Hi Carey,
What am I doing wrong? Can you answer this? I hooked up my tape player to my PC to be able to record CD’s off of the tapes I have. I got it hooked up ok, but I can’t figure out how to do it.
I’ve asked for help through HP, but they just seem to confuse me and nothing they tell me seems to help. Do you know what I’m doing wrong?
Thank You
First you will need to connect the tape player to the computer. Does it have RCA line out connections? Or perhaps a headphone plug? Plug an audio cord from the tape player at one end, and into the LINE IN on your sound card at the other end. You’ll probably need a special cord to be able to plug in at both ends. Radio Shack carries all sorts of special audio cords and adapters. Make sure you’re using a stereo cord if you have a stereo output form the tape player–the sound card should have a stereo input, most likely 1/8″.
Then you need some kind of digital audio software to record with. I wouldn’t recommend the Sound Recorder program that comes with Windows. If you bought your sound card separately, it probably came with software you can use. If not, download a freeware or shareware program like GoldWave (http://www.goldwave.com/) or Cool Edit (http://www.syntrillium.com/).
To record, you’ll need to set the settings in the software and then tell it to start recording. Then start the tape player. You may need to make sure that the sound is coming through your computer and/or adjust the level to get the best recording. Usually, the software will have some kind of level indicator which will help you with this part. If you ARE using Windows, check the audio mixer settings carefully. The audio mixer can typically be found by double-clicking on the little speaker icon next to your clock. Make sure to click on FILE in the Mixer, and select the RECORDING mixer settings.
Once it is recorded, you may want to use the software to reduce noise, tape hiss can sound pretty bad on the computer. Use of a noise gate will help, but it’s best if you can specifically use a noise reduction or noise filter function. It may take some practice to get the best possible noise reduction; make sure you can “undo”, or save a backup copy before processing!
After processing the sound, you will probably want to convert it into a compressed format like MP3 so it won’t take up too much space on your hard drive, or, if you have a CD recorder drive, you could burn it to CD.
I hope this helps you!
Carey
Carey Holzman owns and operates Discount Computer Repair (602-527-9723) in Phoenix, Arizona, where he offers repairs, upgrades, custom built PCs and network wiring at highly competitive pricing. His networking tips have appeared in David Strom’s book, The Home Networking Survival Guide (McGraw/Hill), and his own book on PC maintenance is currently available at local book stores, amazon.com or directly through him. His free informative web site can be found at http://www.careyholzman.com. Donate $30 to help maintain his site and you’ll get a free autographed copy of his book. Carey can be reached directly at carey@careyholzman.com.
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