Moto 828 mkIII, TASCAM CC-222 mkIII, and iMac4,1 via Firewire = Digitizing Audio!

April 14-16, 2016 Work Log

Finally configured Motu 828 mk3 to digitize on the iMac 4,1 (27"?).

Special thanks for David Gagnon, formally of YWAM Madison & YWAM Madison Podcasts, for suggestion this sort of set up.

Problem was the TASCAM CC-222 MKIII units have two sets of RCA line outputs.  But like VHS/DVD combo units this Cassette Deck and CD-R combo unit uses one L/R output only for the CD-R and the second for the cassette deck.

So the main issue was that the Motu unbalanced phono had to come from the left/right RCA cable on the cassette deck using OUTPUT #2 -!

Found  CueMix FX app on Mac to help set inputs.

Originally set trim input to +17 dbi for first two tapes. Then +16 dpi for another set or two. Found the bumper audio on one tape clipped (but never Winkie) so lowered the trim boost to +14 dbi.

Tried to use the Motu AudioDesk software and gave up and went to the Audacity.  May wish to revisit that software.

Settled on path as follows:
TASCAM --> Motu 828 --> iMac using Audacity

Digitize using Audacity's "Transport... Timed Record".  Tried using Sound Activated Recording feature but on the Mac at least it is a broken feature.  Doesn't work at all.

Had to downgrade to older version (2.10) after crashing once since the recovery feature kept locking up the app.  Might wish to post current version bug/issue to forums.

Have to digitize as 6 channels and the first two are just dummy. They are actually Moto 828 Mic 1 & 2 input but I have no simple way to just digitize channels 3 through 6 (Analog 1-4). Fortunately it's not a big deal to record nothing then delete those tracks after the timed digitizing is done.  Also I have to remember to assign Left/Right to each channel which is an annoyance but fortunately the software will complain if I try to export without having done so.

Saving files as FLAC level 2.  Thirty-five minutes of 96 kHz 24 bit stereo audio saves to about 700 MB.  Unfortunately on this slow Mac that was taking a while (10 minutes? 4 minutes? Can't remember now.)

Started out saving tags but realized it's better to go minimalist leaving everything blank, just using a standard tape number and side suffix and to use the established batch protocols to tag everything.

Realized while driving home that instead of tagging ("deep tag"?) just the "deck number" I should use Google Sheets lookup and from the deck number find and tag the make, model, serial and tag each audio file with "Deck Used", e.g. "TASCAM CC-222 MKIII Serial Number 123456789."

Would be nice to also log "Deck heads last cleaned nn tapes ago" but maybe overkill.

Switched to saving files just as MS .wav (24 bit) to increase speed. FLAC compression was taking too long and made the files harder to preview.  Wave files will play in iTunes, loads fast, etc.   Thirty-five or maybe forty minute tapes sides are now about 1.2 GB each (24 bit 96 kHz stereo.)

Need to batch convert the first 6 sides from flac to wav still.

- this first entry was written from memory on April 16 at 2:25 am.


Start: April 15, 2016 8:30 PM
Break 12:15 am - 1:00 am Whataburger

Figured out today that the fastest path is just to never save Audacity projects and never cut and paste to make new files but instead just highlight each section and File... Export Selection... directly as wave.

Been going over in my mind the pros/cons of moving the whole digitizing set up to the Engage building from the Winkie Pratney Revival Library.  Would stage and organize tapes here but digitize there, saving through the iMac directly over the network to the Mac Pro where clipping should be extremely fast. That way exporting and processing could all be done on the Mac Pro.

Have to see how possible it is to move all the tagging and encoding routines from the Windows 10 i7 Dell to the Mac.  (Could always use vmware and W10 on the MacPro -- hybrid routines if needed.)

New idea: so many squeaky tapes during rewinding tensioning -- makes me wonder  should I just always replace the teflon sheets in every cassette processed?  Would take a lot longer but might produce better results.  Need to investigate what problems, if any, the squeaking actually causes.

Replacing every tape sheet would take a long time.  I keep remembering that great video from National Audio Company where I think they had a pneumatic screwdriver on a large overhead spring arm used to quickly open and close tape shells.  A simple but fast magnetically shielded screwdriver would be good.  Concerned about extra magnetic fields though.

[Funny how memories work -- just rewatched that video and there is no scene showing the memory I apparently made up of a workbench overhead air powered screwdriver -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMTpvr9HXeI ]

If I don't move the gear to the MacPro I definitely want to get an SSD drive for this old iMac.  The iMac is perfect as an appliance box.  Does just what I need. But I do want it faster.  If I open the iMac 4,1 up then I want to update the processor too.  I think it was a T7500 I need.  It's the mobile version and per other blogs would increase speed 166% going to Core 2 Duo from Core Duo.  Also would get 64 bit.

