Arts >> Music >> Recording Music

How To Record Cassette Tapes to CD

Want to preserve your old cassette tapes by transferring them to CD? Once you you, you'll never have to worry about audio-quality deterioration, and you can jump directly to the tracks you want to hear. There are many software programs out there that charge a substantial fee for this ability, but you don't need them. You can do it yourself for free.

Things You'll Need

  • Blank CDs
  • Audacity (free recording and editing software)
  • Cassette tape deck
  • Male-to-male 3.5mm audio jack
  • Sound card with line-in or mic jack
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Download Audacity, the free recording and editing software (see Resources for the link). Follow the instructions to install it on your computer.

    • 2

      Connect the tape deck to your computer. Plug one end of the male-to-male audio cable into the line-out or headphone jack of the cassette player. Plus the other end into the line-in or mic jack of the computer's sound card.

    • 3

      Prepare Audacity for recording. Open the Audacity program and change the input type. Do this by going to Edit > Preferences and clicking on the tab labeled Audio I/O. Under "playback," select the device with the name of your specific sound card. Find "recording" in the same window and select this device again.

    • 4

      Start recording. Press the Record button on Audacity, then start the cassette. When the song is done, press the Stop button on Audacity.

    • 5

      Export the file. Click on File > Export. Export the file as a wave or a mp3, depending on the format you want. Save file to your computer.

    • 6

      Burn the file to a CD.

+:
+:

Recording Music

Related Categories