Tape Restore Live! is a free Winamp plugin that improves the sound of cassette tapes.
Some unique features of Tape Restore Live! are:
Software Dolby B remover (*)
This is an advantage over using a hardware filter because the tape bias
settings can be changed before the filter is used, which is especially
useful if the sound of tapes has become dull because of tape wear and
age. Also, any noise from the sound card is deminished by the
Dolby B decoder. Calibration tones
are provided to calibrate the software Dolby B remover against the
encoder in the cassette recorder.
(*) The filter that is offered by Tape Restore Live! is not a real
software Dolby B decoder, but it is a close enough approximation to get
a decent sound. Because of that it is referred to as a software
Dolby B remover instead of a software Dolby B filter
AZIMUTH correction
If the tape head is not set exactly identical to the setting when the
tape was recorded, playing it back in mono or through a surround
system will result in very ugly artifacts. The AZIMUTH correction calculates
the correct tape head setting on the fly, and corrects for it, even if the
tape head is moving during playback (which occurs on some tape decks).
Tape hiss remover for mono recordings
Tape hiss is always stereo. Mono recordings are not...
The mono tape hiss remover uses this fact to separate the tape hiss from
the actual recording, and removes most of the hiss without damaging the
real sound.
FM Stereo hiss removal
Recordings from stereo FM radio stations often contain FM stereo hiss. This filter
can remove most of the stereo hiss without damaging the real sound.
(This filter can also be used for FM stereo recordings that were not
recorded to tape.)
I created Tape Restore Live! to fix some old tapes that sounded dull with the Dolby B of my tape recorder turned on.
And now they sound just as good as new! (Better actually!)