There were some units by Liteon which would do video DVDs as well as audio CDs, but the audio does not compare with the quality of a good CD-only unit (like the old Pioneers). They also lack some basics like a record level control.
Liteon no longer makes these units, and the drives in them tend to fail (perhaps why they no longer make them). (The drives can generally be replaced with specific computer drives, but it's hard to find replacements that retain the CD capabilities.)
Hope this helps.
Liteon no longer makes these units, and the drives in them tend to fail (perhaps why they no longer make them). (The drives can generally be replaced with specific computer drives, but it's hard to find replacements that retain the CD capabilities.)
Hope this helps.
The problem with PC burners is you can't burn from a pre-recorded source because of copyright blockers. Also, there's no way I know of to transfer from a VHS recording to DVD on a PC. I makes no sense that stand alone DVD/CD recorders aren't widely popular in the U.S.
well I've done it on a really cheap TV card. It wasn't easy tho. lots of research and tests. most of the problem was de-chunking the 700 Mb small clips from capture card driver via a registry edit. If I did it over I would choose a HARDWARE MPEG 2 capture TV card. Then use software to real time encode the captured stream before it writes to the hard drive. If this route seems too difficult then my suggestion is just use a stand alone VHS/DVD recorder and use the PC for CDs.
can you record vhs cassettes onto a pc - Access World Forums
can you record vhs cassettes onto a pc - Access World Forums
^^^This doesn't make sense.
A PC fitted with a composite video capture card will record any analogue video source (VHS being one). Whether it recognises the Macrovision signal on a commercial VHS tape is dependant on the software you use, and there is a lot of software out there to choose from that doesn't give a fig about Macrovision. But VHS tapes recorded on all/any home VHS recorders do not have any copy protection anyway. Once you have it on your PC hard disc as an AVI or MPEG or whatever file, again, lots of software out there to record it to a DVD - either in true industry standard DVD format, or as a DIVX file - which many DVD players now handle.
Pretty much all stand-alone DVD recorders will recognise the Macrovision signal in a commercial VHS tape and refuse to record it. But you can buy Macrovision removers. Again, home-recorded tapes never have any copy protection, regardless of what their original source was.
Standalone recorders are losing polularity here too, because - according to dealers I spoke to, recent ones (think Korea, China) have been unreliable and have short lives, so the dealers are reluctant to sell them - knowing they will be returned.
What I was talking about with the copy right thing is when trying to record from a pre-recorded CD to a CDR or CDRW.
Commercially maketed CDs incorporate SCMS (Serial Copy Management System). You can make a copy, but you cannot copy the copy.
Input on a stand-alone burner?
I was going to post a new thread, but found this one and thought I'd ask the question here.
I am currently looking for a stand alone CD burner for use in the rig- to burn cassettes as well as vinyl to CD for archiving as well as to share/make custom mixes/ play on a CD player. Typical stuff. I am not looking for a computer-based solution.
Anyway, I have been looking and would appreciate any assistance/experience anyone has on CD burners of days gone by, or perhaps some insight into the current offerings. It seems like most I find are early to mid 90's vintage (or new), and although they may be working now, reading up on the specific units often yields the same problems I have with my cheap old Phillips unit: refusal to recognize recordable discs after a while.
In that regard I have found that using 70 minute (as opposed to 80 minute) discs often solves the problem. Also, the 'flavor' of disc seems to matter- the color of the ink in the writable layer or something? But on my Phillips, it needs CDR-A discs, which are too expensive (particularly when more than half are wasted) and the choices are rather limited with regard to brand/length/color etc...
Some of the requirements of my 'dream' burner are:
XLR balanced analogue in
AES/EBU digital in
AES/EBU digital out
Must use cheap computer CDRs
CDRW option is nice, but not required. (most units do both anyway)
Must be able to play back these discs on any commercial player
(Options)
RCA in and out
SPDIF in and out optical / coaxial
These requirements limit it to the 'upper echelon' of pro units, and it is a VERY narrow view of currently available ones. The current ones meeting my criteria are:
Tascam CDRW 901SL
Product: CD-RW901SL | TASCAM
Fostex CR500 Master Recorder
Fostex CR500 CD-R/RW Master Recorder and more CD & DVD Recorders at GuitarCenter.com.
HHB CDR882
http://hhb.co.uk/hhb/usa/hhbproducts/cdr882/index.asp
Pricing favors the Fostex ($500) but I was hoping for a used unit for about half that price. The Fostex does add the ability to use the new broadcast format (higher resolution UDF format CDs at 24-bit/96kHz) which is nice; however using this would pigeon-hole me into playback only on this deck (for that format) which I would like to avoid. Regular redbook CD format is playable on anything from this recorder. The HHB has two record drives, so if I need to do a long record session, it can go across several discs seamlessly. This is a cool feature; however one I probably will never appreciate. A plus to this is the fact that I can use only one drive until it dies, and then have a perfectly new second drive for essentially double the life from the recorder...
