Cassette tape to MP3

[skylee]

My boss is learning basic Putonghua on a training course. His secretary told me that he had asked about how to have his lessons' recording turned into MP3 to facilitate his practice/learning. He wanted something that would allow him to have the recording replayed instantly by just hitting a replay button on an MP3 player.

I am not sure if the recording is on a cassette tape or a CD (his secretary says it is on a cassette tape but I find it hard to believe). I know how to turn audio tracks on a CD to sound files but am not sure how to do it if they are on a cassette tape.

I've googled but the information I've found seems to be quite old (2002, 2005 etc). Grateful if you would share if you have better and more up-to-date/efficient advice.

[renzhe]

You need to digitize the contents of the tape first. Once you have it in the digital form (e.g. a WAV file or something similar), you can encode them to MP3 easily.

You can do this by connecting the output of the cassette player to the analog input of a computer sound card. Line-in is best if there is such a thing, otherwise a stereo microphone input. Then use recording software to save the sound in a digital form, like you would if you were recording something off the microphone.

[aprilz]

You also need some software to clean up after you finish the transfer. Many years ago, I used a software named Clean to do this. But I'm not sure if it's still on sale.

[flameproof]

I did the same about 30 years ago.

Put the tapes "LINE OUT" (or just headphone plug) into LINE IN, or MICROPHONE IN of you PC.

Start recording with your audio software.

Optional: Clean the hiss

For that I used CoolEdit, but that's commercial software. I think audacity also has a tape de-noise function. (yes, it does: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/about/features )

If the tape is 30 Minutes then you have 1 30 Minute MP3 now. That you need to cut to smaller pieces for him to jump backward and forward.

Before you start, get some snacks, it will take some time.

[skylee]

Thanks for the advice.

No I won't do it for him. Actually he dared not ask me and kept asking his secretary. I might tell him what I know. Or I might not.

[James Li]

I have the ION Tape 2 PC product and have been happy with it. It allows me to convert cassette tapes to mp3 with a minimum of hassle.

The only drawback with the product is that, when the cassette ends and stops the player, you still have to be there to tell the software to stop recording. Of course, this would not be an issue if the mp3 recording is going to be edited anyway. However, it does not sound as though this is something your boss will be doing.

http://ionaudio.com/tape2pc