Like all analog formats, cassette tapes decay over time. In fact, it’s likely yours have already lost some fidelity. If you want to save those old mixtapes and home recordings, it’s best to digitize them right away.
Thankfully, this is an easy process. You don’t have to be a computer whiz or an audiophile to follow this simple guide. And you shouldn’t have to spend any more than $25 on this project (it’ll probably cost even less).
You Have Two Options
If you want to digitize your cassette tapes, the process is much easier than it is for VHS tapes. You don’t have to know much about computers or tape decks—just follow a few simple instructions, and you’ll get the job done right.
There are two paths you can go down to make this happen. One’s relatively easy and yields high-quality results, while the other is more time-consuming (but not necessarily difficult) and yields even higher quality results:
- USB cassette converter: The cheapest, easiest way to convert tapes to digital files. You just plug the converter into your computer, and its accompanying software does the job. Keep in mind the audio quality won’t match that of a more expensive cassette tape player.
- Digitize from an old tape deck: If you have a tape deck and your computer has some sort of audio input (a microphone port or capture card), this option should be a breeze. It also provides better sound quality than a USB cassette converter—especially if you can adjust the bias for chrome or metal tapes (if you don’t know what that means, don’t worry about it).
Remember, tapes are old and temperamental. They don’t sound as good as CDs, and they’re always going to produce some hiss. These processes can’t work miracles; we’re simply saving recordings from the slow decay and inconvenience of analog tape.
How to Use a USB Cassette Converter
Again, USB cassette converters are the easiest way to digitize your tapes, especially if you don’t want to deal with unfamiliar software or computer cables.
Since this process is so simple, we’re going to keep things short and sweet with a nice bulleted list:
- Buy a converter: Your first step is to buy a USB cassette converter. We suggest either the Reshow, which drops recordings into iTunes, or the Dansrueus, which converts recordings to raw MP3 files.
- Download the accompanying software: Your USB cassette converter comes with a software download disc. If your computer doesn’t have a disc drive, consult the manufacturer’s website because you can probably download it from there.
- Put a tape in the converter, plug it into your computer, and read the instructions: After you’ve done this, open the software and follow the instructions to digitize your tracks. Be sure to add the album and artist name to each track, along with a tracklisting (track 1, 2, etc.), so the files stay organized.
- Add album artwork: You can either do this automatically in Music Tag or manually in music software, like iTunes or foobar2000. To add artwork manually, open your music player and find your songs. Hold down the CTRL key, click each track of an album, and then right-click your selection. One of the dropdown menus should say “tagging” or “properties.” Open this menu to add album art you’ve fetched from Google Images.
And that’s all there is to it! Keep your USB cassette converter handy and offer it to friends who need to digitize their old cassettes.
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Source : Everything You Need to Convert Your Cassette Tapes to Digital
