How To Digitize Audio From a Vintage Tape Recorder

Comments are disabled for this video.

Read ALL below to understand why.

NOTE: THIS VIDEO IS FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO DIGITIZE VINTAGE MONO AND STEREO TAPES INTO THEIR COMPUTER.

IT IS NOT FOR CAPTURING ALBUMS OR MIX TAPES VIA A USB PORT.

THIS IS A BASIC PROCESS FOR HANDS ON SOUND EDITING USING AUDACITY – THE OPEN SOURCE SOUND EDITOR

A client, named Don, purchased a Lloyd's LT612 reel to reel tape recorder from me to digitize his collection of tapes. This is a restored machine and has sufficient output through its earphone out jack to do a nice job. But Don did not know how to connect the tape recorder to the computer, or what to do when he did.

Enter ClydeSight Productions with the solution.

This video shows Don, and anyone else who wants to know, an easy method to use a simple audio cable set up to connect a vintage tape recorder - reel to reel or cassette, even 8-track – that has an audio output jack to a computer sound card for transferring audio to the computer.

The video shows a very BASIC method of transferring vintage audio to digital MP3 files, using a free sound editor – Audacity – which runs on any computer operating system.

THIS VIDEO IS FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO DIGITIZE VINTAGE MONO AND STEREO TAPES INTO THEIR COMPUTER.

IT IS NOT FOR CAPTURING ALBUMS OR MIX TAPES VIA A USB PORT.

THIS IS A BASIC PROCESS FOR HANDS ON SOUND EDITING USING AUDACITY – THE OPEN SOURCE SOUND EDITOR

You'll need to do a few things to prepare:

1. Search how to configure your sound card to accept a LINE INPUT. This is different for every computer operating system, so you HAVE to research it. I suggest using www.ask.com
and entering the question: “How to Use the Line Input in Windows 7” or “How to Use the Line Input in Mac OSX” or “How to Use the Line Input in Linux Mint” or something similar. that reflects your operating system.

2. Get a copy of Audacity, the FREE open source sound editing program. You can get it here: http://audacityteam.org/

3. You'll need to configure Audacity to read your Line Input. There are tutorials on how to do this for EACH operating system. You may have to research a bit because it depends on your system and these can be complicated (especially Linux). Try this source for starters: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/...

4. Get a male to male stereo audio cable. There are many on E-Bay and Amazon.com etc. I got this one for this video and my client from E-Bay:

6ft 1/8" 3.5mm Stereo Audio Headphone Cable Cord Male to Male M/M MP3 Aux PC

http://stores.ebay.com/wennow/_i.html...

5. IF you have a MONO tape recorder, get a “mono plug to stereo jack” adaptor. There are many on E-Bay and Amazon.com etc. I got this one for this video and my client from E-Bay:

Metal 3.5mm Mono Plug to 3.5mm Stereo Jack Adaptor

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Metal-3-5mm-M...


That should be it. This video is very BASIC and will NOT tell you how to do a lot of fancy things with Audacity. there are MANY on line tutorials for that.

Enjoy the video.

NOTE: I cannot help you diagnose or set up your system. Therefore, comments for this video are disabled to prevent people asking for help that it would be impossible to provide.

*********

COPYRIGHT DISCLAIMER:

This is an educational video, a critique, and report on an historic piece of vintage audio electronic equipment that is no longer manufactured or sold in stores. It is covered by the Fair Use Section of U.S. Copyright Law:

"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."

The musical performance in this video is from the software Program “The Dream Angel Oracle” and is the exclusive property of ClydeSight Productions.