audio cassette tape to pc hard drive

[[email protected]]

Hey everyone. I would like to know the easiest way to transfer a tape to my hard drive. I don't want to mess around with EQ or noise reduction or anything crazy. This isn't a live show or anything I'd ever trade. I have a HP Media Desktop and an old tape deck. I tried using NERO SOUNDTRAX tape to CD wizard but can't get anywhere. I'm connecting the tape deck's line out(red + white) to the PC's audio in. I tried the back and the front(input 2) inputs and can't hear anything while the tape is playing. I've had no problems with capturing video from a camcorder and thought this would be similar. Can anyone steer me in the right direction?

[rhinowing]

Originally Posted by [email protected]

Hey everyone. I would like to know the easiest way to transfer a tape to my hard drive. I don't want to mess around with EQ or noise reduction or anything crazy. This isn't a live show or anything I'd ever trade. I have a HP Media Desktop and an old tape deck. I tried using NERO SOUNDTRAX tape to CD wizard but can't get anywhere. I'm connecting the tape deck's line out(red + white) to the PC's audio in. I tried the back and the front(input 2) inputs and can't hear anything while the tape is playing. I've had no problems with capturing video from a camcorder and thought this would be similar. Can anyone steer me in the right direction?

try using audacity (www.audacity.sf.net), freeware and a really great piece of software...under preference -> audio i/o, set the device to "line in/mic in"

[LeifH12345]

Yes,

just use a

freeware program.

Audacity is good, so is wavepad, and some others.

You basically want to record the sound as it plays through your computer.

[trustthex]

also, make sure windows/drivers haven't muted your inputs... that may be why you aren't getting any sound

also... is the cassette deck a all-in-one (tuner, tape, cd, etc) or just a stand alone deck. you might not be hearing much of anything b/c the deck is putting out a line level signal. run it through a amplifier/tuner first to raise the volume a lil...

[Karst]

Yeah, check the conntections. You might be better off using a Sony Walkman with a jack-lead. Or maybe one of your friends have a tape to CD recorder.

[Audioarchivist]

Originally Posted by Karst

Yeah, check the conntections. You might be better off using a Sony Walkman with a jack-lead. Or maybe one of your friends have a tape to CD recorder.

No no no. A full home deck will give better results than any shitty walkman ever could.

Originally Posted by trustthex

also, make sure windows/drivers haven't muted your inputs... that may be why you aren't getting any sound

also... is the cassette deck a all-in-one (tuner, tape, cd, etc) or just a stand alone deck. you might not be hearing much of anything b/c the deck is putting out a line level signal. run it through a amplifier/tuner first to raise the volume a lil...

No no no. Line level is right for line in on the computer. Amps are line in / line out, too. No benefit there.

Open up your comp's audio properties (right clik the speaker icon in bottom right), and open the adjust audio properties. Clik "audio" tab on the popup box. Open record and play controls. Select line in for record. For play also. Tape deck out > line in comp. Shouldn't be that hard.



If you get 'er going, check into properly aligning the play heads for the specific tapes you're playing in. Azimuth adjustment will give great sound. Not adjusting this will make it sound just like the stereotypical shitty tape.

[direwolf-pgh]

Originally Posted by [email protected]

Hey everyone. I would like to know the easiest way to transfer a tape to my hard drive. I don't want to mess around with EQ or noise reduction or anything crazy. This isn't a live show or anything I'd ever trade. I tried using ..blah blah blah.. Can anyone steer me in the right direction?

quit messing around & just purchase/download the CD

[chinajoe]

it might be easier if you transfer it to something like an r9, and then transfer it to a pc.

[[email protected]]

I still can't seem to get any sound. What's an r9?

[splumer]

Originally Posted by [email protected]

I still can't seem to get any sound. What's an r9?

An Edirol R-09, a portable digital recorder. Let's go over this again. You have the connectors on the "Play/line out" jacks on the back of your deck? And the other end plugged into your "line in" jack on your sound card? Make sure you have the right one. On my sound card, it's really hard to see. It's the arrow pointing INTO the circle-ish kind of thing. Make sure there's no switch on your deck to turn on the line out on the deck. Some pro cassette decks have this. If that all checks out, it's something in your PC.

In the lower-right corner of your screen, right click the speaker icon, and click "open volume control." You'll see a bunch of sliders, marked Volume Control, Wave, CD Audio, and maybe a few others. Click "Options," "Properties," then select "Recording" under the "Adjust Volume For" area. Click "OK." You should see more sliders, with various labels, depending on what brand of sound card you have. Make sure nothing is muted, and that "Stereo mix" or "Line in" is selected. Play the tape and run the recording program while you're doing this, so you can tell when it starts working.

If all that checks out, then the problem is most likely in the recording program. The only one I have experience with is Cool Edit Pro & Audition. I use a USB audio interface, and I have to select it as an input device in Cool Edit in order for it to work, and it changes back to the default whenever I close it out. But, that always seems to be my problem.

If that doesn't solve it, you're on your own. You may have a bad cable, your line out may be bad (both unlikely; you'd likely get SOMETHING, rather than nothing at all), or the sound card may be bad.

If the tape in question is important enough, you might want to consider asking someone with better equipment and more experience to transfer it for you.

Good luck!