From Cassette to PC Using Audacity

webmanoffesto

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From Cassette to PC Using Audacity

Hi, I'm on a XP computer and I want to use Audacity 1.2.3 to make a cassette into a CD. I have the tape player, I've plugged the cord into the tape players headphones jack and into the computer's mic jac (I also tried the streo in jack) neither worked. I've done this successfully on another computer. I'm getting a loud ticking sound, which I also see in the recording graph, but that's all.

I played with the playthrough setting, didn't help. I went to preferences and changed the settings
Playback Device (tried Microsoft Soundmapper and Realtec AC97 Audio)
Recording Device (tried Microsoft Soundmapper and Realtec AC97 Audio)

Still no progress,
How do I solve this problem.
 
To do this properly, you'd really need a cassette deck with a line output. You would connect it to the soundcard's line input.

I'm surprised you didn't get something usable from the headphone output connected to the line input. (I wouldn't expect it to sound great, but you should hear something resembling music.) Did you have the volume turned up, both on the cassette player and on the soundcard's mixer control panel?
 
The clicking you are hearing is most likely really clipping. You should try comming from the tapedeck's line outs to the pc's line in on the soundcard. I have been useing Audacity for a while and that is the best way I have found to connect it to a tapedeck. Also there is a small ammount of voltage on the headphone line which could overload something in your pc and cause real damage.
 
If you just want to copy cassette to CD, without any bells and whistles, try CDEX instead of Audacity. It's freeware. Do a google to find it.

It has a "Line In" recorder feature. Easy as a cassette deck to use.
It can record into about a dozen formats, MP3, WAV, Ogg, etc
You can record as Mono, Stereo and Enhanced Stereo ( not sure what this is but could be mono to simi-stereo )

This program is great for extracting tracks from CD too, then converting from WAV to MP3. ( and a whole lot more formats )
 
This may help with the recording, you said nothing about these areas they may be muted or turned down. You have probably been here but xp seems to bury them in bureaucracy.

Open volume controls double click speaker on the bottom right or wherever your task manager is. Then select options/properties and click on the radial button that says recording you should get another interface that shows your advanced recording options. Or right click/adjust audio properties then select audio go down to recording and volume if nothing comes up then repeat the first part and Check the line in and ok you can select all you want these are your recording volume controls. They are turned down by default in XP. The clicking sound you are getting may be a sign of too much voltage going thru your soundcard or a bad ground or connection from the way you had it hooked up. You can use your headphone jack but only as a last ditch, turning the volume too high could fry your soundcard even a walkman could fry it and you would probably get an unbalanced signal. If you are going to use this I suggest starting your recording software and also launching your recording volume controls so that you can see if it is pegging when you start your deck up. Using the Mic is probably fruitless effort because it records mono and It is not designed for much voltage, far less then your line in.
 
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