1. http://www.tekrevue.com/stayin-alive-upgrading-cpu-hard-drive-ram-2006-imac/
2. https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/51699/Core+Duo+CPU+upgrade+to+Core+2+Duo+CPU
3. http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,1122.0.html

Yeah - that TekRevue site shows 4GB RAM.  With that I could even do a 2GB RAM drive and maybe could edit the audio files there if desired.

Getting ready to leave.

Status:

TapeArchivescoms-iMac:Winkie Pratney Digital 96kHz Masters david$ ls -l

total 34848160

-rw-r--r--  1 david  staff   702539017 Apr 14 19:54 WP1001A.flac

-rw-r--r--  1 david  staff   709140545 Apr 14 19:59 WP1001B.flac

-rw-r--r--  1 david  staff   592348962 Apr 14 20:04 WP1002A.flac

-rw-r--r--  1 david  staff   548086729 Apr 14 20:09 WP1002B.flac

-rw-r--r--  1 david  staff   859571633 Apr 14 23:13 WP1003A.flac

-rw-r--r--  1 david  staff   814673572 Apr 14 23:18 WP1003B.flac

-rw-r--r--@ 1 david  staff   956732018 Apr 15 20:14 WP1004A.wav

-rw-r--r--@ 1 david  staff   864694064 Apr 15 20:20 WP1004B.wav

-rw-r--r--@ 1 david  staff  1286337980 Apr 14 23:30 WP1005A.wav

-rw-r--r--@ 1 david  staff  1292941208 Apr 15 21:02 WP1005B.wav

-rw-r--r--@ 1 david  staff  1075586240 Apr 15 20:34 WP1006A.wav

-rw-r--r--@ 1 david  staff  1035072188 Apr 15 20:41 WP1006B.wav

-rw-r--r--@ 1 david  staff  1224633824 Apr 15 23:36 WP1007A.wav

-rw-r--r--@ 1 david  staff  1182443354 Apr 15 23:38 WP1007B.wav

-rw-r--r--@ 1 david  staff  1062766592 Apr 16 01:52 WP1008A.wav

-rw-r--r--@ 1 david  staff  1052441330 Apr 16 02:10 WP1008B.wav

-rw-r--r--@ 1 david  staff  1619735660 Apr 15 23:43 WP1009A.wav

-rw-r--r--@ 1 david  staff  1298475512 Apr 15 23:46 WP1009B.wav

TapeArchivescoms-iMac:Winkie Pratney Digital 96kHz Masters david$ du -xhd 1

 17G .

Got WP-10 also done.

Re-tentioned (rewound) all the WP-xxx tapes "tails out" (not sure that's the right term.)  Rewound so they are now all on the Side 2 side.  Hoping, per some reading I did, that this really will help diminish some of the bleed through echo.  Will let them sit like this prior to digitizing.  Not sure it's great to use the TASCAM to rewind prior to digitizing but it does seem like a more gentle rewind than the Recordex CW-600's.

Next time:

1. Make a plan on sorting existing boxes:
   A. separate YWAM vs. Winkie (done?);
   B. order WP tapes
   C. order all YWAM tapes: YWAM vs non-YWAM then chronologically, then for those w/o dates, by speaker last name
   D. label all boxes - create a box number too
   E. Fast Forward till end all tapes to prep
   F. ensure all tapes have "good" shell
   G. serialize label all tapes
   H. figure out some storage desiccant for the boxes
   I. photograph sides of each tape and shell, and spines.
     *Figure out lens and lighting set up for reading print on spines
2. Ask Will difference between MASTER and ORIGINAL MASTER.
   Many of the WP tapes have both for the same numbers. I'll probably grab both so there are options for whoever wants to clean up contents.
3. Bring post its, USB hard drive.
4. Make a blog post for expenses:
   a.) cost of previously purchased supplies (shells, postits, pens, boxes, strapping tape, hardware gear.)
   b.) equipment wanted -- SDD + RAM + Larger Storage Drive? + CPU upgrade
5. Update Log based on file save dates so it reflects which decks were used for each tape.  In the future always do tapes in order regardless of 60 min sets vs 90 minute sets (i.e. if one is 90 and one is 60 just record both 90 minutes) to ensure consistent, easy tracking.
6. Consider to now adding to spreadsheet "listener notes" type field -- e.g. WP-8 had slow pitch and it was adjusted prior to digitizing.  Also possibly a simple three ranked quality rating "poor", "acceptable", "good".
7. Re-work spreadsheet so that tags are in a separate sheet and the VLOOKUP function is used. Make the logging sheet simpler so that it only has one line height per entry so it can be visually scanned easier.
8. Convert early FLAC files to consistent wave format.
9. Bring over Windows PC and Ripper Robot and portable hard drive -format as HFS before bringing (apparently 10.6.8 damages exFAT when closing.)
10. backup iMac files to portable drive