Interference from cassette player
in [UK Mac]
|
Prev: Complex page numbering in documents?
Next: Special characters in file names and cross-platform compatibility
From: Martin S Taylor on 17 May 2010 06:49 I've been trying to transfer some old cassette tapes onto the iMac by plugging a cassette player into the audio input and using Amadeus to record the output. You know that "Bzzzzz-bzt-bzt-bzzzzz-bzt-bzt" noise you get from time to time when a mobile phone is too near the Mac's external speakers? Well I'm getting that on all the recordings I make. I've taken the iPhone out of the room, but it seems to be the tape recorder itself which is causing the interference, as the sound only happens when the motor is running. At first I thought it was just affecting the speakers, but the sound is on the recording, too. Moving the cassette player further from the computer helps, but not enough. Any thoughts? Martin S Taylor
From: Peter Ceresole on 17 May 2010 07:24 Martin S Taylor <mst(a)hRyEpMnOoVtEiTsHm.cIo.uSk> wrote: > At first I thought it was just affecting the speakers, but the sound is on > the recording, too. Moving the cassette player further from the computer > helps, but not enough. It does sound like a motor fault. They happen... But in the many recordings I've transcribed this way, admittedly a long time ago when we used cassette recorders to make simultaneous copies of interviews shot on Nagras, it wasn't something that happened more often than very rarely. Have you tried with another cassette player? -- Peter
From: Martin S Taylor on 17 May 2010 07:54 Peter Ceresole wrote > Have you tried with another cassette player? I would, but it's the only one I own and so few people have them these days. I bought this on eBay specifically to transfer my tapes. I'm not sure it's a motor fault, anyhow, since the problem is reduced when I move the cassette player further from the computer. Would you expect this from a motor fault? MST
From: Jaimie Vandenbergh on 17 May 2010 07:58 On Mon, 17 May 2010 12:54:15 +0100, Martin S Taylor <mst(a)hRyEpMnOoVtEiTsHm.cIo.uSk> wrote: >Peter Ceresole wrote >> Have you tried with another cassette player? > >I would, but it's the only one I own and so few people have them these days. >I bought this on eBay specifically to transfer my tapes. > >I'm not sure it's a motor fault, anyhow, since the problem is reduced when I >move the cassette player further from the computer. Would you expect this >from a motor fault? Yes, a crackly motor would spit out hf interference. Do you have a metal tea-tray you could put between the computer and the player, or a much longer 3.5mm lead? Cheers - Jaimie -- "I do not like the feel of the middle way; and I do not like the smell of the left hand way" -- J R R Tolkien
From: Peter Ceresole on 17 May 2010 08:03
Martin S Taylor <mst(a)hRyEpMnOoVtEiTsHm.cIo.uSk> wrote: > I'm not sure it's a motor fault, anyhow, since the problem is reduced when I > move the cassette player further from the computer. Would you expect this > from a motor fault? The kind of fault I was thinking of was electrical motor noise- what used to be brush noise in the days when motors were built that way. I don't know how they're built nowadays, but if it's generating noise that's being picked up by the Mac's input, moving the player away might have an effect. I'm afraid that I don't have a cassette player I could push your way; like you, I don't think I have one any longer. All my Walkmen have walked... -- Peter |