FAR BETTER SOUND!!
If 16-bit / 44.1 kHz is more than sufficient to handle the limited dynamic range and frequency response of the original cassette, why would re-transfers at 24-bit / 48 kHz (or some other bit depth / sample rate higher than 16 /44) sound "far better"?
IF it were sufficient, that might be true. I do all my processing at 24 bits or higher, so it doesn't make sense to rip at 16, then convert to 24 when I can just digitize at 24. I'm not gonna go back to 16 bits, cause I no longer like the sound of it. Remember when CD's first came out and the vinyl purists pooh-poohed them? Now I have a decent enough stereo that I can hear what they meant. And it's not just the early 16-bit digital material, though some of those "mastering techniques" were very crude compared with modern ones. 16 bit just sounds brittle and harsh to me. Not nearly as gutted as MP3, but still lacking that thickness. The more I listen to 24, the less I want to hear 16 and below.
There probably are some other compelling reasons to record at 24 bit - but better sound is not one of them.
Then we shall agree to disagree.
...
meanwhile:
everyone keeps mentioning azimuth here- it's really terrifying!
I know, "luckily" all my cassettes are due for re-transfer, so I'll be able to start fresh and align azimuth for each side of each tape when i do. Big project. "Terrifying" is not entirely inaccurate.
Proper quality gear used properly should never lead to a need for adjustment. That's what I'd like to think anyway, but in fact my experience with even half decent gear is that the media misaligns between decks...
Even the azimuth of a single, high-quality well-cared-for deck could change over time. I have masters made on many different decks, and certainly won't be using any of the mastering decks for the transfers anyhow, so I'll be needing to optimize alignment each time I flip or change a tape. If you are transferring tapes, and have the opportunity to adjust azimuth each time, do that and you will not regret it.
Here's a question- which I could go and answer myself at home later; if you record something with NR on and playback with it off, does the material suffer beyond what would have happened if you didn't use it all...
Hell yeah. The spectrum is all screwed up if you don't decode, and decoding depends so much on the same circuit being used, that NR is not worth the hassle. At least that was the "conventional wisdom" passed down to me by the folks who taught me the finger points of analog cassette recording.