As for the cassettes, I don't recommend the digitizers that look like a small Walkman as I tried one and the quality came out quite garbled. Instead one like the one attached.
for the cassettes, I don't recommend the digitizers that look like a small Walkman as I tried one and the quality came out quite garbled. Instead one like the one attached.
Thanks... I got a turn table several years back that worked out good converting some albums.
Sojourner, We had some old family 8MM movies done, But this is a mess of a collection of stuff, mostly Old Tyme fiddle music ... a recorder gets turned on and record straight for 45 minutes.. there's music, lessons, just talking... and some of these folks are no longer with us...
You're welcome. I had one of those old stereos that played cassettes and had the jacks for the audio capture device. One side of the device plugged into the USB port on my computer.
On my computer, I used a free program (cross platform) called Audacity. The program captured the converted audio just fine. I used Audacity to save (I think, exported) the converted cassettes to mp3 format.
You can even get carried away with the program to filter noises out. Like if you hear hiss, you can sample the hiss noise, then filter that out. You may not be that much of a perfectionist, but the capability is there.
Sojourner, We had some old family 8MM movies done, But this is a mess of a collection of stuff, mostly Old Tyme fiddle music ... a recorder gets turned on and record straight for 45 minutes.. there's music, lessons, just talking... and some of these folks are no longer with us...
At one time I decided to UPGRADE my recording abilities... Spent a a chunk of change on a Mini-Disc recorder, Nice Omni directional Mic. Even took 2 dry cell lantern batteries wired in a series for an external battery pack. PHENOMINAL RECORDINGS....
100s of hours worth.... I even used this set up to record some of these same tapes....
LMAO.... who still has a mini disc player??
I'm thinking of hunting thrift and pawn stores for a decent component system.
Do you want to invest in the equipment to convert them?
I dont mind spending a few $$$... There are hundreds of hours of stuff. and enjoying listening to it again... One tape is about 2 in the morning, with a dear friend who has since past away.... trying to teach me a banjo tune... both of us to drunk to play...... a few other egging us on to keep going while hysterically laughing at us...
FLSUnFIRE... I have done a few dozen albums years ago, and got a stack of them yet too.. I wanted to keep going, but life got in the way.. Finding this box of tapes has reignited the quest.... Retirement challenge ... one tape/album a day....
The cassette player itself and the condition of the tapes may be the biggest issue. You can read up on this, you want a good quality player/deck, clean the heads, and read up on the tapes. Some may need a careful baking/humidifying to make them playable.
The sooner the better, just like us, those tapes aren't getting any younger!
+1
Trying to play cassette tapes recorded 30+ years ago with an old cassette player is asking for trouble, usually. If the content on the tapes is of marginal importance, then it may be worth a try to play them on decades-old, consumer-grade equipment. But unless you're very lucky, those tapes are probably going to play back very unevenly, sound distorted, and get jammed/stretched/tangled inside the player. Before that happens, ask yourself how important the content is to you, and whether you want to preserve it in the best, most pristine way possible.
One of the found tapes... hidden in a case... HOLY S#!T.....
90 minutes of our garage band in high school... 78-79
...Then one afternoon... BOOM....
Lightning struck a tree behind the shop and run the powerline back into the house.
It fried every piece of electronics it the house, refrigerators TVs, video players, including, the handy cam, the computer and all the files we had already converted....
After that.. we back up everything on a SS hard drive that stays in the safe unless in use.
Sorry to hear that.
-ERD50