Tips for improving recording quality, & from Computer to Cassette, what is your Setup?

Hello Everyone, I'm trying to improve the quality of my recordings.
My current setup is straight from my lenovo y700 through an aux input to the lin-in of my D6C.
I haven't been able to find information on my laptop's soundcard quality, and heard from other members about needing a DAC to convert the signal from digital to analog. (While the signal might be converted im afraid the quality will be muffled.)

I'm thinking of getting an electronic demagnetizing tape and a cleaner tape, yet i'm unsure; some say i dont need to demagnetize the head, while some say i just need to record on a cassette for the unit to demagnetize itself. If anyone could clarify, and if possible help me find an affordable broke foreign student price for USB soundcards (with dac maybe?) and cleaning tapes that would be incredibly helpful.

 

I can answer your first question that recording from your laptop to your Dc6 requires a DAC . Without a DAC record low quality tracks.
You can still record from desktop computers with a good sound card through line out of your card to your D6C directly.

See this link for a comprehensive explanation and step by step guide to help you record best quality songs
http://walkman-archive.com/articles/guide-excellent-recordings_01.html

I don't know the answer to your 2nd question that whether or not you can demagnetize your deck by recording something on a cassette tape. I have seen a special demagnetizer cassette but to record something on a cassette to demagnetize your player head I doubt it.

 

Can you tell us what it is about your recordings you would like to improve on? I have not personally owned a Sony D6C but I see they are regarded as being a good quality portable cassette recorder. Because I am not familiar with your model I will tell you my experiences (for what it's worth).

I usually look at the wow and flutter specs as a portion of a units ability along with the condition of the pinch roller and belt. A new belt and a good clean pinch roller will drastically improve the outcome of your recording on any machine. I've never used a tape cleaner mechanism. I've always cleaned my heads and rollers manually with a q-tip. The heads and tape path I use 90% iso alcohol and Tascam rubber cleaner for the pinch roller. I clean the roller until no evidence of the tape path shows on the rubber. Assuming your D6C is in top notch in shape, it should make decent recordings. I would not use any kind of Dolby in your recordings unless you are using Type I Normal Bias tapes. If tape hiss is a concern then a CrO2 Type II or Metal Type III will greatly reduce hiss provided it is not being added by your D6C circuitry or your sound card. Stay away from 120 minute cassettes. I go no higher than a 90 minute tape. Any higher and the tape gets thinner and wow and flutter increase. Your recording is only going to be as good as your weakest link.

In my personal experience the best recordings were always with home component style decks without auto-reverse, preferably a 3 head system to monitor recording on the fly. The unit needs to have Dolby HXPro capabilities and the ability to adjust the recording bias from tape to tape to compensate for the different cassette formulas and frequency responses. Next I make sure I am not adding my EQ to alter the recording (flat) unless it really needs it. Finally you need to be able to adjust the left and right channel levels recorded onto the tape using VU meters to show output to the tape to avoid saturating the tape.

It gets more technical (even to where I don't understand things) but using these steps I have been able to make recordings that sound as good as a compact disc. My preference is Maxell XLII90 but every machine is different as to what brand they like best.

Personally I have never had to demagnetize my heads. If your heads are magnetized, the highs will diminish or sound muffled and in severe cases it can damage prerecorded cassettes reducing their higher frequencies. This is rare and most of the time I find an azimuth adjustment on the head clears up clarity issues on playback and recording. I agree with Boodokhan. Recording a cassette doesn't demagnetize a head. I really doubt your head would need demagnetized but you can purchase a demagnetizer. Wouldn't hurt anything to use it

Hope my opinion helped you

 

Yes, if you want to improve the recordings, the first step is to improve the source, so you will need a DAC for your laptop.

Head alignment... this is a tricky one and I will try to explain here..

Imagine you have a really nice cassette deck, like a Nakamichi 300 etc, and its been fully serviced by an engineer, and all the settings, including head alignment are 100% correct... if you record on this machine, you know your tapes are recorded correctly and your head alignment is on the money.

Now, imagine you take that same cassette and play in on your wm-D6c. It may sound muffled. You have cleaned the head, so its not that. You have demagnetized, and its not that.... Its your head alignment. And because you know it was recorded on a reference deck, its very easy to adjust the head alignment on the D6, so that it matched the alignment on your reference deck.

Makes sense, right?

But if you dont have a reference deck, and your just recording on your D6 for playback on your D6, you wont notice any alignment issues (unless your head is way out of alignment, affecting the tape path... Your machine is playing back your tape in the machine it was recorded in, so would sound fine. But what then happens if you then play that tape someplace else?

You have rushed round to a friends house who has a great deck, fully calibrated.... and you cant wait to hear your recording on his system. But your recording on his deck sounds awful.... because your heads are out of alignment within acceptable parameters. In short, your out by a country mile. You need to get your D6 alignment in line with a reference deck (and before anyone suggests otherwise, there is not a defacto alignment that we all adhere to, but being in the right neighbourhood is a good start).

So, the best foot forward is to get some material on a decent tape recorded by someone with a regularly maintained reference deck.
Or get a head alignment test tape http://www.ebay.com/bhp/alignment-tape

Once you have taken care of the DAC, head alignment and chosen a good tape stock to record to you should be in a much better place, knowing that not only have you now got a decent recording, but that recording is also going to sound good on other decks (give or take a little either way).

Also, do note, the cable you use between the DAC and the D6 will influence your recordings heavily. Garbage in = garbage out

And lastly, any cheap multi voltage power adapter runs two risks you need to be aware off... the first is obvious, it could introduce noise into your recordings that you wont know about until you play back the tape. An annoying buzz. The 2nd is way more serious... if you get the polarity wrong, you will fry the IC control that controls speed, and render your D6 useless. Try to find the correct 6V adapter from Sony

Ive owned the same D6 since 1990, and now have 4 others. I love them. Look after them, and they will look after you.

 

And head demagnetising is quite subjective. Some swear by it, some never do it. I do it. I've never heard a difference afterwards, but that could be either because it has no effect or that I do it frequently enough for no adverse artifacts to manifest in the first place. I just don't know. I guess it's all down to personal preference and habits.