teaching an old dog new tricks.
 

They say that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I'm not sure about that.


I know many members are very familiar with modern technology-- unlike this Old Dog.

Please can any expert advise this Dog how to convert cassette tapes onto CD so they can go on line-- OR-- IPOD. If I record speech onto my own IPOD-- How can I then upload onto the net so that I can send the file to another person?

I know there are ways to do this-- but being an OLD DOG-- I will appreciate advice from the younger generation.


No hurry-- but just when you have the time or inclination to guide me.

Many thanks in advance. Dogsbody70

Your PC may have a "Line in" or a "mic" input on the back, get a 3.5mm to 3.5mm wire and plug your tape deck or record player into your pc

next step is to get some recording software, there are so many now, I used to use db poweramp (just google for it) because it detected silence between tracks to start new mp3s automatically.

to send them to friends just attach them in an email

I'm not sure which parts of this all are difficult, so start with that and when you get stuck somewhere throw up another post :)

edit: you could also just get vuze and search for the stuff you wanna rip, you might be able to find it and save yourself the effort...

thanks very much . what on earth is VUZE?

Quick googling seems to say it's a torrenting client, something that may be completely unhelpful or illegal for use.

yup, that's right,
it could be uhelpful, or illegal, or legal, or helpful, all depending on how you use it, kind of like a gun :P

you can use it to search for the music you already own, and then downloading it's mp3s should be legal, last I checked.

Vuze is fairly easy to use. I also liked using jimmyr.com.

um thank YOU. Most of my cassettes are classical or speech. Not sure if they would be online but Iprefer to be legal-- thanks for help.

Cassetes...*sigh*... just got struck by nostalgia.

I have loads of them.

also records 33rpm etc.


Used to have a wind up gramophone.

Its unbelievable how technology has progressed SO MUCH--


meanwhile poor little cassettes are feeling lonesome and unwanted.

Unless you got something extremely rare that can't be found anywhere else, I recommend you to look for the songs on the net. So, maybe the "old dog" should learn a trick how search and download, instead of playing with audio converters, which require more time and explanation.

well tell me of a legal download site and I will try.


Most of it is classical and speech.


THANKS ANYWAY.

What classical music and who's speeches?
Just so you know, there is no global audio site where you can find any track simply by typing classical music. If you want help, be more specific.

ah well not to worry I'll sort it eventually.

You will find mixed reviews of the downloading of music that you own on one form of media to another. Some lawyers believe it is legal to let's say copy or even download an lo onto your computer while others would consider it illegal. Some triple say you only purchase one copy of music such as a cd and that means you should not even rip it to your library. The point is technology and copyright laws will not always be on the same page. So I say download like crazy while the getting is good.

As long as you are not selling or distributing your copies you are on solid legal ground. A company cannot go after you and won't waste their time if there are no damages, and if you transfer a copy of a symphony concert from a cassette to MP3, there are no damages to the musicians.

But this isn't really what she was asking about, is it?

This seems to be the most clear cut, simple, and cheap way to accomplish what you want to do.

How to record cassette tapes to PC/Computer

I was just pointing out that I read transferring your albums could be considered theft by the record companies. But on a more important note.

Dogsbody is a girl?!

Though a simple profile click shows me this.

OH SEIKI how I wish I was still a girl. sighs-- long past that but in myheart and mind I am LOl.

The link that MMM posted looks good to me. I think that's what I would try if I were to "rip" some cassette tapes.

I just want to point out a few things though--

The audio quality will probably degrade a little bit, but it shouldn't be too noticable.

Also, before you even start, I would check your RCA cables with a TV & VCR or something. Although I hadn't had too many problems with them in the past, over the last few months I've had numerous RCA cables go bad on me (like sound going in and out or sound dropping when the jack gets turned just slightly).

One last thing (this might be over complicating things, but this could lead to some problems)-- I'm not familiar with Audacity or IPODS... but there could possibly be an issue with sample rates and bit depths. Sample rates are the amount of samples taken per second and bit depths are the size of the samples taken. Regular CDs have 16bit samples that are taken 44,100 times per second (44.1k). Computers take "digital" samples of "analog" sound when they record. Sometimes with recording software you might get default sample rates and bit depths that are higher-- a popular one is 24bit/48k (which is what DVDs are if I am remembering right). At any rate, there will probably be an option when you "mixdown" (save) your file to mp3 format to decide your bit depth and sample rate. I'm assuming you should save at 16/44.1, which is the safest bet.

There is a slight chance that you might record in Audacity at a higher sample rate than that... which means when you "mixdown" (save) your file to 44.1/16 you might be doing a conversion from another sample rate/bit depth (like 48khz/24bit) which will cause slght degredation. I doubt this is something to be worried about though as this difference won't be noticable on your ipod and its headphones anyways.

Hello MM thanks-- have just seen this.

I had thought as we have some experts on this forum they might have guided me. Myown gr children clearly would have advised me-- but they too would have told me to take from the internet sites.

The music industry has been enormously affected by us taking the music for free--------------

So that does make me wonder what changes the Music industry will have to make to actually make it worthwhile to compose music-- orchestras singers and all that it entails to make recordings. If there is no profit? what is the incentive to bother.


Millions of pounds must have been lost to the industry surely? Why do they not charge a fee for each download?
thanks for your help everybody.

I think it's safe to say the original composers, or whoever should get monetary gains from the sales of the music you would like to rip, would see no benefit even if you found an original to buy...