Cassettes have become an obsolete format.
With cassettes and the equipment to play them becoming more and more scarce, compounded with the fact that magnetic tape media has a short lifespan, those who own cassettes must have an efficient and cost-effective method for converting this obsolete format into an eternal digital record.
Instructions
1. Download a free audio editor such as Audacity (see link in References section). You can choose from many high-quality free and commercial audio editing programs, but Audacity has the right combination of features and usability for this application.
2. Connect your cassette player to your PC. Using your adapter or cable, connect the stereo RCA outputs of your cassette player to the stereo 1/8-inch line-level input of your PC. (The line level input is the blue input next to the speaker jack on the back of your computer.)
3. Configure Audacity to record from the line-level input, and test the levels to ensure that the sound does not overload during the loudest part of the recording. This effect, called "clipping," causes distortion in the final recording. The indicator in the upper-right corner of the Audacity window shows the audio levels in real time; the meter turns red to indicate clipping. Adjust the line-in level of your sound card using your operating system's mixer to attain the maximum amount of input volume without clipping.
4. Click "Record" in Audacity, then press "Play" on your cassette player. Record an entire side of a tape at once, using Audacity to place markers between each track. You can also walk away during this process, but come back and stop the recording once the tape has run out.
5. Edit your sound files. (See your sound editing program's "Help" menu for specific instructions.) Audacity makes it easy to cut and paste audio files. Paste each file into its own track, then save each track as an MP3 file on your computer by clicking "File," then "Export." Enter the song's information, or meta data, in the window that pops up. After clicking "OK," select a folder to store the song, then out of the list of file types, select "MP3." Type in a file name, then click "Save."
Tags: cassette player, your cassette, your cassette player, your sound, each track, line-level input, obsolete format