The TechMen routinely get questions from readers about how to transfer LPs and cassettes to their computers. We've answered this on several TechTalk podcast episodes and so I felt that maybe that needed to be backed up with some solid details.
Converting your old analog music to digital isn't terribly complicated but the nature of the analog recordings will make it a tedious and time-consuming process. First, you'll need to connect your turntable or cassette deck to your PC with a sub-$5 audio cable from a place like Radio Shack (be sure you know what kind of jacks you have on the back of the turntable; the PC will most likely have a standard 3.5mm or 1/8" stereo headphone jack). Then download a copy of the free Audacity recording software and get it installed on your computer. Practice making recordings with it a few times to get it right, and then just start your cassette deck and hit "Record" on the screen and walk away.
Yes, this means that if you're transferring a full LP or cassette to your computer, you'll need to play the whole thing, so make sure you've carved out an hour of your time to get this done. And if you want the tracks as individual songs, you'll either need to stop and start the process to create the files separately, or you'll need to come back through and edit the long recording to make many smaller ones. If you have irreplaceable recordings of your grandfather singing "O Holy Night" at church on Christmas Eve, this method should work fine, but if you have an LP or cassette library that would make Bob FM jealous, I'd recommend reading on.
A company called Ion makes a turntable and a cassette deck that will connect to your computer via USB to make these recordings. This method has several advantages. First, the audio cable you bought from Radio Shack in the cheap method makes a perfect antenna for external RF interference. You can actually introduce noise into your recordings this way. The Ion products perform the analog-to-digital conversion internally so there's less chance that this will occur.
Second, these devices come with their own specialized recording software, which will make carving an album into tracks a whole lot easier. Plus the software will look up the album and track titles over the Internet and label your MP3s appropriately. When you are putting these into your iPod, this is a nice extra feature to have.
The Ion USB turntable will cost you about $200 and the cassette deck (pictured here) will run you $150. If you're doing these recordings on a large scale, the cost probably makes more sense.
The TechMen would love to hear from you if you've tried either of these methods. Send us a sample MP3 to techman@post-gazette.com so we can hear the results, and of course your feedback is always welcome.
Except when it's in the recording.
Posted
Jan 20 2009, 07:56 AM
by
Jody Farr