Using a Cassette to MP3 Converter

Many of us have discovered old favorites when looking through boxes in storage.  If you've got a few tapes left over from the 1980s, early 1990s, or any time before the advent of the CD player, you might want to think about converting your cassettes to MP3.  You don't have to toss those tapes and rebuy your music, and conversion will allow you to protect the source material.  There's a simple device that can help you convert cassettes to portable, copyable MP3s without a lot of computer expertise.  Just put the cassettes into the player, and attach the player to your PC.

Prices for cassette to MP3 converters vary, but are usually between seventy and a hundred and fifty dollars.  While that might seem like a lot, it's not when you compare it to the cost of rebuying a large tape library on disc or via an MP3 service like iTunes.  With CDs running twenty dollars or more apiece, and digital files a dollar each, conversion can actually be cheaper.  It's also a good way to save tapes you can't replace.  Not all bands have released work on disc or in MP3 format.  Tapes you made yourself are nearly impossible to duplicate.  These are all great reasons to use a cassette to MP3 converter.

Since the device includes all the software you'll need for transferring your music to sound files, you can skip the difficult steps that come with plugging your cassette player into a sound card.  Just plug the converter into a computer using a USB cable, and follow the instructions.  There are even versions that fit into a 5.25" drive bay in your computer, reducing space requirements.  With all the electronic devices in most homes, anything that saves space is wonderful.

The software lets you break the play up into separate tracks, apply noise reduction to older tapes, and even play "metal" tapes.  That lets you use high speed dubbing if you choose.  Remember that it's hard to get a file that's higher quality than the playback from your tape.  That means that damaged tapes will suffer some, and may include pops and other distortions.  Audio software can remove some of these artifacts, but there's no guarantee.  So, use the highest quality source tapes you can, in order to get a high quality file.  Once you have a good conversion, you can copy the file to your MP3 player, or burn it to CDs for personal use.

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