Tapes to CDs

[Griffin NoName]

My home projects are so far behind schedule I need another one to add to them.

Today's is the plan to convert old music tapes to CDs.

I don't want to use my PC or laptop. They are inconvenient.

I want to go directly from tape to CD. No Mp3s or other tricks.

What I want is one of these nifty looking devices.

Unfortunately I dislike the price, even refurbished.

Ideas anyone?

[beagle]

Nope, no ideas without using a computer I'm afraid.  If you know somebody who happened to have a cassette player AND hd/dvd recorder AND the recorder could accept analogue audio AND also be able to write CD audio CDs/tracks AND let you edit where the track boundaries were then it might be possible. Bit of a tall order though.

Why not just chuck out all your old Max Bygraves cassettes and let Qwerty recommend some iTunes Rammstein downloads instead? You know it makes sense.

[Griffin NoName]

I already chucked out the Max Bygraves.

My hd/dvd recorder will accept analogue audio. It won't do the write to CD. It all keeps coming back to only having a CD writer on the computers. I can record MiniDisc from tape no problem. Maybe it is time to look for a MiniDisc to CD-writer. Or buy a new laptop and downgrade the old one to being a CD-writer.

This all started because the CD player on my old style Cassette-Radio-Tape player bust. I realise that doesn't really explain it, but it's the long-term upgrading of all equipment that's at stake. No point replacing like with like.

Made little progress on the Woolly Ramp today.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

If you are a hardcore audiophile (with a very good ear BTW) I can understand why skip the MP3 format. For those (hopeless) cases you can encode in OGG (lossless compression); the files are bigger than mp3 but you aren't losing the frequencies above 10KHz.

OTOH if you just want to listen to said music somewhere else, I do recommend going to MP3 and getting one of the bigger hard disk players. The quality of the tapes isn't up to snuff anyway and you can avoid changing disks every 45-60 mins.

And Beagle is right, there is no way to do that without a computer. 

[Griffin NoName]

The tapes are mostly poor quality; my ear is very unsophisticated; and my main criteria is not to use the computer. I just don't have £300 for the nifty device. And there are none on E-Bay.

[beagle]

Why are you so keen on avoiding the computer? Did you have a bad experience where you put Beethoven in and got Westlife back?

[Griffin NoName]

The problem is

1. I have overlapping proects.
2. The amount of attention I can give to any one is limited.
3. Multi-tasking is beyond me.
4. My desktop is too far away.
5. My laptop is in constant use for other things.
6. Both computers have CD drive issues, normally manageable but in this context a pain.
7. The best audio equipment is in the wrong room.
8. I just want to feed the tapes in and get a CD out without having to do anything else.
9. I like refining manufacturing processes.

[Aggie]

Hmmm.... last option then:

Borrow a DVD camcorder, and jack the tape player's output into the external mic input.  Dance in front of the camera during playback to make own music videos, burned directly to onboard DVD.  Play back on DVD player.


The biggest pain (based on what I'm using for capturing mp3s) even if you use a computer to do this is manually breaking the CD into tracks automatically...  there may be software that identifies breaks between songs out there, I suppose.  But that's back to the computer, which you want to avoid.

[Griffin NoName]

Hmmm.... last option then:

Borrow a DVD camcorder, and jack the tape player's output into the external mic input.  Dance in front of the camera during playback to make own music videos, burned directly to onboard DVD.  Play back on DVD player.

....spoil the music then?

The biggest pain (based on what I'm using for capturing mp3s) even if you use a computer to do this is manually breaking the CD into tracks automatically...  there may be software that identifies breaks between songs out there, I suppose.  But that's back to the computer, which you want to avoid.

Yes there are - I think. If I use the computer.

[Sibling Chatty]

My home projects are so far behind schedule I need another one to add to them.

Today's is the plan to convert old music tapes to CDs.

I don't want to use my PC or laptop. They are inconvenient.

I want to go directly from tape to CD. No Mp3s or other tricks.

What I want is one of these nifty looking devices.

Unfortunately I dislike the price, even refurbished.

Ideas anyone?

Bundle it all together, send it to me, I take it to Harker Heights and get the keys to the Media Lab at Killeen Independent School District, kidnap Jerry, the sound guy, and make him do it all for me.

I can bribe him with food and with the promise of loans of certain parts of my wardrobe for Halloween...

[Griffin NoName]

That's a lovely offer !!!

I'd need to copy them all first though - before I let them out of my sight

[Sibling Chatty]

Jerry's 23, about 6'7" tall, goofy as a human can be, but would guard your tapes with his life.

That's 'cause Jerry's scared of me...he's NOT dumb, that boy. I can be scary!!
--------

My lunatic little brother says he'll take them from tape to DAT (digital audio tape) and clean up the noise, tighten up the sound, get the peaks and valleys nicely balanced for "the older ear" (I whacked him with my cane) and then put them on CDs...the studio rents for $225 an hour, though...

I think terrorizing Jerry would be more cost effective.

[Griffin NoName]

Can Jerry do a free collection service?

Alternatively... mmmm.... if I bought that device I yearn after maybe I could charge friends for doing conversions for them...... it would cost me less than 2 hours of your brothers time to buy the machine !!

[Griffin NoName]

Is this product worth contemplating?

http://www.adstech.com/media/mediafiles/PR-ces_InstantMusic.htm

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00067TMGA/ref=nosim/kaufenundbe00-21

[The Meromorph]

I'd say yes. Provided you have a line-out from your stereo.
Nero is decent, not quite intuitive, but decent. (I have it).