New Wave Outpost Forum

Could use some help here. I need any information for hardware that can be used to transfer audio cassettes to mp3's on my computer, or to my media file so I can finally throw away the hundreds of cassettes I have.

All you probably need from what you have now is a pair of cables, usually stereo RCA -> stereo minijack. Just plug the cassette directly to your sound card/computer's Line In.

If you don't have any software, try the freeware <a href="http://audacity.sourceforge.net/" target=_blank>Audacity</a>. It's multi-platform.

I transferred most of my tapes a couple years back, but I used a good component cassette player and a standalone Harman-Kardon burner (not computer type.) Worked like a charm.

Then I dumped all my tapes AND my tape player, only to pick up a couple of "tape-only" things in the interim. Now the only tape player I have is a radio shack thing and for some reason it only will burn to mono. And by mono I mean one channel! I tried using a program to split it into stereo but it sounds all distorted and funky.

The only thing I have that I REALLY want to get to disc is the cassette version of "Soul Mining" by The THE, which has some cool bonus tracks that I believe were never released aside from this tape.

I just purchased something called a Plus Deck 2 (www.plusdeck.com for details and available for purchase at www.thinkgeek.com- I think it was like $129 or $149) and it is a cassette deck that fits into your drive bay on the computer for easy burning. I haven't tried it out yet, after the holidays I will and will let you know how it works!

Thank you! That's what I'm looking for. It would be worth the cost too, I have hundreds of cassettes and the idea of replacing them all on cd would be breaking the bank.

There's DVD Recorders that can record in CD-DA format, such as the LiteOn 5005 or any that have their "All Write" designation. The 5005 can be had for $100USD.

For less than $50 you can buy an analog-digital converter that plugs into your USB ports. You can find them at most electronics stores but I bought mine at Comp USA. It's in with the computer accessories.

Basically you plug a cassette deck into the stereo inputs on the converter, which then plugs into your USB port. Works pretty good.

Ok, here's my "El Cheap-o" way of going tape to CD:

I have a semi-decent "walkman" type cassette player, and run the phones out direct (w/stereo 1/8" mini-plug cable) right into the Line In on the comp's sound card.
Then, I hit Record in Acoustica's MP3 Audio Mixer prog, and generate a wave (.wav) file that I can either save, burn to disc, or convert to .mp3. Supposedly, any .wav creating software would do.
This is probably not the "best" way to go about it. I'm sure there's a lot of better quality equipment you could use, but it's cheap, fast, and easy.

OH! You may consider a program that will help you tweak the files, reduce hiss and noise, etc. Nero, my burning software, has an audio editor built in...it helps, kinda.
BTW Merry Christmas!

Downloading a cassette tape to your computer is the first step but before you burn your cd you'll first need an audio program to create a separate audio file for each song. Otherwise all your songs will be contained on one continuous 30 or 45 minute-long file. Unless, of course, you enjoy hitting the FF-scan button. [:D]

[i]For less than $50 you can buy an analog-digital converter that plugs into your USB ports.[/i]

Why not just plug the cassette deck directly into your soundcard's line in?

[quote][i]Originally posted by coop41[/i]
<br>I just purchased something called a Plus Deck 2 (www.plusdeck.com for details and available for purchase at www.thinkgeek.com- I think it was like $129 or $149) and it is a cassette deck that fits into your drive bay on the computer for easy burning. I haven't tried it out yet, after the holidays I will and will let you know how it works!
[/quote]IMO: This gizmo looks like a slam dunk mp3 encoding device
(you can probably get an inexpensive external USB 2.0 case for it if you have a laptop.) <a href="http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=PLUSDECK2C&cpc=SCH&srm=0" target="blank">
$109 at my fave toystore Computer Geeks.com</a> [;)]
<img src="http://www.geeks.com/imageshare/P/300x300/PLUSDECK2C-unit.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">


<IMG SRC="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v395/richp62/Icons%20Avatars/inot.gif">

That's the PlusDeck2 I got!! (I paid more!!!) The directions are poorly written, obviously from someone who doesn't speak English so I set it aside til after Christmas!

[quote][i]Originally posted by hutter[/i]
<br>Thank you! That's what I'm looking for. It would be worth the cost too, I have hundreds of cassettes and the idea of replacing them all on cd would be breaking the bank.
[/quote]

I had to face the same problem a few years ago. When I was still in France , I accumulated close to 2,000 LP's. Then I was sent to the Philippines by the UN and thinking it would be just for a while, I left behind my Technics and started to buy cassettes. By the time their number reached almost a thousand, I decided to shift to CD's coz some cassettes were deteriorating for not being played or for being overplayed in the auto radio....But the point is my vinyl collection had nothing to do with my cassette collection, because our taste evolves. Furthermore, cassettes were so cheap that we often bought crap, now with our experience, we can convert to CD's only the good albums and forget the bad ones. Lastly, I don't know about U, but personally, I like to smell, look, touch, caress, this attitude by the way run me into trouble in the movie houses with my dates, because I just did that or because I didn't do it.... well I was talking about looking at the artwork, touching the CD, placing it gently in the player and back on the shelf where it belongs... so my point is that U can convert your cassettes to CDR but would U derive the same pleasure from CDR's than from genuine CD's that U would proudly own? I guess that's the problem than any music collector must face even without mentioning the probable inferior sound quality of those CDR's.

I just make my own cd covers. It pays off being a commercial artist sometimes.

That's a good idea eheheh but how about the sound quality? May be we can ask those dudes who did it. Is the sound quality from a cassette transferred to CDR comparable to the sound of a genuine CD?[;)]