Transferring audio tapes to CD

JTrader

JTrader

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Hi

sorry, but this is none trading related...............

I have a few audio tapes of concerts taped off the radio that i wouldn't mind having on CD.

I am no sound engineer, so I'm looking to find out how I could do this, and what equipment would be needed etc.

I have an 8 year old hifi.

I was thinking that if I could somehow convert the tapes to MP3 I could then transfer them to my PC and to CD, but don't know if this is possible or how it could be done.

Can anyone provide any pointers?

Thanks a lot

jtrader.
 
I tried this with some old tapes. I used a product by Steinberg called "Clean". There are 2 versions, a basic one where you do all the settings and a pro version that sets it all for you. About £30 and £70. PC World amoung others stock it.

I had the cheaper version and could not get rid of interference on the finished product. I put this down to the fact that a) I was recording from a 15 year old Pioneer system and b) The original recordings were probabyl not in Stereo.

It records Tapes, Vynels and will clean up any old CDs.
 
http://www.g4tv.com/callforhelparchive/features/22210/Transfer_Tape_to_CD.html

Transfer Tape to CD
written by Greg Melton on Monday, March 04, 2002

Archive cassette tapes before they're gone forever.
Want to take your cassette-tape collection from the '70s and '80s and burn the music to a CD? Today we'll show you how to take your old cassette tapes and burn them to a CD before it's too late.

What you'll need to do is connect a tape player to your sound card's line-in terminal with a 1/8" mini-jack and record the contents of your tape as a WAV file. To do this, we recommend using the free version of MusicMatch 6.0. Just set MusicMatch to record the line-in channel, press play on your tape deck, and then press the record button on the MusicMatch Jukebox.

Once you've done that, you'll be converting the analog sound on the tape into digital audio -- breaking it down into numbers. Welcome to the world of digitizing.

Once you've recorded your WAV file, it's very easy to make an audio CD-R using software designed for that task. We recommend a $99 program called Spin Doctor from Roxio. It's part of Roxio's Easy CD Creator 5. You'll also need a CD-R drive, of course. When you've finished gathering all the necessary hardware and software, read this feature on how to burn an audio CD.

Before you create the CDs, you may want to transfer the WAV files to an editing studio. Pro Tools, Sound Forge, or Cool Edit Pro will work just fine. Let your budget determine which one you get.

Digidesign has recently made a free version of Pro Tools available. Pro Tools is the industry standard among recording professionals worldwide. It's not a user-friendly program but you can download a copy to edit and clean up WAV files before burning them to CD.
Click to expand...

Thanks farmhouse.

this appears to be another solution, the only problem with this setup is that my PC has on-board sound.

Cheers

jtrader
 
Hi Jtrader
the above method is the one that I used to transfer some vinyl to CD, if your pc has on board sound you should still have a line in it should be light blue in colour or if its the older type have concentric circles with an arrow pointing to the centre
 
Thanks dc2000

I might give this a try then. I have Nero 6 Ultra Edition - as I'm sure that most Internet savvy people do! I'm not sure if this will enable me to get the whole job done, or whether I'll also need MusicMatch6.0 in order to record the contents of your tape as a WAV file. Just need to figure out the minijack apsect.

I have seen the device that PC World sell, it's name escapes me but it was £25. Couldn't fin it on their website.

Cheers

JT
 
In fact Nero SoundTrax does convert tapes and LP's to CD......................
 
What you'll need to do is connect a tape player to your sound card's line-in terminal with a 1/8" mini-jack and record the contents of your tape as a WAV file.
Click to expand...

Hi

Having looked on ebay, I notice that most of these 1/8" mini-jack cables have TWO connectors on one end and one connector that goes into the sound card on the other end. However, my hifi has a cable with two connectors per cable for each speaker. Therefore if i want to achieve stereo recording and not mono, won't I need a 1/8" mini-jack cable with FOUR connectors on the other end - so as to utilise the output intended to be released to both of my hifis speakers?

Cheers

JT.
 
Does your stereo have line out phono sockets these should be white and red ?
You dont connect to the speaker outputs as this will be too much for the sound card

could you give me the make and model of the stereo
 
I have transferred my tapes to cd, mainly for use in the car.

I used stereo line out (headphone) mini jack to stereo line in mini jack.
Standard cable from Maplins. about £4.

I have a volume boost on my pc but didnt need it.
Recording levels were just fine.
 
Hi

it is a Yamaha natural sound stereo cassette (single cassette) deck K-220.

It has a black and red connectors on the end of a lead that connect to red and white connectors on the other end of the lead that plug into the amplifier.

There are only 4 holes on the back (for the 2 * red and black connectors) there is also a phones socket on the front of the tape deck.

I was thinking that Maplin may be my best bet.

Cheers

JT.
 
Hi Jtrader
ok as you look at the back of the cassette player on the left there are four sockets the two furthest left should say " line in rec" above them and the two next to them should say " line out play" the lead that goes from these sockets should plug into the "Tape PB" on the amplifier.

if the above is correct what you need is an adapter to go on the ends of the leads instead of them pluging into the amp they plug into the adapter and go into your sound card

the link shows the adapter sold at maplins
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=34196&doy=13m11D
 
Thanks DC2000

I've just been to Maplin and seen what you have shown. I bought a £2.99 1/8" mini-jack with a red and white connector on the other end. Are you saying that i do not need this cable and that the cables already within my hifi system + the adapter will be sufficient?

My main query is that these cables within my hifi system both have double connectors on the end of them. Therefore would I not need an adapter with FOUR inputs available as opposed to an adapter with only TWO inputs available in order to achieve a stereo recording from the tape to my PC, rather than a mono recording?

Many thanks

jtrader.
 
Hi
you just need the adapter and the cables you already have

could you tell me where the four connectors plug in ( two must plug in to the "Tape PB" of the amp) are the other two just loose or do they plug in somewhere

My guess at the moment is that they are for a second cassette
 
Hi dc2000
It has a black and red connectors on the end of a lead that connect to red and white connectors on the other end of the lead that plug into the amplifier.

There are only 4 holes on the back (for the 2 * red and black connectors) there is also a phones socket on the front of the tape deck.

It says "line in rec" on the left and "line out play" on the right on the back of the tape deck. They connect to the amplifier un the "audio signal" section. In this audio signal section there are 8 holes - 4 columns consisting of 2 rows above one another. The inner most 4 connect the tape deck. The outer two on both sides connect the record player and CD player. The top row is LEFT, the bottom row is RIGHT.

It is strange that the CD player and record player only have 1 cable (2 connectors) going from them, whereas the tape deck has 2 cables (4 connectors) running from it to the amplifier........

Thanks again

jtrader
 
Last edited:
Yup got it
The reason the tape deck has four is two for the ouput ie playing a cassette and two for input ie recording from CD or record deck via the amp

what you need to do is connect the two "line out play" sockets to the connector you have just purchased you may find this easier using the cable from the CD or record player ( saves trying to work out which two go to which two) this will give you the stereo signal into the computer you require.
 
Thanks dc2000

that all makes perfect sense now.

Your help is much appreciated

jtrader.
 
jtrader, let us know how you get on with this and which software you use etc - moving tapes and vinyl on to mp3 and/or cd is something i've been meaning to get round to for a while.

I'd be particularly interested in hearing if the software you use has any functions for removing tape hiss to bring the sound standard up a bit.

Glad to see someone got to you before you hooked your speaker outputs up to your PC audio input! :eek:

:)
 
Hi Arbitagreur

I have Nero 6.0 Ultra Edition. It seems to do most things..................

I think Nero 7.0 is now available...........................
 
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