Sorry, what I meant was how does the system work in your scenario using the downloaded freeware?

Operator - I have a shareware program called Audicity

http://download-audacity.org/

I have only used it on OSX not on a WINx OS. I am still learning to use it as time permits etc.

Mr. Fantasy -Nakamichi (cant find info in their mics) and Senheiser

http://www.sennheiserusa.com/newsite/productdetail.asp?transid=000984

is what I would suggest.

Eric

KJ7XJ- Thanks for the reply, I am researching Neumann mics right now, but I will keep your recommendations in mind.

Now,

I have seen a lot of people talking about transferring your old dead tapes to cds...

And everyone has this mythology or mystique about it.

My dad has over 600 tapes that I am steadily transferring to Cds with High quality results.

Here is how I do it...

I use my dad's old Nakamichi cassette deck analog cables out ->

Into my Behringer Ultragraph Pro EQ, XLR to analog patch cables out ->

Into my brand new TEAC CD Recorder.

It is an EXTREMELY simple operation that (thanks to the good people at Behringer) makes a very nice sounding CD.

The downsides are as follows. (but more on the definition of "downsides" later)

You have to listen to your tape all the way through while making your CD, i.e. I press play on my cassette deck, then start recording on my Cd Recorder then I listen to the first song until then end then I press the Record button to start/split to the next track.

After the tape is done you press two buttons to "Finalize" the disc, and after one minute ten seconds your Cd is ready to play!

Also my TEAC does not have independent left and right recording volume control. However this is simply solved by using the input controls on the Equalizer (EQ) ((Very simple to use and you can gets great sounds very easily))

And back to the definition of downsides....

Having to listen through the track is actually a benefit for me in many ways. I get to listen to everything that is going on, make sure every second of my recording sounds great. Actually instead of pressing the Record button on my Cd Recorder to split/start the next track I can press Stop or Pause and Listen to the next track through before I record it...I can easily adjust the Input levels, some High and Low cut, and adjust my 31 band EQ to perfection on each track!

To me this is a great setup, easy to run, quality results, and I probably spent under $500 to get started.

And man is it sweet once you get that first disc finalized...and you listen to the amazing sound that you have just updated, improved, and preserved it is a very satisfying moment!!!

~Make us SNAPPY!~

I used Final Vinyl on my Mac(available at an Mac Store). You can run a tape player into computer via USB port. Once the show is loaded you can create individual song files out of the whole show. Transfer these files into Itunes. From there you can create CDs and also have a back up on your hard drive or external hard drive depending on where you store your music. Really easy to use and sounds great. I am up to about 250g on my external drive with ability to play over stereo at home or transfer shows to Ipod for road trips.

Yes, that all sounds very nice, but how much real control do you have over your music?

And aren't you limited by your computers hardware/interfaces at some point?

I put my Cd's onto my computer after I make my Master copy. But I don't like the idea of only having my archives stored on PC only...in case of a crash.

That makes me NERVOUS!

Make us SNAPPY!