showing my age....

I cannot bear to get rid of my cassette tapes. Some of my best music is on them, however I have not listened to them in years because- well- it's not 1989 anymore.

Does anybody know the difference between all of these machines that convert your cassettes into CDs. Do you really need the super expensive ones?

Or does it make more sense to pay somebody else to do it for you?

—

asked on Aug 11, 2008

Sign up or Sign in

comments and reviews

Aura, if you have an extensive collection of Talk Talk, Endgames, ABC and Heaven 17 tapes I certainly can't blame you for not wanting to part with them.

I don't own a cassette transfer unit but can give you a couple tips based on what I used to transfer a bunch of vinyl to MP3s.

First, try to find one that will actually divide the individual songs into unique MP3s. You don't want all of songs on one side of the tape to be converted into a single song file.

Second, since most of these have a software component, make sure you select one for the type of computer and operating system you are using (e.g., PC - Windows XP).

#1 - posted on Aug 12, 2008 (3:28 pm)

oh my goodness - this is the part where I sort of just want someone else to do it for me. So are you saying that I need to use my computer for this process?? I was under the impression that I could just put in my ABBA cassette and a clean little cd and presto whamo - AANNNDDD...

why do I not want my songs to be in one long file?

really what I am asking is is if you would like a project and I could send you say oh, about 300 cassettes - your not busy right?

#2 (reply to #1) - posted on Aug 13, 2008 (6:13 pm)

As Lonnie indicated, you don't want one big file of all the songs.

Why?

If the songs are all in one file, your pc (or portable mp3 player) is not going to be able to skip songs. Your mp3 player will think that the one file is just one song -- even if it is really all the songs on side A.

When you play it, you'll always start at the first song (get ready to be really, really sick of that song). You'll have no easy way to skip to the best songs on the cassette.

I'd imagine that the devices that convert vinyl or cassettes to mp3 (for your computer) "listen" for silent portions of the album/cassette. When it hears one, it will know to make a new song file.

I mention that to emphasize that any conversion device you buy will not be perfect. Those albums where one song bleeds into another probably won't work so well.

While you're looking for this device, I would imagine some terms might be confusing. While I cannot help specifically at the moment, I might be able to help you through the maze of acronyms and tech terms I'm sure you're about to find.

Let us know if you have more questions.

#3 (reply to #2) - posted on Aug 16, 2008 (11:01 pm)

thanks handy helper. i will be sure to keep you in mind if and when the confusion sets in.

#4 (reply to #3) - posted on Aug 18, 2008 (7:04 pm)