Converting audio cassettes to mp3?

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Yeah, the time has come that I need to think proactively about this stuff. I think fondly of all my Beta tapes that I had to junk because I had nothing to play them on. Before you know it, audio cassettes may face the same fate. After all, they are inferior technology, so they won't have the same loyalty that vinyl has. Nonetheless, they were the only thing available for the longest time.

Millions of cassettes are still being sold in Africa - that's all most people can afford (most of my African albums are on K7). So the means of playing them will continue at least until Africa's prosperity advances to the point where most people are buying CDs. That'll take a little while, I expect. Don't be so glum about the prospects.

MG

[skeith]

mjzee

What did you finally end up doing? Did you get the Grace product? If so, do you recommend as Marla does?

[mjzee]

mjzee

What did you finally end up doing? Did you get the Grace product? If so, do you recommend as Marla does?

I bought the Grace product. Let's just say my experience differed from Marla's, and I returned it. I really didn't want to say anything, because Marla was so nice, and I did solicit opinions. But since you asked, here's why I didn't care for the Grace:

1. It felt cheap. It's mostly plastic, and reminded me of my first Norelco portable cassette recorder from 1971. And it was ugly, too; I may be shallow, but esthetics mean a lot to me.

2. I found the software maddening. Audacity is some sort of free Internet download software, and was not at all tailored by Grace for this unit. Let's just say that English does not seem to be Grace's first language, so the instructions they provide are sparse at best.

3. Most importantly, the sound was totally distorted. Off-the-chart peaking 100% of the time. I tried lowering the recording volume in Audacity, but it just lowered the volume - the signal still came through as peak distortion. Finally, I tried using Amadeus (which I love) with the Grace, but they would not talk to each other.

So I returned the Grace to Amazon, and bought from them, for about the same price, a TEAC W-600R. Much better solution, at least for me. I already owned a good Marantz CD recorder as part of my stereo setup. So I transfer a tape (or a side of a tape) to a CD-R, and then edit/rip it on my iMac using Amadeus. The TEAC has two tape wells: one for playing a single side, and the other has auto-reverse, so that gives me a good amount of control. Plus it's from TEAC, a name I know and trust! :blush2:

I hope that helps.

[Guest Bill Barton]

...

2. I found the software maddening. Audacity is some sort of free Internet download software, and was not at all tailored by Grace for this unit. Let's just say that English does not seem to be Grace's first language, so the instructions they provide are sparse at best.

...

That's very interesting. A commercial product that uses open-source software. Shall we place wagers on how large this Grace company's R&D team is?

Although I'm no expert on Audacity, it's very similar in feel to Adobe Audition, Dalet and other digital editing software I've used. But why they used it for this particular type of application puzzles me. Go figure...

[Shrdlu]

don't worry about it - half the people in this place find me annoying - and the other half have me on "ignore."

Apart from not having you on ignore, Allen, I mega love your dog. A highlight of this board.