WE have a computer question - Audio Cassettes to CD's? Multiple questions for the Super Geniuses!

Delta-Boudreaux, SamAdam76,tang-soo | 1-9-2002 | Delta-Boudreaux, SamAdam76,tang-soo

[Theo]

Please don't see my response as cynical, but your time may be better spent just digitizing a few of the really significant tapes, and just continue listening to the other 500 on a tape player. It would take MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY hours to digitize, edit, and burn that many tapes. It's not worth the time, in my opinion.

FWIW, I do Protools audio editing, and restored a 40-year old album collection, using Waves Restoration bundle and some of their mastering tools. Pretty nice results, but I wouldn't want to go through that process with 500 albums/cassettes.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Hi Nita. I have an easy, quick and elegant solution to your questions. I just don't have time to go into it now. I'm late for work. When I get there and itf it's not too busy for me, I will elucidate and give you step by steps to get your audi cassettes to CD.

I'll check in with you in a while.

PS...there has been a technological improvement to my logo. Arrrh!

[Theo]

My advice (as someone who spends hours and hours -- last night till 4:30 a.m. -- working on audio recording/production/restoration): consider just digitizing certain tapes/records, and leaving the rest to enjoy in tape format. You'll spend time digitizing them and editing them, when you could just listen to them someday instead.

If it's a really significant project (from a historical perspective, for example), perhaps apply for a grant and have someone else do the digitizing.

It's cool to move audio from tape/records to CD (or to share on the internet with friends), but in most cases it's not worth the time and effort it requires. We've been allotted a certain number of days here, and your time may be better spent doing something else....

Memento mori.

[steve-b]

Using sound-file editing software, you should be able to take a sound file representing an entire side of one tape and divide it up into individual tracks (select each song and save the selection as a new file).

[Mustng959]

ping for future info

[steve-b]

The size of the audio files are about 10 times as large as other audio files I download from the net. Am I doing something wrong?

Your audio files are (probably) .WAV files (i.e. uncompressed). Files from the Net are typically compressed formats (.MP3, .AAC, etc).

It shouldn't be difficult to find software to convert the former into the latter. You'll want to save the original .WAV files (burn to CD; they'll fill your hard drive fast if you work with a lot of them) in case you need to tweak them later.

If you save files as MP3s, I recommend a bit rate of 128kps to 192kps -- lower than that, and the imperfections of the compression start to become audible; higher than that, and you aren't really gaining much for the extra file size.

[steve-b]

The Cool Edit 2000 software has been sold to another company and replaced with their line; it probably doesn't make much difference (except that to get the full registered version, you'll have to get the new one).

[Nita Nupress]

It's cool to move audio from tape/records to CD (or to share on the internet with friends), but in most cases it's not worth the time and effort it requires. We've been allotted a certain number of days here, and your time may be better spent doing something else....

Thanks. Normally I would agree, but I didn't give all the facts. I have about a dozen cassettes tapes (both music and talking) that are of historical significance regarding genealogy matters that I want to preserve to pass on to my kids. Their deceased grandfather was an amateur musician and one day they will probably want to hear his work. So yes, this is important enough to spend the required time doing.

Another thing I didn't mention: I also have a dozen old reel-to-reel tapes of music (his & mine) that I'd like to transfer to digital format. Some of them were created on a early '80s-era Teac 4-channel recorder with mixer, and some on a Foster 8-channel recorder with mixer. Is there any way to preserve those without going out and buying the equipment? Everything is probably digital now, anyway. I have the old Teac reel-to-reel in the attic, but it's broken, plus I no longer have a mixer. Any help would be appreciated. I'll come back tonight. Thanks!

[Nita Nupress]

Thanks for your response. I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say.

[Nita Nupress]

I didn't know that. Thank you.

[Big Giant Head]

I use a cheap little program called Total Recorder to get my personal recordings into the computer, and I can later manually cut them into songs. Works fine, had normalizing functions and other things, and fits on a floppy. I don't know how much it cost, a friend gave it to me.

[SamAdams76]

The cheapest way to do it is to hook a pair of RCA cables between your tape deck and your computer sound card. Then use any type of jukebox program to do the job. I prefer Roxio Easy-CD Creator. It's fairly straightforward. You play your tapes and record them as .WAV files. Then you compress them in the MP3 format you desire. I prefer 160bps MP3s but I'm picky about my audio. 128bps should be fine for most.

I just got done converting a bunch of my Christmas tapes to MP3 and then I loaded them in my iPod. They sound great!

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Good evening, Ms. Nupress. Now where were we? Ah yes. Transferring audio cassettes to Audio CD.

Here is the setup that I use.

Software:

Audacity by Sourceforge. This is Freeware that will allow you to record anything that passes through your sound card onto your harddrive in a variety of file formats. It is free, reliable, small and stable. Download it and install it.

Nero from Ahead Software. It can be purchased at that site. Version 6 is the latest. I use version 5. This will allow you to create the CDs from your captured audio files created with Audacity. It will do tons more but that's another thread.

Hardware:

You will need a CD-RW disc drive. I'm assuming your PC has one. Without this unit you cannot "burn" CDs. A regular CD-ROM drive only reads discs.

Once you have the hardware and software setup, all you need to do is get a cable to go from your cassette deck's output (usually left and right RCA jacks) to your soundcard's input (usually a female 1/8" stereo jack). This cable will have male connectors on both ends...two RCA males on one end and a male 1/8" stereo plug on the other...and can be obtained from any Radio Shack or Electronics vendor. It will look very much like this:

Now, all you need to do is start to play your cassette tape audio and then start to record this input to your PC with Audacity. You should be able to record in MP3 format. If not, record in .wav format. Makes no difference. Nero will be able to convert either into the CD Audio format that you need to ba able to burn on to a CD.

