Cassette cartridges to CD or IPOD (CDs, conversion, program, recording)

[Magnolia Bloom]

How can I transfer two-sided cassette tapes on to a CD? I ultimately want them to go on my IPOD.

I've looked online and seen everything from equipment that costs hundreds of dollars to a wiki page that says it can be done for five bucks worth of cables. I have an old stereo with cassette player packed away and a 15 YO son. Could it be done with these resources?! Could they go from my stereo directly to my IPOD?

I don't want to spend much doing this- they are business-related cassettes, not music. But the set on CD goes for more than $500. I found them in a thrift store for $10..(two of the series are missing) Not in a position to pay a bunch to transfer them.

[f_m]

Well you can get this program for free, and it also has a wiki page describing how to record from tape player. Depends on the type of tape player, but you need a cable from it to a computer line-in port, then you use the software to record and edit the file.

Audacity: Free Audio Editor and Recorder

Transferring tapes and records to computer or CD - Audacity Wiki

[Bo]

You may have heard of the USB turntable, but there are also USB cassette players that will deliver their sound into your computer for easy digitizing.

Amazon.com: Ion Tape2PC USB Cassette Deck: Electronics

$129 for the player is cheaper than $500 for the CDs.

[Magnolia Bloom]

Thanks. I will go F_M's route first. I think I even have the cables.

[thecoalman]

Depends on what kind of outputs you have on the cassette deck or receiver but generally speaking you can pick up what you need at Radio Shack. For example RCA outputs are about the most common so you'd get a RCA to mini plug adapter for about $3 or $4.



Plug it into the mic or aux port on your soundcard. The cables you'll already have as they are common for audio or even TV's. The red, white and yellow ones for TV. Use audacity already mentioned to record.

The tuntables and cassette decks designed to hook right to a computer through USB are really unnecessary unless you're looking for the utmost quality from your conversion. They will produce a a better recording but for most the difference is negligible. You'd really need to be audiophile to go that route.

[HonuMan]

I've been digitizing some of my old cassettes and have found the high frequencies on many to be extremely muted -- or, rather, they're fine for a fraction of a second after I press play, and then they become muted. A friend suggested that this may be due to the felt pads on the cassettes being old and worn and thus not keeping the tape properly aligned with the playback head. He suggested I buy a new cassette and transfer the tape from the old housing to the new one. I haven't tried it yet, but I just thought I'd warn you of a problem you may encounter, along with a possible solution. (Has anyone else tried this?)

[Magnolia Bloom]

Thanks for that info. I never would have figured that out. Hopefully I won't experience that BC that would be a whole lot of work to do on all the tapes!

[Naptowner]

Originally Posted by HonuMan

I've been digitizing some of my old cassettes and have found the high frequencies on many to be extremely muted -- or, rather, they're fine for a fraction of a second after I press play, and then they become muted. A friend suggested that this may be due to the felt pads on the cassettes being old and worn and thus not keeping the tape properly aligned with the playback head. He suggested I buy a new cassette and transfer the tape from the old housing to the new one. I haven't tried it yet, but I just thought I'd warn you of a problem you may encounter, along with a possible solution. (Has anyone else tried this?)

No, and I wouldn't do it because you stand a good chance of getting the tape all tangled up as you transfer it from the old housing to the new, and there's no guarantee that the reels will fit properly in the new housing. I have done this when tapes break, but if the tapes aren't broken I wouldn't try to take them apart. If you must do it, try replacing the leaf spring/felt pad assembly instead of moving the tape itself.

But even then, I doubt the pads are the problem. The purpose of the felt pad is to keep the tape in constant contact with the tape head, but it doesn't keep the tape centered on the head. It sounds to me like the tape might be misaligned, but that's a function of the alignment of the tape heads, the spindles, and the capstan and roller that move the tape through the cassette deck. Try cleaning the heads of your tape deck and all the other parts you can reach on the inside instead. And I would try the tapes on a different cassette deck to compare.