Converting Cassette music to MP3

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Rahul++

Rahul++

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I've about 120-130 Cassette tapes having nice old songs. My dad needs them to convert into MP3 format.. I can convert them using Male-Male 3.5mm Audio jack but that will need about 120*60=7200 minutes playtime and record time which is quite lengthy and harassing..

Any other method to convert Cassette tape into Digital in short time?
 
You can but will it take time like you mentioned, but seriously TBH in today's age im better off procuring those files on the internet.
 
Audacity should do the trick. I have converted some cassettes a long time ago but am out of idea of what really I did :P
 
Rahulrulez said:
I've about 120-130 Cassette tapes having nice old songs. My dad needs them to convert into MP3 format.. I can convert them using Male-Male 3.5mm Audio jack but that will need about 120*60=7200 hours playtime and record time which is quite lengthy and harassing..

Any other method to convert Cassette tape into Digital in short time?
Click to expand...

It should be 7200 Minutes...right? Well I think you can find them on internet...why go in hassle of transforming...
 
and the asnwer to the OP is sorry there is no way to speed up the process, its as you said 7200 hours. Do it slowly and take your time to get it right then it will be time well spent. A labour of love.

I'm in two minds whether you want to use a lossy encoder like mp3, given the source isn't that great to begin with but if its convenince you want use lame APE for your encoder settings.

It might be an idea to test out whether you want to set the dolby settings on the tape player as well to cut down on the hiss. You would prolly want to have a headcleaner +spirit ready as well for regular head cleanings. Also the quality fo the final product depends on how 'good' the player you use is, so if you can borrow a tape deck (with presumably better head) for the job it might be better than using a simple tape player.
 
You'll be sacrificing audio quality if you try and convert the music faster. Like our friends above me said, it is better to get that music off the web, than go through the whole hassle of converting it.
 
It made me think of speed copying, there used to be twin decks that could copy tapes faster but the quality suffered as a result.

The only reason i can see to covert the tapes is if the music is otherwise unobtainable.
 
Hmm, Is there any device that can convert cassettes into digital format at faster speed?

I wont mind to go through all hassles if quality is gonna be good...
 
Download and burn on DVDs. Conversion will be a crazy idea. Stuff u can't find on net buy original cds, rip to mp3 burn on dvds.
 
@OP

Get the files in Mp3 format off the internet. But if you still want to convert, i suppose you can use Music Match Juke Box software. I have used it a long time back (8-9 years back) but i had only few cassettes so that was not an issue.

But yes there is supposedly no way to speed up the process. I had to run the entire cassette to convert it.
 
You get dvds with old songs on the road side..get few of them and the ones tha are not there on the dvd, u can convert them..Technically, since u have them already, its not piracy..:P
 
I think this was the first cassette converter that was commercially available (at least one of the first) about 9 years ago
Plus Deck Cassette Converter - buy at Firebox.com
I think this one has an IDE interface. That and similar products are available on ebay.com
Also, try Ion Audio ION Tape 2 PC USB Cassette Archiver

They might still take the full 'n' mins to record the audio though but at least you'll get good quality compared to using your sound card's line in and a cassette player.
 
mndar said:
I think this was the first cassette converter that was commercially available (at least one of the first) about 9 years ago
Plus Deck Cassette Converter - buy at Firebox.com
I think this one has an IDE interface. That and similar products are available on ebay.com
Also, try Ion Audio ION Tape 2 PC USB Cassette Archiver
Click to expand...
These look very good for the job, auto-reverse and all.

mndar said:
They might still take the full 'n' mins to record the audio though but at least you'll get good quality compared to using your sound card's line in and a cassette player.
Click to expand...
Why would the quality be better ?

I think all they are doing is the same thing just that its all contained in one unit.

System Requirements:
5.25" internal drive bay
CD-ROM drive for software installation
700MHz Intel® Pentium® III or faster
An available expansion slot for connection card
Sound card (Line-in required)<-----
Windows 98 or above
Click to expand...

Convenience here certainly is the big plus :)
 
Oh..didn't see that.
That could be a problem. If it is going to use the sound card's line in while recording, there is no point in purchasing it. The USB ones might be better then.
 
mndar said:
If it is going to use the sound card's line in while recording, there is no point in purchasing it. The USB ones might be better then.
Click to expand...
What is the preferred way to record sound using a PC ?
 
der r many mp3 players which has direct line in recording..like Cowon's..

but since ur requirement is only MP3 format..you have only 1 player in Cowon also dat is iAudio U3..its an old player..

You can find it Welcome To Iaudio

Now d main prob is time..5mins song will take 5mins recording..but d quality will b exact..

I hav used it for my cassettes..so knw it..

If u r ready to take sum pain ??
 
The cables are commonly available at hardware shops. That's a lot of time though, if you know any studios nearby, they charge a fee for doing the conversion - you give them the tapes, they give you CDs in any format you want.
 
Thx to my newly acquired knowledge in another thread, cassette->mp3 all comes down to how good the analog-to-digital conversion is. But casette has a limit in how good it can deliver in the first place so the key is matching that limitation with as close a ADC as possible. Anything more is overkill but at the same time anything less than optimum would be an incredible waste. Of course the tape player will be a deck instead of any cassette player.

So what would be a suitable soundcard to use in this case ?

...conceivably if you have that you can get someone else to do the work and pay them for the time. You don't want them to do the job unless you know what soundcard they're going to use.

@SCOWNU
Cowon might have great DAC's but how good is the reverse ie ADC ?
 
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