John Erlich
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Converting Cassettes to CD (or MP3)
I can't believe we haven't had more discussions on this forum about converting cassettes to CD (or MP3s)!
I have a HUGE collection of Middle Eastern music on cassettes. I know that most of them will never be re-released on CD.
I am mostly interested in converting from cassette to audio CD, rather than MP3, at this time. I know that there are different ways to do this, and
I'm curious about your experiences regarding the ease of conversion and sound quality of the output.
I imagine that cassettes converted to CDs have only 2 tracks (one for each side). Is this the case? What other quirks might I encounter? Any other
tricks I should know?
I have Audacity on my home computer. Would I get a good quality recording by just running cables from my Walkman into my computer?
Given the number of cassettes I own, I am also seriously considering buying a "dedicated" conversion appliance. Does anyone have any experience with
them? Cost? Quality of output? Ease of use?
I am attaching a discussion of the issue from a blog.
Thanks much in advance for whatever advice you can offer!
Your Most Humble Servant,
John "Udi John" Erlich
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oudistcamp
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This what I do:
I have the Roland R09 digital recorder.
I get a double male/male 2.5mm jack from Radio Shack.
One end goes into the headphone outlet on my casette player, the other goes into input on my R09.
I start the casette playing, and I start recording with the R09.
Choose the highest mp3 setting which is equivalent to the quality of cd, or choose wav format for even better quality.
I use Nero to separate the tracks after recording. Just look for the low points on the acoustic graph and snip!
Good luck!
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stringmanca
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Audacity will work, too. You can either leave each side as one long track or cut them up into separate files, as oudistcamp mentions with Nero. Make
sure you have a stereo cable going from the Walkman headphone jack to the computer input.
When you've recorded the track, be sure to Normalize it. That will make it as loud as possible without distorting the sound. I would do that before
cutting up the tracks so you don't have to do it for each song separately, although if the songs are at different levels on the cassette you may have
to anyway.
I have an old PC and cassette player set up permanently just for this purpose! Please let me know if you have any further questions, as I'm just over
the hill from you. Nathan
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stringmanca
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Some further thoughts:
We actually have the device in Option 2 of your attachment at work. It works pretty well, but not any better than any of the other options. I also
have a standalone CD recorder at home, which saves the step of recording to the computer first, but I prefer being able to edit the files on the
computer before burning. Both of these pieces of equipment can be set to autodetect the silence between songs but it usually gets it wrong,
especially if there is a lot of background hiss on the tape. If there's a brief pause in the middle of a song, it will also cut it into two songs.
Audacity will export to both .wav and .mp3 formats, although you have to download a free plugin to add the .mp3 capability.
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paulO
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Hi John,
Your walkman is probably as good as any of the dedicated appliances, except for maybe the Teac. I'd give it a shot going directly to the PC from your
walkman, and see if you like the results - use it till it breaks, then get another cassette player from craigslist, and keep on going. I use a
modified oudistcamp method -- I take the signal from the line out on an integrated amp going into the line input on a Sony D-50; that way I can
digitize from multiple sources (tape or records). Good luck.
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Greg
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Hi John,
You may have already considered much of what I have to say, but I will say it in case you have not.
The most important thing to consider in terms of maintaining the best possible quality, is not the method used to record onto the computer, but the
method and equipment used to replay the cassette tapes.
Most commercially released compact cassette tapes were recorded using Dolby noise reduction. If these are played back on a player without Dolby
decoding, the result will be 'toppy' and you will experience a great deal more hiss than is desirable. If, like most of us, you also have 'home
recorded' tapes, you may need to determiine which of these have been recorded with Dolby NR and which have not.
If any were recorded using DBX noise reduction, you will have even more trouble. This was an even more complex NR method and without DBX decoding, the
results will be almost unlistenable.
It would be wise to ensure the playback machine's heads have been cleaned (alcohol) and, if it has seen a lot of past service, you may even consider
having the heads demagnetized. Both of the above can be important in optimizing the reproduction of high frequencies.
Thanks for raising the subject. It makes me shudder when I think of the hundreds of compact cassettes I have in storage just waiting for a time when I
can get around to copying them. 
Regards,
Greg
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fernandraynaud
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Both DBX and Dolby B are well-defined algorithms that are level-dependent. If you don't have the appropriate decoder in the cassette player (and most
of them did), you could look to see if anyone has reproduced them as plugins for audio editing software, e.g. as VSTs, or even as setting presets for
existing plugins.
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John Erlich
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Thanks for the replies! It will take my neanderthal brain a while to sort it all out, but it gives me some idea of what I will need to do.
All the best,
John "Screaming Luddite" Erlich
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