Once you have this audio recorded and saved to a file, you can use Audacity to edit it, add fade ins and fade outs, filter out transient noise, etc, etc. You can get as fancy as you want. Just remember that you will only be able to record approximately 1 hour of audio onto a CD. The format that goes onto the CD is a much larger file than an MP3.

Once you've edited, you open Nero, use the Wizard to tell it what you want to create (a new audio CD) and then drag and drop your new file from the right side to the left side panel and then insert your blank CD-R media...not CD-RW...and click the "Burn" icon. Nero will process the file and lay it down on to your CD.

If you want to create CD labels and case label backs and fronts, you can use what I use.

CD Box Labeler Pro from Green Point Software. It's only $19.95 and you can pay for it online and download it in minutes. It gives you TOTAL control over every facet of printing CD labels.

That's about it. If I've forgotten anything I'll add it later or feel fre to ask any question you like.

[Grig]

1. Software gets updated to new versions, but I don't know of any significant advancements.

2. It doesn't take a lot of money to do this. You already have a sterio and PC with a decent sound card and CD burner I assume, so you just need the cable to connect them and the software to record it to your hard drive or CD-R.

3.
Software: I use Nero Burning Rom myself, but for tape->CD other programs (like Roxio's) may be better.

Sound Card: Needs a sterio line in jack and good sound quality. I'de say go with a well known, well reviewd card.

Hard Drive: The bigger the better no matter what you are using it for.

For doing a lot of tapes, I would say just get them onto CD-R now and worry about editing them later on.

[js1138]

I buy all my audio equipment at garage sales. Good cassette players are being given away.

[Nita Nupress]

Lots of good advice here.  I'm sorry I didn't make it back last night as promised. To be quite honest, I forgot I posted the message. But this is actually a good thing. For those of you who have battled this, you know what I mean. For anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about, stick around on interesting threads like this one long enough and you'll figure it out. :-)

Thanks to all of you for answering and sharing your secrets with me!  I'll address each one of you individually.

[Nita Nupress]

First, let me tell you, I just spent 5 minutes trying to post the above message because I was trying to call you "Giant Big Head" and couldn't figure out what was wrong with your name!  I must be a little dyslexic.  Anyway, you said:

I use a cheap little program called Total Recorder to get my personal recordings into the computer, and I can later manually cut them into songs. Works fine, had normalizing functions and other things, and fits on a floppy. I don't know how much it cost, a friend gave it to me.

 

This is great!  For anyone wanting their website, here it is. (They have a lot of other cool products at their website.) They just released a new version 5.0 on 10/26/04. Here's more information for anyone who is curious (All links open in new window):

 

Total Recorder is put out by High Criteria and is available for download at their website or at this Download.com page.(Free to try; $11.95 to buy). 

 

Reviews: 

http://radio.about.com/cs/recordingstreams/gr/TotalRecorder.htm

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6450_7-5020865-1.html (More of a "how-to" page. Very interesting.)

From the Download.com site linked above:

If you want to record any sound going through your PC, including Web-based audio streams, Total Recorder Standard Edition is worth a try. Default recording is in WAV format, though you can plug in codecs for MP3 and OGG files and save the result in any format. The program also features advanced naming options that let you append artist information, the current time, and other data to the filename. Advanced options include a built-in scheduler that works well despite not being able to automatically connect to your ISP and hop to an Internet radio station. Nonrecording features are minimal, but the reasonable price and clear interface make Total Recorder Standard Edition a suitable recorder for home users.

[Nita Nupress]

The cheapest way to do it is to hook a pair of RCA cables between your tape deck and your computer sound card. Then use any type of jukebox program to do the job. I prefer Roxio Easy-CD Creator. It's fairly straightforward. You play your tapes and record them as .WAV files. Then you compress them in the MP3 format you desire. I prefer 160bps MP3s but I'm picky about my audio. 128bps should be fine for most.

I just got done converting a bunch of my Christmas tapes to MP3 and then I loaded them in my iPod. They sound great!

I like cheap, especially since I already have that software on my hard drive! I think it came with the CD-RW disc drive I added.  Thanks, Sam.  And it's nice hearing from you again. (Merry Christmas!)

[Nita Nupress]

1. Software gets updated to new versions, but I don't know of any significant advancements.
2. It doesn't take a lot of money to do this. You already have a sterio and PC with a decent sound card and CD burner I assume, so you just need the cable to connect them and the software to record it to your hard drive or CD-R.
3. Software: I use Nero Burning Rom myself, but for tape->CD other programs (like Roxio's) may be better.
Sound Card: Needs a sterio line in jack and good sound quality. I'de say go with a well known, well reviewd card.
Hard Drive: The bigger the better no matter what you are using it for.
For doing a lot of tapes, I would say just get them onto CD-R now and worry about editing them later on.

You gave me a lot of useful information and it sounds very similar to what the others are saying. I need a stereo, a decent sound card, a CD burner, the RCA/stereo cable, and a decent hard drive.  I don't think I realized you could do the editing later, after you get the stuff onto the CD. This will help a lot because I usually don't have large chunks of time.

I can't get over how much things have changed since computers came along. Have you ever thought about how people in the music recording industry had to keep up or be left behind? While I was busy raising kids, the entire technology surrounding this stuff changed. Gawd, I feel old! < / rambling >

[arasina]

The cheapest way to do it is to hook a pair of RCA cables between your tape deck and your computer sound card.

Okay...but how do you hook that pair of cables to your sound card? I have an older Sony Vaio computer and wouldn't know where to begin. I know how to do the production stuff that follows by using the appropriate software, but I can't do that if I can't get the material transferred in the first place. :o)