Recording mixtapes?

Seems like I am about to be the proud owner of a pretty good box. I'll spare the details in order not to jinx it.

I would like to record my favorite songs into a cassette but I have some questions.

1. Do I want 60 minute or 90 minute cassettes? (sound quality)

2. Could you please advice about an exact make and model of blank cassettes to buy? I got lost into the type1-4 debate...
I will be mainly listening to 80's dance music, some classic hip-hop, some new-age (80's music made in 2017).
I am a little price sensitive...

3. The box will be a restored Toshiba RT S90. Is it good for recording my mixtape or I would rather buy a dedicated recording deck?

4. Any other tips for recording in optimum quality?

I can't offer much advice being a fellow noob. But I do remember prefering the longer playing 90 minute tapes bitd. Half an hour per side just wasn't enough

60' is better Q
45' even better... thing is the shorter the tape the thicker it is, so, more Q

metal/chrome tapes are better than normal (= type II is better than type I)

but there's a lot of this lo-fi thing goin' on nowadays, so it depends pretty much on your personal taste
...so basically experiment and have fun doin it

peace,
m

Tape quality is important, i currently use Maxell XLII's and really like them.

For recording some boomboxes will produce ok results but never as good as a full size deck, the Toshiba S90 is an amazing box though and i have never used one for recording but im sure the results would be better than some boomboxes.

If you have the space then adding a full size deck, even a relatively cheap one, will produce far better results.

If, like me, you dont have a full size stereo seperates anymore then a dedicated portable recorder could be the option. I just purchased a Marantz CP430 for exactly this job.

I have some Maxel XLII 90's in the mail
Now for the recorder, are you sure that little Marantz records with decent quality?

My plan is to hook this up using a 3.5mm-3.5mm cable from my headphones out of my laptop. Interested to learn about your setup.

Mustey said:

My plan is to hook this up using a 3.5mm-3.5mm cable from my headphones out of my laptop. Interested to learn about your setup.

Click to expand...

I will do much the same thing, hook it up to pc or record deck to record to.

The Marantz is well known as an awesome portable, 3 heads, dolby B, DBX, pitch control, its an impressive machine. A full size, well serviced deck may be a bit better but its hard to beat for the size. The discussion on Tapeheads suggest it records extremely well. Its suits me better and is space efficient. I already have storage issues with a large boombox collection!

What do you think about this one?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Marantz-cp-430-portable-stereo-cassette-recorder-/322715235072?hash=item4b2353b300:g4IAAOSwjoFZroWY

Could I plug just any adapter with the same socket/direction/voltage/power or it needs its own genuine supply?

That looks good and seems to be in good order.

I bought a generic power supply that was the correct voltage for the unit:

I offered 60 quid to the guy and he agreed. I feel like I've done well, as there are two non working units for 150 and upwards... There's a fully working unit for 240 quid plus insane shipping/customs from USA...
The listing did say it's "Excellent condition" so I am getting me a charger and should be good to go!

OK, I got the Marantz, some Chrome tapes (5 quid each, yikes!) and the adapter. I'd like to sacrifice one tape for learning how to properly record my PC music on tape and also to test if the Marantz is working as it should.

Could you please advice on settings? What do I want to have my volume set to at the source (PC)? What about all the things on the Marantz?

Could I retry with the tape or once you have recorded on it, it's not good to delete/record again?

You did good. XLII's are the bomb. You will like them

Hate to bump but I am so anxious to play with it this weekend!
Any primers on the PC-to-Marantz settings?
Should I get a 3.5-to-2xRCA cable or should I use the "Microphone In"?
Recording volume?

Thanks from the bottom of my heart :`)

Congrats for this good portable cassette recorder.
Looks like a Sony TC-D5M.

PC settings:
1. music files - wav or MP3 320 kb/s
2. Winamp or other music player
3. EQ on music player must be FLAT, bass 0 dB, treble 0 dB
4. EQ on sound card must be FLAT, bass 0 dB, treble 0 dB
5. output level 30 - 40 %

Marantz settings:
1. memory - off
2. mpx filter - off
3. tape - norm for normal cassettes, Cr02 for Chrome cassettes
4. nr system - Dolby B
5. rec level - from 0 to 3 dB

Before recording clear rec, playback head and pinch roller
Listen music with headphones connected to Marantz.
Use good cable 3.5 mm to Cinch, connected to Line In on Marantz.
(Mic in is only for microphones)
You can make recording on cassettes 2-5 times without problems....
Goodluck with recordings.

Blagodarya

LOL, that adapter in the link is wrong! The +/- direction of the output is reverse and it's 5v, not 4.5v...
Posting this for others to see and also for T-STER to edit his post in order to prevent other people getting the wrong adapter.
I am going to have to buy another one...
Will go with the batteries for now

goodman said:

Before recording clean rec, playback head and pinch roller

Click to expand...

That's what I always do as well. Once flutter is recorded it stays fluttery..haha. Best to avoid as much as possible.

Mustey said:

LOL, that adapter in the link is wrong! The +/- direction of the output is reverse and it's 5v, not 4.5v...
Posting this for others to see and also for T-STER to edit his post in order to prevent other people getting the wrong adapter.
I am going to have to buy another one...
Will go with the batteries for now

Click to expand...

Mine hasn't arrived yet but ill let you know how I get on. It's supposed to be model correct...

My Opinion??

I burn tracks to cd & then direct connect to my old DVD/HDD recorder & use it as just a cd player.................I use it solely for transferring music CD's to cassette!

This eliminates all the EQ problems & enables very easy channel balance when recording - Using a good quality OFC interconnect straight into the cassette deck & monitor with headphones!!

I can also tell you now that recording even mp3 files direct from your PC/laptop will result in very varied results...........Recording from a CD whether the original files are wave flac mp4 or indeed mp3 type will result in cassette recordings of astonishing quality, especially older 70's & 80's tracks!!

You will capture to cassette sound quality you may even thought tape could reproduce

I learnt the hard way.............I tried line out from PC with truly lousy results & after a few years I bought a quality Technics RS-B655 from Ebay & the interconnect & they sit together always ready to copy CD burns that I decide to compile!!

So many hours wasted trying to gain a decent cassette recording from PC to Cassette deck, plenty of VU level problems (usually too low) led to adopting the method I use now!!

You can of course tell the PC to normalize all tracks so you rarely need to adjust recording levels - I encode every sound file I have myself from records flac/wave files & in the past from cassette to PC & only when I am happy do the lame encoded mp3's become the end result & trust me they sound awesome from CD, Tape & my Panasonic Bluray/HDD recorders mp3 decoder (One of the best home mp3 players out there) If music is a part of your life you cannot live without, then have fun & enjoy the recording to cassette process

I never tire of watching the FL meters on my technics pump when I record a cassette tape!!

Hope some of this helps.........

Well I went to Wilko and got some batteries. Was SOOOO COOOL to see the Marantz lit up!
It seems to be working, I just don't have a benchmark as to how well it is working.

My current cassette is A-Ha - Hunting hi and low...
I think, and I hope, the cassette is bad because it's changing volume all the time.

Let's try Prince, it's a brand new cassette:
Oh, the intro has an annoying vibrato, just to spite my worried soul! Vibrato is on the CD version as well.

Hmm... The Marantz doesn't sound as good as the youtube clip. My earbuds are decent and I don't suspect the 3.5-6mm adapter too much.

Maybe the little Marantz wasn't designed to play music?
There's a bit of "ffffffff" before the music starts and everything sounds like the sounds are leaking into each other. Quite hard to make out each instrument individually.

What are the odds the Marantz is fried or heads are worn out or something?