Then there are the newer HD CD recorders, which are compatible with commercial HDCD players and also do 'normal' CDs as well.
Product: DV-RA1000HD | TASCAM
This above unit has a hard drive inside (hence the HD suffix) to save data for playback direct, or recording to disc. The earlier model did not have the hard drive and can be had (used) for much less if you find one. I was watching one on eBay but it was over $600.00 and I let it pass (there were no bids when it ended as it seems everyone wants the HD option).
Now, if you want a hard drive and low cost, the Alesis ML9600 is a studio master recorder ("Master Deck") with a hard drive and CD burner. There are many of these available and it seems to be quite robust (not a lot of burner complaints). It is also on the high side of my budget for this piece, but perhaps the best option due to features : Price ratio... This does not do HD recording, but this is not a main criteria (particularly when your source data is a cassette!). I was thinking doing my LP burns in HD might be nice...
Anyway, it's long-winded but I have done some homework already. If anyone can chime in at all, it is appreciated! Thanks!
I was going to post a new thread, but found this one and thought I'd ask the question here.
I am currently looking for a stand alone CD burner for use in the rig- to burn cassettes as well as vinyl to CD for archiving as well as to share/make custom mixes/ play on a CD player. Typical stuff. I am not looking for a computer-based solution.
Anyway, I have been looking and would appreciate any assistance/experience anyone has on CD burners of days gone by, or perhaps some insight into the current offerings. It seems like most I find are early to mid 90's vintage (or new), and although they may be working now, reading up on the specific units often yields the same problems I have with my cheap old Phillips unit: refusal to recognize recordable discs after a while.
In that regard I have found that using 70 minute (as opposed to 80 minute) discs often solves the problem. Also, the 'flavor' of disc seems to matter- the color of the ink in the writable layer or something? But on my Phillips, it needs CDR-A discs, which are too expensive (particularly when more than half are wasted) and the choices are rather limited with regard to brand/length/color etc...
Some of the requirements of my 'dream' burner are:
XLR balanced analogue in
AES/EBU digital in
AES/EBU digital out
Must use cheap computer CDRs
CDRW option is nice, but not required. (most units do both anyway)
Must be able to play back these discs on any commercial player
(Options)
RCA in and out
SPDIF in and out optical / coaxial
These requirements limit it to the 'upper echelon' of pro units, and it is a VERY narrow view of currently available ones. The current ones meeting my criteria are:
Tascam CDRW 901SL
Product: CD-RW901SL | TASCAM
Fostex CR500 Master Recorder
Fostex CR500 CD-R/RW Master Recorder and more CD & DVD Recorders at GuitarCenter.com.
HHB CDR882
http://hhb.co.uk/hhb/usa/hhbproducts/cdr882/index.asp
Pricing favors the Fostex ($500) but I was hoping for a used unit for about half that price. The Fostex does add the ability to use the new broadcast format (higher resolution UDF format CDs at 24-bit/96kHz) which is nice; however using this would pigeon-hole me into playback only on this deck (for that format) which I would like to avoid. Regular redbook CD format is playable on anything from this recorder. The HHB has two record drives, so if I need to do a long record session, it can go across several discs seamlessly. This is a cool feature; however one I probably will never appreciate. A plus to this is the fact that I can use only one drive until it dies, and then have a perfectly new second drive for essentially double the life from the recorder...
Then there are the newer HD CD recorders, which are compatible with commercial HDCD players and also do 'normal' CDs as well.
Product: DV-RA1000HD | TASCAM
This above unit has a hard drive inside (hence the HD suffix) to save data for playback direct, or recording to disc. The earlier model did not have the hard drive and can be had (used) for much less if you find one. I was watching one on eBay but it was over $600.00 and I let it pass (there were no bids when it ended as it seems everyone wants the HD option).
Now, if you want a hard drive and low cost, the Alesis ML9600 is a studio master recorder ("Master Deck") with a hard drive and CD burner. There are many of these available and it seems to be quite robust (not a lot of burner complaints). It is also on the high side of my budget for this piece, but perhaps the best option due to features : Price ratio... This does not do HD recording, but this is not a main criteria (particularly when your source data is a cassette!). I was thinking doing my LP burns in HD might be nice...
Anyway, it's long-winded but I have done some homework already. If anyone can chime in at all, it is appreciated! Thanks!
Last edited:
I think finding a stand alone recorder using a HDD with balanced XLR inputs to be your best solution. Finite optical drive lifetime is the main reason. Advances in optical drives and their media make units obsolete rather quickly. This approach will give you more options for future proofing like importing data into a laptop or other PCs for further processing/lossless compression. Also consider RAW data storage to another backup HDD and /or DVD, BluRay disks. In my experience CDRs are a very poor choice for archiving!
edit> make sure internal HDD is available to higher capacity serial ATA standards ie SATA
edit> make sure internal HDD is available to higher capacity serial ATA standards ie SATA
Last edited:
Good points.
