Tapes (from 1980s)-to CD-or iTunes transfer question?

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 8/18/10 at 3:04pm

I am technologically deficient. Is this possible - too much trouble - expensive - a pain in the ass - worth it?? Thanks if you can help me decide whether to dump these/sell/give these away...It's just that they're (mostly) ALL show music andOBCRs. About 50 tapes.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/18/10 at 3:14pm

This isn't too hard, if you have the patience and hard drive space.

You'll need:
* a tape player with an earphone jack -- preferably one with auto-flip
* a Griffin iMic
* a patch cord
* SoundStudio (it came with an older version of OS X that I have; not sure if it does now), or that app that comes with the Griffin iMic that I'm blanking on now

You'll do:
1) plug one end of the patch cord into the iMic. Plug the other end into the earphone.
2) hit record in SoundStudio.
3) hit play and make sure it's not too loud
4) when the tape has stopped, hit stop
5) save the file as a .aiff or .wav
6) import into iTunes and convert to MP3.

Ta-da!

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 8/18/10 at 3:27pm

She ain't gonna be able to do that.

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 8/18/10 at 4:04pm

You got that right, Phyllis!! I'm not young enough to understand 1 word of this, but thanks anyway, Lizzie.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/18/10 at 4:14pm

Why can't you continue to listen to the tapes? Replace the ones you really love with digital counterparts.

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 8/18/10 at 4:21pm

Well, I guess it would be quite costly. I have many other obligations financially. I don't know how to download for free....

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/18/10 at 4:24pm

So you still have a tape player? Can't you still listen to the tapes?
Updated On: 8/18/10 at 04:24 PM

[bethnor]

Posted: 8/18/10 at 4:43pm

here's one thing that's true (feeling old myself).

google rocks. or any search engine.

if you have any question about how to do anything--really--google it.

i used to be a computer geek, but my cpu got shut down by malware. i couldn't figure it out. but i google'd it until i got rid of it myself.

if you're overseas, and someone steals your wallet, just google what to do, and somewhere on the internet is exactly what you need to do.

really--you couldn't do that 10 years ago! i think that's amazing.

here's on example i came up with googling "transfer tapes to digital." i know it's complex, but search around until you find something you like.

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-7597_102-0.html?threadID=30725

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/18/10 at 5:51pm

I didn't say anything complicated, and age isn't an excuse!

[tazber]

Posted: 8/18/10 at 5:57pm

There's a cable you can buy for $5.00 at Best Buy that goes from your tape player to your computer. It transfers the music right to your media player.

It's actually really easy, but I will tell you that I did that for a couple of my cassettes and they sounded like crap.
Of course the tape (the OBCR of Doonesbury) didn't have great sound to begin with.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 8/19/10 at 9:54am

As I was frequently reminded during my music biz days: "Prerecorded tapes are the toilet paper of the music industry."

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 8/19/10 at 12:07pm

I had some personal recordings on tape that I wanted digitally. I sent them to a place in CA that turned them around really fast...it was great, and not too expensive. I'll try to find the company. There was a place in NYC that will turn vinyl into digital as well...

http://www.muziboo.com/doodlenyc/music/i-dreamed-a-dream/

[twinbelters]

Posted: 8/19/10 at 4:19pm

I've been experimenting with a program called Audacity that is free to download. I haven't had success yet, but will report back on my progress.

LizzyCurry: Your option is only for MAC, I assume? I was using Audacity on a PC but I will try your method on my MAC as well.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/19/10 at 4:21pm

Yep, mine were Mac-specific (note capitalization). I've never tried it on a PC.

[twinbelters]

Posted: 8/21/10 at 4:45pm

Ah, noted. Mac. Got it.