Recording from tape to computer

derrick

Is it possible for me to put a tape recording that I have on a small tape recorder, onto my computer, then to burn it onto a cd/dvd?

I have recorded a phone conversation via a telephone recorder product onto a tape but would like to put it onto my computer then if needed I can burn it to cd, the recording is about 45 minutes long, if the above is possible would it fit on a cd, or would I need a dvd?

I have Windows XP Home edition with only whatever comes with that product, I have tested the mic and speakers through the "sounds and audio devices" from the control panel and they seem OK, I put 20 seconds of the recording onto the test sequence and it played back through the speakers.

Thanks for any help.

totalsolutions

Yes, thats fine it what pc can do. Use a lead from the recorder to the sound card audio input socket. ( or optical cable if you have the capability). You need some audio software, Sound recorder is on the pc but very limited in use. What do you have available??
Burn to cd thats 74 mins full stereo. Wave (wav) format. You can convert to mp3 and compress that by 10:1 getting 740 mins on a cd. Your recording is in mono so even more can be gained by reducing sampling rate and switching to mono.
Nero / others can convert/burn to mp3.

derrick

totalsolutions wrote: »

Yes, thats fine it what pc can do. Use a lead from the recorder to the sound card audio input socket. ( or optical cable if you have the capability). You need some audio software, Sound recorder is on the pc but very limited in use. What do you have available??
Burn to cd thats 74 mins full stereo. Wave (wav) format. You can convert to mp3 and compress that by 10:1 getting 740 mins on a cd. Your recording is in mono so even more can be gained by reducing sampling rate and switching to mono.
Nero / others can convert/burn to mp3.

Thanks for the reply, but that has gone completeley over my head!

I have a lead that will go from the earphone of the tape recorder to the microphone input socket on the PC, as said above I used the test Wizard and got a part recording from the tape onto the computer and it played back through the speakers, but this was only the test Wizard and it only plays a few seconds as a check on the system, how do I get the full recording onto the computer?
I have Nero, although am not sure about how to make it do what I want it to.

I don't have mp3 and don't really want to start on that route, I just want a quick, easy and cheap way to do it.

Thanks.

shadowdragon

if you have the lead from your stereo to your mic in thats great

download this piece of software here

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Its simple, free and works well in my experience. You can even record from LP Discs, and it will clean up the crackling ect (to a certain degree)

derrick

shadowdragon wrote: »

if you have the lead from your stereo to your mic in thats great

download this piece of software here

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Its simple, free and works well in my experience. You can even record from LP Discs, and it will clean up the crackling ect (to a certain degree)

Thanks for that, but before I download it, is it safe? And is it easy for a non computer techie to transfer from tape recorder, (not stereo,it is a hand held tape recorder), to hard drive,(which I think I need to do first), then to a CD? also how much audio will a standard CD hold in time? i.e. the conversation is approximately 45 minutes long.

shadowdragon

yeah its safe (I wouldnt recommend it if it wasnt),

I gave my uncle a crash course in it hes in his 60s and gets impressed when he sees me drag windows around the screen with the mouse pointer, and he manages to use it quite proficiently.

It converts your audio to MP3 Format, then you can do what you will with it (can burn to CD if you like).

A CD holds data in MBs so depends how many MBs the file is, but with Audacity you can split it up ect, but would fit on a normal CD np. A song in MP3 format (3-4mins) depending on bitrate, I work on 5mb per song on average.

derrick

shadowdragon wrote: »

yeah its safe (I wouldnt recommend it if it wasnt),

I gave my uncle a crash course in it hes in his 60s and gets impressed when he sees me drag windows around the screen with the mouse pointer, and he manages to use it quite proficiently.

It converts your audio to MP3 Format, then you can do what you will with it (can burn to CD if you like).

A CD holds data in MBs so depends how many MBs the file is, but with Audacity you can split it up ect, but would fit on a normal CD np. A song in MP3 format (3-4mins) depending on bitrate, I work on 5mb per song on average.

OK thanks, have gone onto the Audacity site, but which one do I download? I am on Windows XP home edition, the choices are; -

Stable: 1.2 - for all users

Latest versions:

Windows 1.2.6


Or; -
Beta: 1.3 - for advanced users

Latest versions:
Windows 1.3.5

Having just re read, I would think the first one as I am not an "advanced user"

shadowdragon

First one

Windows 1.2.6.

Stable, which means no bugs or quirks, Beta is bad if your not comfortable with the software.

esuhl

Audacity is pretty well-known and as safe to use. They have even written a detailed guide about transferring a tape to CD, that you can find here:

http://audacityteam.org/wiki/index.php?title=Transferring_tapes_and_records_to_computer_or_CD

derrick

I am not sure if I have got everything right,( to be honest I cannot find the "line in" socket and am using the mic socket),

I have recorded? some of the tape and saved as instructed, but when attempting to play it back I get this window message; - "Windows Media Player cannot play the file. The Player might not support the file type or might not support the codec that was used to compress the file."

shadowdragon

You should be able to play it in Audacity, when you record is the graph showing the noise levels of the tape?

have you set it to record it as an mp3?

Ill download it now and have a look.

Ho wait you need some more files to encode to MP3, ill scout round the site and post back the links gimme 5mins ;-)