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Main Area and Open Discussion => General Software Discussion => Topic started by: stansrailpix on July 05, 2009, 11:51 PM

Title: Looking for free Music Edit Software
Post by: stansrailpix on July 05, 2009, 11:51 PM
Hello to all;
                Looking for free Music Edit Software.  I am trying to input music from old cassette tapes and make them into MP3 files.

                                                                                                 Thank you in advance,
                                                                                                                                    Stan :tellme:
Title: Re: Looking for free Music Edit Software
Post by: scancode on July 05, 2009, 11:58 PM
Hello to all;
                Looking for free Music Edit Software.  I am trying to input music from old cassette tapes and make them into MP3 files.

                                                                                                 Thank you in advance,
                                                                                                                                    Stan :tellme:
-stansrailpix (July 05, 2009, 11:51 PM)

Audacity (http://audacity.sf.net/) will do the job just fine. Leave a shoutout if you need help doing it.

Edit: You'll also need the LAME Plugin (http://lame.buanzo.com.ar/)
Title: Re: Looking for free Music Edit Software
Post by: Shades on July 06, 2009, 12:11 AM
But you also need to connect the cassette player to the in-port of your sound card.

There is where for most people the problems begin. Is their audio equipment able enough or not? (this is a broad point and will require more info about the hardware and the exact requirements the copies need to fulfill) 

scancode is right about the software that one can use to create the MP3's though.
Title: Re: Looking for free Music Edit Software
Post by: fenixproductions on July 06, 2009, 12:31 AM
There is where for most people the problems begin. Is their audio equipment able enough or not? (this is a broad point and will require more info about the hardware and the exact requirements the copies need to fulfill)
Not really IMHO. The only thing you need is audio card with input (digital or mic) and cassette player with output (most of them have it for speakers). Sometimes it needs a little bit of soldering.

It's not a quantum physics since I did it in more advanced mode*.

*) Connecting altogether: PC, cassette player (with CD), video camera (VHS), video player and video recorder (both VHS) and gramophone (Polish Unitra (http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gramofon)). Nothing burned :)
Title: Re: Looking for free Music Edit Software
Post by: scancode on July 06, 2009, 01:11 AM
OR a Walkman or cheap chinese knockoff, a $1.56 audio cable (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.5115) and a $3.40 USB Sound Card (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.5831).

It. Just. Works. (also free shipping, yay :])
Title: Re: Looking for free Music Edit Software
Post by: Shades on July 06, 2009, 01:47 AM
You could also go through this route (http://nexus404.com/Blog/2007/09/07/plus-deck-ex-convert-cassette-recordings-to-mp3-or-vice-versa/)...

But this (http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/convert-lps-audio-cassettes-to-mp3-in-5-easy-steps/) the best guide I could find that describes the way mentioned by scancode and fenixproductions (with text and pictures).

Now I don't know what type of cassette player is used, its age, what type of output is available, how strong the output signal from the tape-player is and how much milli-volt the in-port of his sound card can take. It will likely be no problem, but it never hurts to check.

EDIT:
Added precaution, because I have seen a lot of differences in household electronics like TV's for example. Here in Paraguay you can buy TV's that have a drastically different coax connector than the same type of TV sold in Europe. Over here people don't even know about SCART connections between your satellite receiver, your TV, your DVD, your VCR, your HiFi set. It is a beautiful, tried and tested standard for connecting electronic equipment....and impossible to buy here. If so many differences exist between (electronic) standards for the area you happen to live in, it never hurts to check. And who knows, maybe the OP has an allergy for soldering irons :-)
Title: Re: Looking for free Music Edit Software
Post by: ChalkTrauma on July 06, 2009, 08:41 AM
I prefer Waveosaur to Audacity:

http://www.wavosaur.com/

Here is a mini tutorial on digitizing vinyl: http://www.wavosaur.com/forum/ripping-vinyl-a-mini-tutorial-t317.html
Title: Re: Looking for free Music Edit Software
Post by: kfitting on July 06, 2009, 10:46 AM
Or use cdwav... great for recording/tracking cassettes...

http://www.milosoftware.com/en/index.php?body=cdwave.php
Title: Re: Looking for free Music Edit Software
Post by: stansrailpix on August 02, 2009, 03:40 PM
Thank you all for the information.   I am trying Audacity and it seems to work well.
                                               Stan :Thmbsup: