We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
The Forum now has a brand new text editor, adding a bunch of handy features to use when creating posts. Read more in our how-to guide

Which sound card do i need ?

Dell dimension 5150. Need to transfer cassette tapes to comp. Cassette player has 2plugs in 2plugs out.I have a lead that has 2 plugs one end and a plug the other end that fits into either a mini disc player or a headphone socket.I know i need a pci sound card but which one? On ebay there are Audigy 2 also Soundblasters etc. all very confusing.What do i need to do the job. Thanks

Comments

  • COVKID
    COVKID Posts: 277 Forumite
    Can no one help me? or can't it be done
  • djheath
    djheath Posts: 453 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    Simply plug a 3.5 mm jack (or correct size) from the cassette players headphones socket, into the the microphone socket in your PC. I would be surprised if you didn't have a sound card in that pc already with a pink 3.5mm microphone socket.

    If you dont, then any pci sound card with a microphone jack would work.

    The bit to worry about is the software to record the sound when you press play on the cassette tape. search google for this, there should be some free recorders.
  • benjus
    benjus Posts: 5,433 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts
    Ideally you should connect a cassette player into the line-in socket, not the microphone socket. The cassette player will send out a line-level signal, which the line-in socket is intended to receive. The microphone socket will probably work but it is more sensitive so you might have to fiddle around with volume levels.

    The colours used on most sound cards to identify the sockets are:
    Line Out (speakers): Green
    Line In: Blue
    Microphone: Pink

    As mentioned above, most computers sold in the last 10 years or so have sound cards built in so you may well not need to buy one. If you do need one, something cheap like one of these: http://www.ebuyer.com/search/?sortfilter=ascend&intStoreID=2&intCatID=148&limit=10&page=1 should do the job.

    I just had a look on the Dell website, and it looks like the 5150 has built-in sound capabilities, although it may not have a line-in socket. If that's the case, try it with the microphone socket first before you consider buying another sound card.
    Let's settle this like gentlemen: armed with heavy sticks
    On a rotating plate, with spikes like Flash Gordon
    And you're Peter Duncan; I gave you fair warning
  • Donnie
    Donnie Posts: 9,862 Forumite
    Software here: Audacity
  • COVKID
    COVKID Posts: 277 Forumite
    Thank you all for your help, will have a go at the weekend.My m/c does have a blue,green, pink and yellow sockets.
  • COVKID
    COVKID Posts: 277 Forumite
    Managed to do it using Audacity and your other comments.Thank you all once again
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 353.5K Banking & Borrowing
  • 254.2K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 455.1K Spending & Discounts
  • 246.6K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 603K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 178.1K Life & Family
  • 260.6K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.7K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.