG] Transferring audio cassettes to CDs with Linux

[Brian Henning]

>From my SoundBlaster / CL experience:
SoundBlasters range from good to excellent *output.*  I am not an authority,
but I would be willing to bet that Creative is in fact focusing their
development force on exactly that--output.  As recently as the SB Live
X-Gamer, input was still little more than an afterthought.  As Mr. Thompson
accurately pointed out, the Line In inputs on Sound Blasters typically have
zero headroom and, in my experience, very poor linearity (i.e. the sampling
circuitry imposes very unnatural compression on the signal), and a pretty
sorry signal-to-noise ratio.

For an input source of consumer-grade audio tape, I doubt you'd want to
shell out big bucks for a high-quality input card..  However, if later you
might want to record live input (for example, an instrument or good-quality
microphone), you might want to consider something along the lines of
Mackie's Spike (the Spike in particular has a street price of around $400..
probably excessive, but there are doubtlessly lower-end products that
perform adequately for less expense).

There's MY $0.02..  To be taken with the understanding that I am an aspiring
recording artist and as such have unusually high demands of a digital
recording system. (-:

Cheers,
~Brian

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <wayne at wh175.com>
To: "Triangle Linux Users Group discussion list" <trilug at trilug.org>
Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2004 7:59 AM
Subject: Re: [TriLUG] Transferring audio cassettes to CDs with Linux


> >Anything 'Sound Blaster' is also evil.  The line-in on SBs cant seem to
> >handle enough of a signal to get a decent recording without distorting,
> >or just failing altogether.  I've destroyed a handful of SBs over the
> >years trying to do home studio stuff.  Even if you do manage to get a
> >loud enough signal, the noise will be terrible.  If these recordings are
> >important to you, I'd definitely recommend a much better sound card.
>
> Does that include the newer products from Creative Labs?
>
>
>
>
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