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Post by eltrasero on Sept 22, 2011 17:33:35 GMT
I've just unearthed a box of old cassette tapes I thought were long gone and would love to load them onto my laptop and itunes etc to keep them before they fall apart. How on earth do you achieve this? Any clues or tips?
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Post by kipper on Sept 22, 2011 17:55:16 GMT
hi i just goggled cassettes to computer and got lots of suggestions some free . peter
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Post by eltrasero on Sept 22, 2011 19:26:58 GMT
The stuff on Google isn't that helpful and quite a lot is out of date. I'd prefer to hear what people on here have used, what interfaces, cables, software etc. The only tape player I have now is a recording walkman device.
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Post by harley on Sept 22, 2011 20:31:57 GMT
i cant see any way of doing it other than in real time thru the line in on your pc either with a stereo jack to jack cable or thru a mixer or interface of some kind
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Post by tonybiker on Sept 22, 2011 21:39:58 GMT
Hi.
Ian is correct you will have to record in real time. I bought via the well known auction site a quality Sony tape deck for a fiver. If it has left and right RCA connections as outputs then a simple lead to take that into your PC would be job done.
If you recorded a full side of a tape, say 8 tracks, it would be recorded as one track, so you would have to split the tracks up again, it could be time consuming, but one way would be to copy and paste each track from the full one and have a different track for each one, so on your recording software you are using you would have 8 different tracks. Mute 7 tracks and save it in your required format, repeat the process.
The only issue you may have is what format you save the tracks too. If you saved to WAV (audio) then you would consume vast amounts of hard drive space, so mp3 would be the way to go.
Tape have a limited life and I have that 20 years is about the best you get before they start to deteriorate.
Tony
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Post by shadfan4 on Sept 22, 2011 22:52:31 GMT
I had the same problem when transferring some of my vinyl records to mp3, the whole process is in real time and needs constant attention to get a good result.
The problem of sorting the individual tracks can be solved by loading the whole album once into the pc into a wave editor like Wavelab, Sony Soundforge etc and using the software's ability to detect silence and split each track and convert to mp3 all in one. You can then load the individual tracks into your chosen mp3 player, (Wavelab will do this as well) (I have used Winamp for a long time) to auto-tag the files with the required meta data ie album title,track name etc.
Mike
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Post by normg on Sept 23, 2011 0:29:47 GMT
You can actually purchase record and cassette players that plug directly into the computer USB port and transfer your music directly to the computer hard drive. I have not tried this system but it could be an option. cheers norm
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Post by didier on Sept 23, 2011 7:55:28 GMT
The stuff on Google isn't that helpful and quite a lot is out of date. I'd prefer to hear what people on here have used, what interfaces, cables, software etc. The only tape player I have now is a recording walkman device. You only have to connect the walkman phone output to the PC audio line in, which is likely to require a cord with a stereo mini-jack at each end. Any audio software (such as the Audacity freeware, or any other) will be able to record what's played on the walkman. You'll have to adjust the walkman volume to avoid too low or too high sound level. Better record all of a cassette in a row, and edit tunes after as already advised. Some PC (particularly laptops) don't have an audio line in (only mic in), in this case better use an USB interface such as this one : www.behringer.com/EN/Products/UFO202.aspxIt also works for vinyl record deck with magnetic PU. I have one and it works well. I am using it mainly to digitalise vinyl records. Here it is in action : To connect the walkman, you'll need a cord with a stereo mini-jack at one end and two RCA connectors at the other end. Didier
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Post by eltrasero on Sept 23, 2011 8:16:19 GMT
Didier, you are the man! If there was a prize it would be on its way to you. That is exactly what I am looking for. Something that will make life so much easier. Who would have thought that all our cassettes would be so useless within 20 years or so! Wonder what will happen to those thousands of CDs I have? Will they be garbage in a few years too. Progress eh, you just can't hold it back. Thanks for all the advice so far.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2011 8:54:30 GMT
maplins also do a kit with recording software that is purpose made
George.
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Post by didier on Sept 23, 2011 10:31:17 GMT
Who would have thought that all our cassettes would be so useless within 20 years or so! Wonder what will happen to those thousands of CDs I have?. I have some CD-R I burnt a few years ago which can't be read anymore ! About the USB audio interface, beware of "no name" models. I first bought one from Thomann, and it didn't work. Fortunatly being refunded is not a problem with Thomann. I then bought the Behringer one which works perfectly and is not very expensive : www.thomann.de/gb/behringer_ufo_202.htmDidier
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Post by eltrasero on Sept 23, 2011 10:57:52 GMT
I have an M-Audio Audiophile USB interface. Would that work for this purpose? Has anyone tried it for copying their old cassettes or LPs on to a computer?
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Post by shadfan4 on Sept 23, 2011 12:18:09 GMT
The interfaceas shown by Behringher has the very important addition of phono pre-amps. If transferring your vinyl to PC you must ensure that RIAA equalisation pre-amps are used or you will not like what you hear. This is because vinyl is recorded with EQ curves that reduce the lows and accentuate the high 's so without RIAA Eq'ing it will sound very very thin. I bought an RIAA pre-amp from Maplins some years ago and it does what it say's on the tin.
I now use my little Soundcraft Notepad mixer as this has the correct pre-amps built in just to transfer vinyl.
Mike.
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Post by didier on Sept 23, 2011 12:22:05 GMT
I have an M-Audio Audiophile USB interface. Would that work for this purpose? Has anyone tried it for copying their old cassettes or LPs on to a computer? It could be used for cassettes, but not for vinyls, as it doesn't have the suitable preamp for use with Hi-Fi magnetic PUs, unless if you use it with an Hi-Fi amp which has such a preamp.. It's far more expensive that the Behringer one, not sure it sounds much better. Didier
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Post by didier on Sept 23, 2011 12:29:42 GMT
The interfaceas shown by Behringher has the very important addition of phono pre-amps. If transferring your vinyl to PC you must ensure that RIAA equalisation pre-amps are used or you will not like what you hear. This is because vinyl is recorded with EQ curves that reduce the lows and accentuate the high 's so without RIAA Eq'ing it will sound very very thin. I bought an RIAA pre-amp from Maplins some years ago and it does what it say's on the tin. I now use my little Soundcraft Notepad mixer as this has the correct pre-amps built in just to transfer vinyl. Mike. On the Behringer USB phono interface, there is a switch to select either the magnetic PU input with RIAA curve EQ for vinyls, or the linear line level for other inputs such as tape readers (it would also work for piezo PU for vinyls, but those are generally of the low-fi kind, and not recommended). Didier
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Post by eltrasero on Sept 23, 2011 12:45:12 GMT
The Behringer looks ideal but I would have to spend £30 to buy one, whereas the Audiophile USB is sitting right in front of me, although as luck would have it, I cannot find its power supply at the moment.
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