Copy cassettes to computers to CD?

[jaziri]

There must be a way to do this, can anyone help? I have a whole bunch of older cassettes and I really do not want to have to buy them all on CD. It seems there should be some way to hook up something to play/record on computer (PC) and then could copy easily onto a CD. I read something about this recently about vinyl, need to be played realtime onto computer.

Does anyone know about this? Thanks.

[LarryH]

Yup, far as I know the only way to do it is in real time. You will need a PC with a sound card with "line in" input, a cassette deck, and software to actually do the recording (google for the software called "audacity.")

You then have to record the tracks, edit them with software into individual tracks and label them (unless you want one long track with all the songs mashed together).

Is all this worth it? Let me know if I can help you further...


Larry

[*Shira*]

I have transferred several cassette tapes and vinyl records to CD. As Larry said, you run the record/tape player in real time, and then go back to separate the songs into individual tracks. The software I used 10 years ago to do this was "Spin Doctor" by Roxio (it came with Easy CD Creator, which has since been replaced by Easy Media Creator). I have not used the current version of Easy Media Creator, so I really don't know whether "Spin Doctor" still comes with it. (I quit using Roxio when the upgrade from version 6 to 7 was done in a way that I detested...) But you could investigate whether it can still do that task okay.

[jaziri]

I wish my 19 yr old still lived at home, he could do it easily and fast. Thanks.

[vilia]

I've been wondering about this too, since I have so many old records and cassettes with great music on them. I can't even play the records anymore, since the belt on my turntable broke. Sounds like it might be worth waiting a while for some easier technology.

[donnadiva]

I use Roxio Easy Media Creator 7 for cassette to "wavesound" on my computer. I have a very simple cassette player and hook up the "line out" on the cassette player to the "line in" on my computer. Use the capture function on Roxio to copy the tape to the computer, then use the editor function to clean up any pops, hisses, to enhance the sound, fade in, fade out, etc. Once you've saved it on your computer, you can copy it onto CD. I also have a turntable that I can hook up the same way to copy those old albums that are not out in CD. I'm sure there are other great programs out there that do the same thing, but I've been using this one for years and have gotten used to it. I also use Realtime to create new CDs on my computer. Haven't tried to use Realtime to copy the cassettes or vinyl, but I'm going to investigate and see if it's easier than Easy Media Creator.

[LarryH]

Just picked up an "Ion" brand USB turntable that plugs directly into your computer and digitizes LP's. I just bought 22 LP's for 25 cents each at a garage sale - woo hoo!

I'll let everyone know how this works out...


Larry

[bul_bul_ksa]

I tried moving albums over on to my comptuer and, honestly, the results have not been spectacular for the amount of effort I've put in.