Copying audio tapes in Stereo

[Fgsilva]

Anybody know a good way to transfer audio cassetes to MP3s? I tried using my audio card in my PC but it's only mono. Looked around for a card with the RCA audio input but I can't find anything? Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[charper1]

How old is your audio card, what is the make & model; not many PC audio cards were/are mono? Maybe the plug/cable was not the correct stereo adapter? Ialso use the RCA L/R to PC 3.5mm stereo method. If you happen to have a mono card, its real cheap to add a quality updated card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102001

 

[damaged]

What input on your soundcard did you use? You should be using Line-In, as that should be stereo. For example, take a Sony walkman cassette tape player, and a typical sound card, you need a cable with 1/8" (or 1/4") stereo miniplugs (stereo miniplugs have 3 sections on the plug itself, while a mono plug will only have 2) on each end, plug one end into the earphone jack of the Walkman, and the other into the sound card line-in jack.

If the source device only supports RCA, then you will need a 1/8" (or 1/4") to RCA line instead, these are easy to make on your own, just make sure you get the wires right, or the channels will be out of phase.

Be careful where the volume is on the source, as you don't want to overdrive the Line-In on your card, so start out with the source volume all the way down, and increment the volume little by little in test recordings until you get a clear sound in the recording with no distortion

You would probably want to record them in .wav format first (set the options in the wav recorder to at least 44.1 kbs, stereo, 16 bit for CD quality), then convert the wav files to mp3.

You should NOT need any kind of special soundcard, any card at all can do this (unless you manage to have the misfortune of having one with no line-in in which case just buy the cheapest card you can afford with a line-in, expensive sound cards are kind of a rip-off for the typical user, unless you plan on making use of the wavetable synthesis stuff (for midi), even then you're better off going with a professional multi-channel midi sound card that supports external midi rack modules (those cards start at ~350 bucks, a total WASTE for the typical pc user).

Yes, better cards _may_ have a better S/N ratio, but we _are_ talking about cassette tapes here, the noise from the source tapes will drown out any noise a cheap card may or may not insert.

Good luck.

 

[Fgsilva]

Thanks guys! I'm not home right now so I can't double check on what sound card I have. I know for sure it's a soundblaster and it came with my Dell PC when I got it back in 2000. For sure it has a green input (speakers) and a pink input (for microphone); maybe it also has a blue or a black input (could it be the "line in" input?)? I have only tried recording using the mic input so that's probably why it's not in stereo! Doh! To capture the sound I currently use Cakewalk and it has worked pretty well for me (at least for capturing mono, but I"m sure it will allow me to capture stereo also!). It all makes sense to me now! I already have all the necessary cables so once I figure out if I have or not the correct input it should work fine.

Thanks again guys for the tips!! I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[damaged]

Using the mic input for that will overdrive your card (a typical PC mic has no amp or preamp, so, the mic input is not designed with that in mind), causing damage to the input sensitivity at best, or blowing the input (and if it causes a short, the card, and yes in rare instances even the PCI slot it's plugged into, or even the whole PCI bridge (only likely on a cheap aftermarket motherboard, if it is an intergrated sound'card' the damage may differ in its probability of damage and the amount of damage compared to a seperate card)) totally at worst, the line-in will have some protection against this damage, since it expects to be driven by a (albeit tiny) powered source.

Remember, the cable you use must be stereo (they will have 3 wires total (only observable if you open a splice), one for left, one for right, and one common negative, and the stereo plug itself (the shiney metal part) will have 3 segments, not 2 as in a mono plug.

If you use the line-in and you only hear sound from one channel (usually the left), you do not have the right kind of cable.

And, yes cakewalk can handle stereo (in fact, last time I used it it could 'theoretically' do up to 96 (or was it 128) channels (other limitations make this unfeasable), so 2 channels shouldn't be an issue .

 

[charper1]

You are correct; stay out of the mic jack. Is this your jack panel? So it should be BLUE.

EDIT: Well I was trying to up the manual top, but the U/L keeps bombing.

 

[Fgsilva]

Hmm, I'm not sure. But I don't think my card has that many inputs. maybe it's time to upgrade it!

You are correct; stay out of the mic jack. Is this your jack panel? So it should be BLUE.

EDIT: Well I was trying to up the manual top, but the U/L keeps bombing.

 

[damaged]

If you are sure there are no line-in inputs, there is a way, but not recommended for the faint of heart (it works, I've done it before), it requires you to splice into the wires that lead from the sound card to your CDROM drive, to the source, and in your software you would use the CD input to record from. But this can be dangerous if you are not careful, so I am not recommending for you to try this, just presenting it for academic reasons.

 

[Fgsilva]

Sounds like a good experiment though and as a scientist I can appreciate that ! But I've fooled enough around with my poor old machine so it's best to just buy another sound card for it. After all, I've added new hard drives, new USB ports, ethernet port, etc. Might as well just keep on adding stuff! Now, wonder if it would have been cheaper to just buy a new one???

If you are sure there are no line-in inputs, there is a way, but not recommended for the faint of heart (it works, I've done it before), it requires you to splice into the wires that lead from the sound card to your CDROM drive, to the source, and in your software you would use the CD input to record from. But this can be dangerous if you are not careful, so I am not recommending for you to try this, just presenting it for academic reasons.

 

[damaged]

What kind of scientist might that be?, or do you mean scientist at heart?

I love science, I am particulary interested in physics and the unified field theory, Michio Kaku is one of my heros.

 

[Fgsilva]

I'm a Plant Pathologist/Plant Biologist/Genomics. All fancy names that means I got a Ph.D. and now barely get enough money to pay D* and E*!!

What kind of scientist might that be?, or do you mean scientist at heart?

I love science, I am particulary interested in physics and the unified field theory, Michio Kaku is one of my heros.

 

[damaged]

I'm a Plant Pathologist/Plant Biologist/Genomics. All fancy names that means I got a Ph.D. and now barely get enough money to pay D* and E*!!

It's a shame that pharmaceutical companies do not put more effort into cures (where I think your expertise would come in) and instead choose to synthesize plant enzymes/etc to just 'treat' things instead of cure them (thus causing smaller budgets for those researchers looking for cures).

Curing disease is BAD corporate policy to a pharmaceutical company, they rather you have to depend on their 'treatments' for life, better profit margins and all that.

 

[Fgsilva]

That is true. I'm glad that (at least for now) I am in academia so we can focus more on discovery research not necessarily dictated by profit.

It's a shame that pharmaceutical companies do not put more effort into cures (where I think your expertise would come in) and instead choose to synthesize plant enzymes/etc to just 'treat' things instead of cure them (thus causing smaller budgets for those researchers looking for cures).

Curing disease is BAD corporate policy to a pharmaceutical company, they rather you have to depend on their 'treatments' for life, better profit margins and all that.

 

[Fgsilva]

I got home and I tried the blue input and that was it! I also had to change the "audio properties" so that it now takes line in. Thanks again guys! Now, I just need a better tape player!

 

[damaged]

Excellent, you're welcome, and thanks for the update.