Audio Systems: from cassettes to CDs ?, cassettes to cd, rca plugs

Question
Is there a way to copy music cassettes to CD's?  What equipment is needed?  Thanks

Answer
Hi Sherry,

You can definitely find places that offer this service, such as our studio.  http://sound-o-mat.com/transfers/ for more info.

If you want to do it yourself, you basically need a soundcard that you can hook the line level of a cassette deck up to, which usually means a cable to convert the two red/white RCA plugs to a single 2mm mini-plug that goes into most soundcards, then you'll need sound-recording and editing software.  There's a lot on the market and some is quite expensive, such as Sony's SoundForge or Adobe Audition, but I recommend Audacity, which you can find at audcity.sourgeforge.net and runs on Windows, Mac and Linux, and will do most of what you need.

You then need to play the cassettes, record them, edit the files, clean up the tape hiss and any other noise or artifacts, then you can burn them to CDRs.  There are also many popular CDR burning programs, such as Nero and CDRWIN.  It's up to you.

While this deals with vinyl to CDRs, you can also read this article, which will explain some of the details involved in converting any format to digital and then burning CDRs.

http://www.helium.com/tm/214414

Good luck!  Cheers, Wink