Cassette Transfer

Helmac

An old fashioned problem - I have a set of language cassettes which I want to use. Is there a SIMPLE way in which I can transfer to my laptop/tablet please as I'm not very tech savvy. Thanks

DUTR

You can get a walkman type player that comes with usb lead and software to convert the sound into an mp3 file. I got mine from Aldi for about £12.

somersethillbilly

Audacity is the way to go.

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

esuhl

As above, connect the a tape deck (e.g. Walkman) to the laptop's microphone (i.e. audio input) socket, and use Audacity to record the sound.

You can then export the recording as an MP3 (compressed) or WAV (uncompressed) file to put on an MP3 player or record to CD.

baxie

I bought a cassette transfer thing from Lidl, and it cane with everything you need including the software for your pc and the necessary cables.

esuhl

baxie wrote: »

I bought a cassette transfer thing from Lidl, and it cane with everything you need including the software for your pc and the necessary cables.

Those specially designed cassette-to-PC transfer machines are great in terms of being slightly easier to use and coming with all the right cables and software...

But often the sound quality isn't that good (maybe not an issue for old, badly stored tapes or spoken-word recordings). And they're expensive for what they are.

If you already have a vaguely-decent hi-fi deck or walkman, you'll probably get a better recording from that (and you'll only have to buy a cheap cable to digitise the tapes).

It's always worth a go with old kit before shelling out on new stuff! (Assuming your tapes don't get chewed up!)