Hi I've about 100 cassettes I'd like to convert free to mp3 but not being teing technically minded the simpler and easier the better. Much appreciate any help thanks....
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Ok, so you don't have deck and you are interested in "just capture audio from tapes".
Audacity or any editor allow to perform some useful things but it is OK if you don't like it, perhaps this kind of application suit your needs:
https://www.fridgesoft.de/harddiskogg.php -
Perhaps here: https://www.fridgesoft.de/downloads.php
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Audacity is not complicated, Just select your USB audio capture device from the list and hit record, At the end of the track hit STOP, Then go to file, export as MP3. That's all.
It gets complicated with any software not just Audacity when you want to automatize the process to save time especially if you have several tapes, There where you need to capture the whole tape side and divide into separate tracks, Set the gain ...etc
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Here's something simple and inexpensive. It saves your cassettes directly to a USB flash drive, no computer needed.
https://www.tomtop.com/p-v2419.html -
I would stay away from any Chinese cassette deck even the one the OP has, They are of a very low quality, They are usually mono, horrible W&F, wrong levels, high signal to noise ratio ... etc
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OP already using Chinese cassette player with USB connector.
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/392365-Cassettes-to-mp3-best-free-converter#post2543858
https://www.gearbest.com/cables-connectors/pp_54862.html -
That’s what I exactly said, “the one the OP has”.
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In addition, you want to use a deck with adjustable play head azimuth. This makes a HUGE difference in the quality of sound. The little USB player might have an adjustment hole that is accessible with the cassette door cover removed.
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Curious as to what you have that's only available (supposedly) on cassette? Just about every 60's and 70's group and songs I'm familiar with is available for download from Youtube and other sources in better quality than you'll get from a cassette.
My favorite example of the wonders of Youtube is footage of the Yardbirds that was "known" through the early 2000's to never exist. Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page playing together. And this is just one example of "lost" classics that miraculously are suddenly appearing. -
In my case, my project was mix tapes I had made of a Parisian underground radio station while I was studying there in the '80s. The station has long since ceased to exist, some of the songs still do of course, but the juxtaposition of which ones I had recorded in which order at the time, with the added layer of some witty and avant-garde voiceover commentary by the DJs at the time, really capture the zeitgeist. Add to that the spacey compression effects of FM radio at the time, and it's nothing you can get from contemporary sources.
I did my audio capture project over a decade ago with my good JVC cassette tape deck and a program called Acoustica Spin It Again. I don't think that software has been updated since Microsoft Vista, but it was well up to the task then and had a quirky but helpful interface and some good filters.
If I were to do it again today, I might use Audacity. The OP, however, stated the that he/she was not tech-savvy and didn't wish to use something like Audacity, but wanted something "the simpler and easier to use, the better," so that's why I suggested that little Walkman-type player that records MP3s directly to a USB flash drive you insert into it. May not be the highest quality, but it certainly qualifies as simple and easy. -
Be aware that some tomtop shipments can take up to a month to receive from their China warehouse. But sometimes quicker.
I have used a cheap Chinese cassette device and CDex (https://www.videohelp.com/software/CDex) to
convert my old commercial music cassettes.
JMO, but most of the old cassette tapes were mass produced and not great quality. The conversions sound as good as the tapes.Last edited by redwudz; 2nd Mar 2019 at 10:55.
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I would repeat my advice about learning to make azimuth adjustment. It's a matter of turning a screw to find the point at which the sound is brightest (high frequencies are loudest). Amateur recordings often don't interchange well from one machine to another. Mismatched azimuth will give you a dull, muffled version of the music; correct azimuth restores the sparkle. The Nakamichi Dragon decks are prized because they have automatic azimuth adjustment, but you can do nearly as well by manually tweaking for each tape.
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Tru dat. You can't be in a big hurry, because they take the proverbial slow boat from China.
Good point. For the technically inclined, here's a brief how-to: http://www.endino.com/archive/cassettes.html -
The head azimuth is important and so does the speed fluctuation, You can't achieve a stable speed with $1.45 motor in a Chinese plastic toy even if the quality of the tapes are not that great to begin with.
Take a listen to this capture using the Sony WM-D6C which has a quartz locked servo for the capstan motor, You can actually achieve a better results for the same materials with a good condition home deck from the 90's and a USB capture device or an expansion audio capture card.
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