Distorted tapes

[tamborine]

Am trying to digitalise old reel to reel tapes but they sound quite distorted.

Is there a program to reduce the distortion ?

[rojash]

Do you mean that they sound distorted in their original form, or do you mean that only the digitised versions sound distorted?

If the former, there's not much you can do about it.

If the latter, you are probably recording at too high a level, causing clipping. You will need to experiment with both the playback volume on the tape machine, and the line-in volume on the computer to find the ideal recording level.

[HowardKennitby]

Which program are you using to record the digital version?

[bazwillrun]

what R2R are you outputting from ? and what output are you using eg: line level , headphones etc , does it have an adjustable output level ?

[HowardKennitby]

Having thought some more I have come up with more questions/suggestions.

Are you playing the tapes on the same machine that recorded them?
Is the tape head clean and properly aligned?
Are you playing them at the correct speed?
Are all the connection cables good quality and undamaged?
How are controlling the input level to the recording program?

[tamborine]

Its a cassette tape in music centre. Cable from mc to Samsung jukebox to record. Playback via usb to lappy. Sounds ok thru earphones but cd burn is poor.

[bednobs]

is it a cassette tape or reel to reel tapes?

[tamborine]

Both bednobs. Reel 2 reel > cassette tapes > MP3 player > computer for CD burning.

[paintpowder1]

Won't work that way: replace the MP3 player with a CD Recorder if you can get your hands on one.

Reel-to-Reel > Cassette Player > CD Recorder > Rip CD to Computer > Then Burn.

Other way is to convert via Video/Audio Grabber or something similar.

[HowardKennitby]

I don't get why you have you introduced the cassette. Can you not download something like Audacity and record from the reel-to-reel into a PC and then write an mp3 file.
You can then convert that to normal CD audio if you want.