Good evening y’all. I want to preface this by saying I am really not smart with computers, this laptop is my first one so please do be forgiving if the solution is very simple.
I am trying to digitize a cassette tape with audacity but I cannot for the life of me get it to work. I follow guides to the T and I got nothing to show for it. I plug the tape deck into the 3.5mm jack expansion card and (try to) use the settings: MME, Microsoft Sound Mapper - Input, 2 (stereo) Recording channel, speakers (Realtek(R) Audio)
The closest I’ve been is recording the audio of me stopping and starting the deck.
I’m losing my mind, any advice would be very much appreciated
What is the make, model of the adapter you are plugging the 3.5mm jack from the tape deck?
I ask because most adapters have a stereo headphones out and a mono mic in.
The mic input is at very low input levels, so is amplified up.
The 3.5mm jack is probably expecting 4 rings on it: Left out, right out, gnd, mic in. Or even Left out, right out, mic, gnd.
Your tape deck will be outputting at “line-out” levels with a connector with 3 rings: left in, right in, gnd.
So, you need to look for a sound adapter that advertises “stereo line in” capabilities and not only “headphone,mic” capabilities.
E.g. you need something like this that specifically mentions line-in
I wasn’t using an adapter, I was plugging right into the computer using the 3.5 MM jack expansion card, as all the things I read said it would work. I didn’t realize I needed something like that.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart, you have saved me from an untold amount of heartache and woe
That or just a speaker/microphone splitter cable, the expansion card can do microphone but as @James3 said it needs to be on a 4 pin trrs plug not a 3pin.
@Adrian_Joachim
The original poster needs a stereo line input from a tape player.
That is not compatible with a mic input, so not compatible with the jack socket they currently have.
They need something that has a “line-in” feature. Speaker/Mic is not going to work, even if one wires up a cable to try and connect the tape player to the mic input, the levels are all wrong and it does not work.
if you really wanna do this the super-legit way, find a place with a recording setup. this can be a fancy studio, but many public libraries and colleges will have them too. some libraries will even have specific archival equipment including tape decks
either way, use their audio interface to record the tape. if you plan on doing this regularly, id recommend getting an interface of your own; they’re not that expensive even for the pro level stuff
audacity is probably ok for this but it might be worth checking out a proper DAW too (reaper, FL studio are free to try). at the very least, they’ll make post processing after the fact easier
Ethan, I suggest you purchase something like this Behringer USB2 interface. It should be plug and play on Windows and Linux (i.e. it shouldn’t need drivers). We use these in my (broadcast media) workplace. We also use stupidly expensive RME and Focusrite interfaces. The UCA202 offers everything you need for digitising cassette tape.
Audacity is more than adequate for capturing the audio from your tapes. However if the tapes are damaged, have degraded or were poorly recorded you might need more expensive restoration software. Tools from companies like iZotope will have the functions you need but also have a learning curve as steep as the price.
Note, the Internet is awash with knock-offs of the UCA202. I have a drawer full of them. Many of them work satisfactorily. Typically they contain cheaper chipsets and implement only the chipset maker’s reference design. Most will require a TRRS-to-RCA cable like others have mentioned in this thread. Many will only have a single input channel which, as you’ve discovered, is the limitation of your FW audio interface.