transferring music onto eMac

[JuliaK]

I have an eMac. I also have 100s of cassettes and records. I want to transfer my old music onto computer then covert/download/record to CD - whatever...

How can I do this and/or is it possible>? What to use, where to plug into, etc etc.

I appreciate this may take ages and it may be easier or quicker to go to a professional and transfer the stuff that way - but that may be very expensive.

JK

 

[nbs2]

Someone may want to correct me on this.

I don't believe the emac had a line in, so you will need an adapter that will plug into your USB or firewire port. It will probably have a line in port (looks like headphone) on the adapter. You would then want a cable that will transfer audio from your cassette/record player to the computer (like a dedicated microphone) - this will probably be a left/right RCA to 3.5mm (headphone). A program like Audio Hijack Pro (AHP) ($16) should let you "hijack" the audio that is coming into the computer in .aiff format. You would want to ensure that the tracks are all separated and then import them into iTunes and convert them into AAC or mp3. I'd reccomend AAC.

Couple of points - make sure that you don't have any noise producing software running while you are running AHP - it will record every sound your computer makes. Also, I believe you can input an entire album at once via AHP and then break it down - but you will want to verify this. Keep in mind that this will take a while. My father-in-law is doing this with his collection and he has been working on it since before I started dating my wife. Remember, just recording the music will take as long as the music, it must be done in real time.

 

[slooksterPSV]

Someone may want to correct me on this.

I don't believe the emac had a line in, so you will need an adapter that will plug into your USB or firewire port. It will probably have a line in port (looks like headphone) on the adapter. You would then want a cable that will transfer audio from your cassette/record player to the computer (like a dedicated microphone) - this will probably be a left/right RCA to 3.5mm (headphone). A program like Audio Hijack Pro (AHP) ($16) should let you "hijack" the audio that is coming into the computer in .aiff format. You would want to ensure that the tracks are all separated and then import them into iTunes and convert them into AAC or mp3. I'd reccomend AAC.

Couple of points - make sure that you don't have any noise producing software running while you are running AHP - it will record every sound your computer makes. Also, I believe you can input an entire album at once via AHP and then break it down - but you will want to verify this. Keep in mind that this will take a while. My father-in-law is doing this with his collection and he has been working on it since before I started dating my wife. Remember, just recording the music will take as long as the music, it must be done in real time.

Wait won't Audacity do that for free (Paragraph 1)? I think it will import Audio for Free from the Line In. Heck I use it to record radio music off of itunes. - Is that illegal? I haven't done it with my new iBook, but my old one.

 

[nbs2]

Wait won't Audacity do that for free (Paragraph 1)? I think it will import Audio for Free from the Line In. Heck I use it to record radio music off of itunes. - Is that illegal? I haven't done it with my new iBook, but my old one.

Like I said, someone correct me

To make sure I understand, is AHP really just worth it for recording audio the computer produces?

 

[JuliaK]

Thanks...

There is a headphone jack and audio line-in port on the emac, just before the USB ports. I'll look into the software you mentioned, my 'old' emac is pretty hummy..don't want to pick that up, if that's what you were talking about.

JK

 

[nbs2]

...my 'old' emac is pretty hummy..don't want to pick that up, if that's what you were talking about.

the "hummy" isn't what i was referring to. i guess the best way to explain it is engine noise won't be a problem. it the 'electronic' noise that you would want to be careful with. things like alerts, alarms, notifications, etc. i guess you could say the noise your emac makes when it is talking to you.

and with the line in on the emac, ignore everything i said about the usb adapter (but i guess you already knew that)....hmmm...i keep rambling. i'll stop now.

good luck