Converting cassettes to MP3 - help!

prowla

You could use an audio jack input and Audacity.
You might get decent quality if you've got a really good cassette deck, but you'd be better re-buying the music on CD at car boots/charity shops/ebay.
Of course, if you've got some recordings which aren't commercially available, then that's not an option.

droopsnoot

Some years ago I bought an audio CD recorder, so I play the tape, record it to CD, then rip to MP3 if it's worth it. But I won't do that for music, it's just not worth it. I follow a specific band and have quite a lot of radio interviews and performances that just aren't available anywhere, so it's nice to be able to keep them, even if they were recorded off Radio 1 before it went to FM. Adds some authenticity.

As it turns out that's quite an expensive solution, but back when I bought the CD recorder, PCs weren't as good (well, mine certainly wasn't) and a lot of the free recording software just wasn't around.

katejo

I am about to get rid of an old Hi Fi because the CD player isn't working as well anymore and has damaged a couple of CD's. It also has a cassette deck. I only have 2 cassettes to keep. These are ones which I can't replace from the shops as they were made for me as presents/not released as a CD and have nostalgic value. Might it work to just record from the tape deck onto a recordable CD in my laptop?

emptybox

katejo wrote: »

I am about to get rid of an old Hi Fi because the CD player isn't working as well anymore and has damaged a couple of CD's. It also has a cassette deck. I only have 2 cassettes to keep. These are ones which I can't replace from the shops as they were made for me as presents/not released as a CD and have nostalgic value. Might it work to just record from the tape deck onto a recordable CD in my laptop?

It won't work directly. But you can record as an audio file on the computer, then you can burn it to CD.

I_have_spoken

Not worth it IMHO both for the immense time it'll take and the rubbish sounds quality.

Save your money on a converter and get a sub. to Spotify

apnorf

I too use Aldi cassette unit and Audacity although other suggestions will work. It is quite easy to do BUT time consuming so use only if you really want to keep your stuff. I occasionally use mine to convert audio books off cassettes and it does a good job depending on condition of tape, although you can play around on Audacity (good to fill in a rainy day if you've got nothing better to do).

cookie365

One of these from the headphone socket on the cassette player to the line in (blue) socket on a PC.

Use Audacity and set the input to line in and press record, then just play the tape into the PC.

Erme

I'm using audacity and a tape player I got from a charity shop to convert my tapes. When tapes can be gotten as little as 10p each from the charity shops it makes MSE sense. Maybe more a winter project than a summer one but still...

Just recorded my first tape. So far so good. Only slight problem is that volume a little low so 'normalising' it. But clearer than when on the tape player and I think the £1.75 jack is a good investment...

They charge £10+ for these things on ebay. Mine gotten for a fiver