# How to transfering record/cassette to cd



## Streaker (Feb 13, 2001)

Hi everyone,

Just wondering what the process is to transfer my old music records (and cassettes) to cd? I especially have no idea of how to connect the receiver (from the turntable) into my computer. What port do I use? What software is needed? Can I download the software I need free? If not, what software is best? What is the general process? Hope someone can help. I have tons of records and I would love to get them on cd. 

Many thanks!

Streaker


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## Mike C UK (Mar 12, 2001)

Here's a useful link for you. (I hope!)

http://web.singnet.com.sg/~lion4/articles/diy/cassette.html


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## Streaker (Feb 13, 2001)

Although it answers some of my questions, it doesn't answer many of them. Can anyone else add anything?

Thanks,

Streaker


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## Ottomatic (Oct 31, 2001)

Hi Streaker

I have been transfering cassete tapes to Cd for the last month (only have about a 1000 to go) 

Here's my method. 
I am using an old cheap boombox to play the cassettes(I have it setting on top of my computer case). I connect a male/male 1/8 stereo jack from the headphone jack on the boombox (out) to the line in jack on my sound card( in). You have to go into your recording properties and enable LINE IN.

I use Waveflow to record the cassette and later filter static or other noise from the WAV file if needed. I record at 44.1Khz, 16 bit stereo (highest setting). This results in a file size of 300+Mb for a 30 minute recording.

Right now, I am just recording speech. When I start recording music cassettes, I will record each side to one file and use Waveflow to split the songs up into individual files.

I start the boombox player, then start recording. I just let it play and record the whole side of the tape. After the tape stops playing(I can't hear it), I stop recording. I edit the resulting WAV file, cutting the beginning and ends that are silent.

Once I get the WAV file to my satisfaction, I use EasyCd Creator to burn an audio CD. Each file is burnt to it's own seperate track.

After creating the audio CD, I convert the WAV files to MP3s. When I get enough of them to fill up a CD, I burn them to data CD.

I know this is a crude way of doing it, the tapes I am using were not professionally recorded. They are home made speech tapes, it's been OK so far. The music tapes are my Dad playing music and are also home made, so it will probably be OK for them, too.

If I were trying to transfer professionally recorded tapes to CD, I'd probably get a better tape player. (deck)

This same method should work for LP transfer also, although I haven't tried it.

Maybe this will answer some of your questions and I'm hoping someone jumps in here and suggests a better way. It is very time consuming process.

And for anyone who has read this far, I have a question. Is there any software you know of that I can record straight to MP3 format instead of WAV ? I want to bypass the WAV step all together for some of my stuff.

Yes, I know I can rip straight from audio CD to MP3, but that's not what I'm asking.

Also, does anyone know of a better WAV filter/editor than Waveflow. All suggestions are appreciated.

Otto


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## Streaker (Feb 13, 2001)

Thanks Otto for your reply and for your time. I take it that a wav file is not good enough eh? It has to be changed into an MP3? I use wav files in my Studio 7 (video editing) software to include music in my videos. What is the difference between a WAV and an MP3? 

Thanks!


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## Mike C UK (Mar 12, 2001)

Hi again Streaker
Sorry if the info I first pointed you to was a bit basic, but its difficult to assess how much a poster knows initially.
Re the wav and mp3 formats, basically, one is raw, full data, the other is compressed.
Here's some brief notes gleaned from various sources on the net:

*WAV files* are probably the simplest of the common formats for storing audio samples. Unlike MPEG and other compressed formats, WAVs (Windows waveform) store samples "in the raw" where no pre-processing is required other that formatting of the data. This is a format defined by Microsoft for the multimedia extensions to Windows. It is now the ubiquitous format for the Windows platform, and if the sounds do not need to be ported onto any other platform then it is unlikely that any other format will be required. WAV files can store mono or stereo sound at sampling rates of up to 44KHz (ie CD audio quality), although lower sampling rates are normally used owing to the *extravagant amounts of storage space that these files can take up.*

*MPEG-3 (mp3) *is a highly compressed format, which required uncompression at its destination point. That is, the MPEG player must uncompress the sound as it is played. 
- Must be downloaded before play (i.e., not streaming).
- Very high compression.
- Very high fidelity.
- Requires intensive computational power on the desktop where it is played, for example a Pentium or PowerPC.

If you want a straightforward walk-through on mp3 take a look here:

http://www.howstuffworks.com/mp3.htm

Trust this helps in understanding some of the issues here.


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## Ottomatic (Oct 31, 2001)

MP3 is a compressed WAV file thus poorer quality, although the software used to compress it also makes a difference in the accuracy of the compression. So if you want the highest quality sound file, stick with the WAV. Also MP3s can not be edited unless converted back to WAV.

The advantage of a MP3 is size of the file. The compression rate from WAV to MP3 is roughly 10 to 1. So a 300Mb WAV will convert to a 30Mb MP3.

Since I am not dealing with professionally recorded cassettes to start with, I thought it might be neat to have a program that would record straight to MP3. I guess such an animal doesn't exist.

This website has good MP3 information.

I use RazorLame to convert WAV to MP3. From what I've read, it is one of the most accurate converters.

Again, for best quality, stick to the WAV format. If you want smaller files and are willing to give up some quality, MP3.

Otto


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## Mike C UK (Mar 12, 2001)

Hi Ottomatic and Streaker

Re:


> I thought it might be neat to have a program that would record straight to MP3. I guess such an animal doesn't exist.


Thinking that this darned PC/audio market is so lucrative I suspected that software for this process must exist somewhere. Take a look at this link, a Q & A on just this topic on another forum:

http://www.mp3machine.com/discussion/messages/2610.shtml

I'm sure there must be others........

Site homepage looks interesting too.


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## Ottomatic (Oct 31, 2001)

Thanks Mike for the links.

It looks like Line Ripper comes with spyware in its latest version.

I downloaded Messer and will give it a try when time permits.

Otto


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## $teve (Oct 9, 2001)

hi guy`s...........i use rcmp3(right click mp3) for encoding/converting wav to mp3 and vica verca.....its a tiny app but very quick and easy to use........it comes with a right click (duh!) menu,you just right click a wav/mp3 and it gives you th option of encoding or converting the sound file.
just my 2 penneth.
have fun


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