How to Copy my Cassette Tapes to PC

manufan

Hi All.

I wan't to copy all my old Cassette Tapes onto my PC so but i ain't too sure about how to go about doing this. Any advice appreciated.

I have the appropriate cable, i think. Its an RCA 2 jack on 1 end (for Hi-Fi) and a 3.5mm line in on the other end (for PC). The problem is, my stereo only has an auxiliary in, which is fine if i want to listen to my PC through my stereo but i can't copy my cassette tapes to my hard drive with an auxiliary in connection.

Will i need to get hold of a stereo with an audio out connection on the back in order to copy my tapes across to my hard-drive or is there an alternative way of doing this. I have a sony amp with audio in/out on the back and i'm guessing that i could hook my stereo up to my amp and then my amp up to my PC providing i have the right cables.

Confused yet. I am. I have the software to do the job but any other info greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Capt'n Midnight

you should be able to use the Headphone socket - set the volume to 7 (3/4 of the way) and the other end of the cable to line in on the sound card.

someone may be good enough to mention the cut off frequency for tape cos there is no point in selecting a recording freq above twice that.

Depending on the noise level you choose the number of bits in the format

BoB_BoT

using a modified audio cable, i.e. an old headphone cable, combined with another old headphone jack.

you can use the headphone output on your stereo and connect it to your mic/ line in input jack on your soundcard.

start playing on your tape,
put your volume up on your pc so that you can hear it well and clear.
Adjust the sound on your stereo either lower or higher until you get the sound without buzzing or crackling.

Make sure the cable connecting both stereo and pc are NOT MOVED AROUND.
Rewind the tape back to where you want to record from,
start recording with your sound recording program on your pc.

I did this a long time ago and with a bit of time you can get the sound quality just about perfect.

This is just a basic kind of audio recording. I'm sure there are better ways of doing it that yield better sound quality.

KdjaCL

Get a Walkman (decent one ) a line in cable and use Dbpoweramp to record and convert to MP3 all in one go.

kdjac

Dempsey

Aldi had a MPEG device that allowed you to convert your VHS tapes to MPEG and be able to put them on DVD if you liked. It was 40 yoyos, seems like exactly like what you needed. It came out the 17th, could be a few left.

BoB_BoT

i think he's looking to do audio cassette tapes and not vhs. you can do vhs with a tv card and recording software

Dempsey

Ah, i misread the post

abccormac

If you've got lots of tapes (and about $150 going spare) you could get one of these things:pc tape drive

Capt'n Midnight

KdjaC wrote:

Get a Walkman (decent one ) a line in cable and use Dbpoweramp to record and convert to MP3 all in one go.

kdjac

Shock !
Sound Recorder on XP can record to MP3 or does MPEG Layer-3 mean something else ?

ozmo

I tried this years ago and blew by IEP£100 Sound Galaxy Pro sound card.
(long time ago...)
Headphone on sterio to mic in.
Mic socket on pc is for a Microphone - not intended to be a audio in - unless card/manual specifically says its ok to do so.
Just so you know the risks.

rsynnott

If you've got lots of stuff to do, it might be worth getting an old cassette player with line-level output and attaching it to your soundcard's line in.

Standard Toaster

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

Shock !
Sound Recorder on XP can record to MP3 or does MPEG Layer-3 mean something else ?

Sound recorder in XP only allows for 60 seconds of recording afaik.

rsynnott

The_Edge wrote:

Sound recorder in XP only allows for 60 seconds of recording afaik.

What, really? :rolleyes: How very... WINDOWS of it.

Standard Toaster

Yeah, I just checked. 60 whole seconds.

billy the squid

connect a jack-phono line between the AUX out on a hi fi and the line in on your sound card.

im currently using musicmatch jukebox for converting vynil/tape to mp3.

mordeith

I use Magix Audio Cleaning Studio. It only cost me €16 on a bargain rack.
I use a double ended 3.5mm lead drom the headphone socket to the line-in on my PC. The software lets you see the recording level and adjust it. It also has facilities for clearing up the hiss on the tapes and you can also equalise the audio after it's recorded. It will output to wav and mp3 (20 times only for mp3). I find it pretty good and I've recorded a few tapes that way.

manufan

Thanks for all the replys. Some good advice there. Billy the Squid, you mentioned that i can convert my tapes to MP3's via the auxiliary out on my stereo to the line in on the PC. I tried this with a 2 jack rca cable but i can only play songs from my PC through my stereo this way. I tried to set up Goldwave to record the cassettes this way but it didn't work. Thanks anyway. Maybe i'm just doing it wrong.

KdjaCL

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

Shock !
Sound Recorder on XP can record to MP3 or does MPEG Layer-3 mean something else ?

Eh what?


Dbpoweramp cleans the audio and converts it in one go and splits it into tracks slightly better than sound recorder (btw where did that come from i reread the post and no mention of that)


kdjac