Good thing for me I still have my old cassette and micro-cassette players to listen to my tapes because for some reason the cost of cassette recorders has sky rocketed recently. Why? No way I could afford to transfer my cassettes to CD at $20 a tape so its cheaper to own one.
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The cost of Cassette recorders
- Thread starter jwolf6589
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Why in the world would it cost $20 to transfer a tape to a CD? And why would you want to do that anyway? I had a lot of music on tapes, going back to the 1960's. A couple years ago I dragged two big boxes of them down from the attic and ripped everything worth keeping into iTunes. Just connected my old cassette deck to my audio interface and used Logic Pro to record them. I'd say only about 10% were worth saving (out of over 100 tapes). Tapes degade over the years and many of them didn't sound good enough to be worth the effort.
But you don't need any expensive software or hardware for this, you can get a cheap audio interface for $30 and use GarageBand or other free software. Everytime you play a tape in a cassette recorder it loses more quality. If they are important to you, rip them into digital files while you can.
But you don't need any expensive software or hardware for this, you can get a cheap audio interface for $30 and use GarageBand or other free software. Everytime you play a tape in a cassette recorder it loses more quality. If they are important to you, rip them into digital files while you can.
Hi Boyd,Why in the world would it cost $20 to transfer a tape to a CD? And why would you want to do that anyway? I had a lot of music on tapes, going back to the 1960's. A couple years ago I dragged two big boxes of them down from the attic and ripped everything worth keeping into iTunes. Just connected my old cassette deck to my audio interface and used Logic Pro to record them. I'd say only about 10% were worth saving (out of over 100 tapes). Tapes degade over the years and many of them didn't sound good enough to be worth the effort.
But you don't need any expensive software or hardware for this, you can get a cheap audio interface for $30 and use GarageBand or other free software. Everytime you play a tape in a cassette recorder it loses more quality. If they are important to you, rip them into digital files while you can.
I'd like to, as you did, rip some cassette tapes into iTunes. I'd plan to use either my 2012 MBPro or 2014 27"iMac (both running Mojave). I don't have access to my cassette recorder (storage unit) so I can't tell you which one I'll be using. Software - probably Garage Band.
Enclosing a picture of some stuff I have that might be of use. You mention an audio interface in your post. I'm not familiar with that kind of unit. Could you give me a suggestion of one you'd recommend? This job is all I'd use it for. I've looked on Amazon......many choices. If you're able to take the time, I thank you.
Reed.
I don't know anything about it myself, but that appears to be an "iLuv" audio interface that is capable of input from a tape recorder.
www.iluv.com
Assuming that it actually works, you would just need the correct type of cable to connect the cassette recorder. That is completely dependent on the recorder - the black cable to the right of the iLuv in your photo might do that. Or you might need a cable with that type of plug on one end, and a male RCA connector on the other end. Not sure whether that little iLuv is capable of doing stereo either. You should be able to find out with a little research though.
if it doesn't work, then you'd need to purchase a USB audio interface. You will find lots of them on sites such as GuitarCenter, MusiciansFriend and SweetWater. Prices start around $30. Their sales staff should be able to help you pick one that does what you need.
USB Audio Adapter
USB Audio Adapter, USB External Sound Card, USB Audio Interface with 3.5mm Stereo Headphone Output and Microphone Input for Windows/Mac/Linux Computers, Raspberry Pi and PS3/PS4
www.iluv.com
Assuming that it actually works, you would just need the correct type of cable to connect the cassette recorder. That is completely dependent on the recorder - the black cable to the right of the iLuv in your photo might do that. Or you might need a cable with that type of plug on one end, and a male RCA connector on the other end. Not sure whether that little iLuv is capable of doing stereo either. You should be able to find out with a little research though.
if it doesn't work, then you'd need to purchase a USB audio interface. You will find lots of them on sites such as GuitarCenter, MusiciansFriend and SweetWater. Prices start around $30. Their sales staff should be able to help you pick one that does what you need.
Thanks so much Boyd for the information. I did try the iLuv gadget with a small borrowed player/recorder but couldn't get it to do what I needed. Probably just my lack of knowledge. One thing I learned this afternoon........last year I bought a Vidbox to use to convert some VHS tapes to digital. I should have realized it could also be used for audio but I wasn't thinking video conversion so I didn't think about the Vidbox. I think it will serve as the audio interface.
Once I realized I didn't need to put out $ for that, still needing a cassette player/recorder I bought an EIKI 8080. It has a cd player, cassette player/recorder, and a USB port to be able to create digital files from a signal coming from either of the 2 sources on to a flash drive. Was able to find the EIKI new locally for $60.
Now I just need to figure out just how to configure things and if I need anything else. I intend to get back to this thread with results.
THANKS AGAIN.
Once I realized I didn't need to put out $ for that, still needing a cassette player/recorder I bought an EIKI 8080. It has a cd player, cassette player/recorder, and a USB port to be able to create digital files from a signal coming from either of the 2 sources on to a flash drive. Was able to find the EIKI new locally for $60.
Now I just need to figure out just how to configure things and if I need anything else. I intend to get back to this thread with results.
THANKS AGAIN.