Transferring cassette tape to CD/MP3 - recommendations please!

firebubble · 11 July 2017 at 10:11PM

Hello

I have three cassette tapes which I believe contain childhood recordings of me and my siblings, and I really want to find a company to transfer them into a format we can listen to now - CD/MP3, something like that.

I've had a look online, but none of the places in the first page or two of a goo gle search seem to have very good reviews.

Can anyone recommend a company they have used to do this?

London50 · 12 July 2017 at 12:02AM

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/ion-tape-2-go-usb-tape-playermp3-converter-n69jw

esuhl · 12 July 2017 at 12:24AM

Do you have a tape deck? If so, just plug it in to your PC (the line-in or mic input), play the tape, and record it in Audacity, which can then create the MP3 for you.

http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/tutorial_copying_tapes_lps_or_minidiscs_to_cd.html

forgotmyname · 12 July 2017 at 2:11AM

Tape recorder headphone output socket to mic in on a computer and use sound recorder or better if you need to.

if you have a tape player then a £3 cable is all thats needed.

Backbiter · 12 July 2017 at 7:39PM

As above, it's very simple to do it using audacity on your PC or laptop.

Neil_Jones · 12 July 2017 at 8:00PM

Last time I did something like this, I had a Hi-Fi that could play tapes and a 3.5mm audio cable.

Connect audio cable to Hi-Fi headphone socket and then to computer's Line-In socket.

Using audacity, set source to Line-In, start recording, play the tape, stop recording after tape stops, then use audacity to trim the empty sections either side of the recording. Then just export to MP3.

laptops may not be reliable for this, this didn't work on my laptop but YMMV on this.

Job done.

firebubble · 13 July 2017 at 4:47PM

Thanks all for your responses. Unfortunately I don't have a tape deck, CD player etc, and between my crummy old laptop and non-existent IT skills, I don't think DIY is the solution - I should have said this in my post, but I didn't realise it would even be an option!

Thanks again though :-)

WAYT · 13 July 2017 at 8:00PM

firebubble wrote: »

Thanks all for your responses. Unfortunately I don't have a tape deck, CD player etc, and between my crummy old laptop and non-existent IT skills, I don't think DIY is the solution - I should have said this in my post, but I didn't realise it would even be an option!

Thanks again though :-)

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UK-Tape-to-PC-USB-Cassette-MP3-CD-Converter-Capture-Digital-Audio-Music-Player-/262119041859 for less than a tenner.

ballyblack · 13 July 2017 at 9:03PM

Above states

Microsoft Windows 2000/ XP/ Vista/ Win 7

What about Win 10 ?

WAYT · 13 July 2017 at 9:45PM

ballyblack wrote: »

Above states

Microsoft Windows 2000/ XP/ Vista/ Win 7

What about Win 10 ?

It makes no difference, as the software included on the CD supplied is Audacity. The latest, which is compatible with Windows 10, can be found here: http://www.audacityteam.org

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOn-vU63A5Y

But you can just use the built-in Sound Recorder/Voice Recorder in Windows, in conjunction with a male to male 3.5mm stereo lead found in any Pound shop.

All of the units come from China,

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tape-to-PC-USB-Cassette-MP3-CD-Converter-Capture-Digital-Music-Audio-Player-Uk/162037959397
The original link has extra P&P. I didn't notice it as first as I logged in from another country.

If one wanted it quickly, you can buy from a claimed UK seller for around £12 to £13.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tape-to-PC-USB-Cassette-to-MP3-Converter-Capture-Adapter-Audio-Music-Player-UK-/110784058602
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tape-to-PC-USB-Cassette-to-MP3-Converter-Captue-Adapter-Audio-CD-Music-Player-UK-/122239245210

esuhl · 13 July 2017 at 10:09PM

WAYT wrote: »

It makes no difference, as the software included on the CD supplied is Audacity. The latest, which is compatible with Windows 10, can be found here: http://www.audacityteam.org

In which case, there's no benefit to the OP for getting a special "tape to MP3 converter device", when it would be exactly the same process to install Audacity themselves and use a "normal" tape deck.

I can't imagine that a £10 Chinese walkman is going to produce very good results.

The biggest problem with old cassette tapes is that they get a bit "sticky", causing high, uneven resistance on the drive motor. It'd probably be worth getting a tape deck with a fairly high-torque motor so that the tape can be fed smoothly across the tape head (to reduce wow and flutter).

Transferring cassette tape to CD/MP3 - recommendations please!

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