I guess this is why I want to go used as opposed to new. The HHB seems to address the drive failure problem (by having an on-board spare).
Hard drive feature is a good one for many reasons. One thing I have found with older units is they tend to be quite particular as to the hard drive. In general, even with a standard drive format, it will only accept/recognize a maximum drive size. This means you could install a larger drive; however it doesn't mean it will recognize it at all. And, if it does, it will likely not see the full capacity of the drive.
More research?
I guess this is why I want to go used as opposed to new. The HHB seems to address the drive failure problem (by having an on-board spare).
Hard drive feature is a good one for many reasons. One thing I have found with older units is they tend to be quite particular as to the hard drive. In general, even with a standard drive format, it will only accept/recognize a maximum drive size. This means you could install a larger drive; however it doesn't mean it will recognize it at all. And, if it does, it will likely not see the full capacity of the drive.
More research?
here is a "low cost unit" as an example Denon DN-F450R Solid State Recorder - low cost at Broadcast Warehouse
It looks like other things to consider is portable recorders , most of these use flash drives.
http://www.avisoft.com/PMD661.pdf
edit > yes more research on archiving data. ie flash drives themselves w/b a poor choice.
It looks like other things to consider is portable recorders , most of these use flash drives.
http://www.avisoft.com/PMD661.pdf
edit > yes more research on archiving data. ie flash drives themselves w/b a poor choice.
Last edited:
There are a lot of solid state and/or HD recorder options out there. New and old. The Alesis is a good example (and a reasonable price).
The problem is, I still would need to get it into redbook format (The Alesis can do this- it is looking like a good choice actually...).
If I want to archive to HD (or two via mirror) I can easily do that loading the completed CDs to the computer that way. Slower, archaic way to do it true, but it works for when I feel the need to do so. (I would only do this with my irreplaceable 'boot-leg' recordings for future reference off the top of my head- and these are on cassette, so not exactly high fidelity anyway)
I want to run balanced out from my cassette deck into the recorder and burn a redbook CD. Editing text on the CD on the fly is a nice feature to have as well- most (if not all) these recorders support either a USB or keyboard jack keyboard for this. I also want to go AES/EBU out from my Theta into the recorder to make additional copies of my CD collection as well as mix CDs for personal use. Those are the main uses of this rig. I am also looking into an outboard A to D converter for my LP archiving. Most of the ones I am finding (recording studio stuff they would use for the same purpose) is QUITE expensive. But, this gives insight into what I am planning this equipment for.
If all this goes well, I may offer digitizing/archiving services to others (but that is way down the road).
The problem is, I still would need to get it into redbook format (The Alesis can do this- it is looking like a good choice actually...).
If I want to archive to HD (or two via mirror) I can easily do that loading the completed CDs to the computer that way. Slower, archaic way to do it true, but it works for when I feel the need to do so. (I would only do this with my irreplaceable 'boot-leg' recordings for future reference off the top of my head- and these are on cassette, so not exactly high fidelity anyway)
I want to run balanced out from my cassette deck into the recorder and burn a redbook CD. Editing text on the CD on the fly is a nice feature to have as well- most (if not all) these recorders support either a USB or keyboard jack keyboard for this. I also want to go AES/EBU out from my Theta into the recorder to make additional copies of my CD collection as well as mix CDs for personal use. Those are the main uses of this rig. I am also looking into an outboard A to D converter for my LP archiving. Most of the ones I am finding (recording studio stuff they would use for the same purpose) is QUITE expensive. But, this gives insight into what I am planning this equipment for.
If all this goes well, I may offer digitizing/archiving services to others (but that is way down the road).
I would examine the need for redbook esp for archive recordings. I seriously doubt anyone will be using CDs 10 years down the line. short term considering your sources fidelity could post processing ie re-sampling to 44.1 be acceptable. IMO Cds are headed down the same road as cassette tapes. edit> I believe cloud computing is the future for software and data. Physical media is already becoming rare.
Last edited:
I think they said the same thing about Vinyl...
I think redbook will be beyond the fidelity of the original recordings. Although I tended to run 'hot' on analogue recordings (who didn't?) I think the limitations of the tape medium will be realized long before the limitations of the digital (redbook) medium. Coming from Vinyl, I think a higher sampling rate has validity for sure.
Yet Tascam and others still sell good quality cassette decks. It is a slow death apparently.
I agree, and will head down this path as well. However, I will not give in to the compressed formats, and will save everything as FLAC (or similar) files. This is where the dedicated server with several Tb of space comes into play. The computer noise (physical and electrical) becomes an issue requiring remote location of the server and a solid state acess device at the point of use. Already on that...
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.