URGENT: Cassette tape to Tascam digital portastudio?

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iheartblondie

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Ok, I've got some cassettes that I desperately need in digital form right now.

I have one of those old boomboxes that has a built-in mic and a headphone jack (this is what I used to record with!). I've also got a computer and Audacity, but my computer's microphone doesn't work anymore (lame ass Dell laptop I bought 2 years ago... what a shame).

Anyway, I've got a Tascam DP-02 and is there any way that I can hook it up so I can get my tapes in digital form? PLEASE help! And thanks in advance :)
Photo of the inputs on my Tascam http://www.macdaddymusicstore.com/catalog/tascam-dp02b.jpg
 
You can run a stereo out to stereo in cable from your boom box to the line in input of your comp sound card & record the stereo files with Audacity.
You'd best make sure that the boom box can manage the tapes - tape type, w/wout NR etc.
You'll also have to be careful setting the level coming out of the boom box via the h/pnoned socket. Do a feew tests to get the best level to avoid clipping on the Bbox vol & audacity's input levels.
the levels will probably change at least from tape to tape if not song to song depending on how they were recorded.
Clean the heads on the bbox & demag. the heads if you can.
 
rayc said:
You can run a stereo out to stereo in cable from your boom box to the line in input of your comp sound card & record the stereo files with Audacity.
You'd best make sure that the boom box can manage the tapes - tape type, w/wout NR etc.
You'll also have to be careful setting the level coming out of the boom box via the h/pnoned socket. Do a feew tests to get the best level to avoid clipping on the Bbox vol & audacity's input levels.
the levels will probably change at least from tape to tape if not song to song depending on how they were recorded.
Clean the heads on the bbox & demag. the heads if you can.
Click to expand...

Right, but the only problem is...my computer just won't work for me at all as far as recording goes. That's why I'm trying to do this with my Tascam...is that at all possible?
 
iheartblondie said:
Right, but the only problem is...my computer just won't work for me at all as far as recording goes. That's why I'm trying to do this with my Tascam...is that at all possible?
Click to expand...

Yes. Follow rayc's advice, except you will have to have (2) 1/4" to go into the DP-02 instead of the computer. Once you have everything connected properly, you will work on setting your levels and from there you should be good to go and record into the DP-02.
 
jjones1700 said:
Yes. Follow rayc's advice, except you will have to have (2) 1/4" to go into the DP-02 instead of the computer. Once you have everything connected properly, you will work on setting your levels and from there you should be good to go and record into the DP-02.
Click to expand...

Ok, sorry if I look dumb right now, but I just don't get what you're saying.

I need (2) of those 1/4" cords, okay. But where on my boombox and where on my Tascam do I hook them up? Thanks for taking the time out to explain, I really appreciate it!
 
If

- Your boombox has a line out, use that. It would probably be two RCA jacks. You can connect them to 1/4" ins with basic everyday RCA-1/4" cords.

- Your boombox has no out other than the headphone jack, you can connect that to 1/4" inputs. What you need is what's usually called an "insert cable." It has a single 1/4" TRS plug at one end, and two 1/4" TS plugs at the other (like a Y-cord). Any decent (and most indecent) music stores should have them. One of the two 1/4" TS plugs will be labeled "ring" (or, possibly, "return" or "right," or it might just have a red plug). That goes to the right input. The other one ("tip," left" or "send," and possibly black or grey colored) goes to the left input.

As for equipment:

There are, of course, a lot better cassette decks than your boombox. If you can borrow or buy one, try using it. One advantage is that it will have standard output jacks.

On the other hand, with a cassette recorded in an iffy deck, you may be better off playing it back on the same deck your recorded it on (which, as I understand your question, is the story here). The reason is because the azimuth is probably questionable at best in the boombox. If you try another deck and the music sounds like it's coming from inside a box, that would be an azimuth problem. With a quite good cassette deck, you could fiddle with the azimuth adjustment and try to get it perfect, but you might be better off just using the boombox and crossing your fingers that the azimuth is out of whack to the same extent and in the same direction now as it was when you recorded on it.
 
Seconding jsjohnson's suggestion- if your boom box LACKS RCA line-out jacks, go to a second-hand store and buy a audio cassette deck- the kind that would normally be hooked up to a home stereo section, but is JUST a cassette deck. Make sure the capstan roller is not soft and sticky (you can look in the tape slot and see it, it will be black and about the size of 5 to 10 stacked dimes,) put a non-critical tape into the deck and make sure it plays. If you are a real noob about this, bring a friend who knows about this stuff to help you check it out. You should not have to pay more than about $20 for it.

That cassette deck will be easier to use and will almost certainly give you better results than a boom box with only a headphone-out. You will save the $5-10 cost of an adapter cable to go from the headphone jack to RCA jacks (thus recouping some of the cost of the deck,) but you will probably still need to buy RCA-to-1/4" adapter cables.
 
Stevie, SJ, the only problem I see with going with another deck is the fact that the tapes were initially recorded on said boombox. If the azimuth was off on it, how would the tapes sound on a different deck vs. the initial boombox?

Blondie, look on Craigslist to see what you can find near you. What part of Michigan are you in?
 
jjones1700 said:
Stevie, SJ, the only problem I see with going with another deck is the fact that the tapes were initially recorded on said boombox. If the azimuth was off on it, how would the tapes sound on a different deck vs. the initial boombox?
Click to expand...
Very bad.

I'd still be inclined to give a better cassette deck a try, though - if it isn't a major burden to get ahold of one. It might be considerably better (if the boombox is pretty lousy, but the azimuth was close to correct when the tape was recorded), or it might be worse.

Another thought on the azimuth issue: some particularly poor-quality decks hold the tapes so loosely that the azimuth is basically different every time you insert a cassette.
 
Thanks a lot Sjjohnson and everyone else who tried hard to explain this stuff to me! Much appreciated and I'll be hanging around this forum more often :)
 
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