Gospel Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 Hi all, I am not sure where to start so here goes. I have a Plusdeck 2 which is a 5.25" internal cassette deck for my PC. It fits in one of the front drive bays like a CD/DVD driver.. I've been using it to convert my cassette based audio books to MP3. The Plusdeck is over two years old and I seem to have already worn it out. I need to send it in to be repaired. Before I do so, I have a question. Is there a small stand-alone portable cassette player available that can rip the cassette audio to MP3? It would be nice if it could write the MP3 files to a SD or CompactFlash card. SD would be preferred. Does such a device exist? If so, any info will be appreciated I've tried googling but am not having much luck. Thanks! Steven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted January 4, 2007 Share Posted January 4, 2007 I guess you can use the line in of your soundcard??? play the tape but it will be real time and you would have to record that full length and transfer on sd cards..... so....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megaohm Posted January 12, 2007 Share Posted January 12, 2007 If you have a receiver that will convert an analogue input to digital spdif optical output, then connect the toslink cable to your computer and record to wav file or mp3. After the data (audio) transfer is complete, you will need an audio editing suite to cut the (continuous) file in to individual tracks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gospel Posted January 13, 2007 Author Share Posted January 13, 2007 I appreciate the feedback. I like the PlusDeck because I could use software. All, I did was put in a tape, cluck "Save to file", and enter a filename. The software did the rest like starting the tape, auto reverse, stop tape, and close the file. It is very nice. Before getting the PlusDeck repaired or replaced, I wanted to see if there was a solution that is independent of my computer. BTW, there is nice thing using the PlusDeck with a SoundBlaster X-Fi card. It doesn't have the analog mix recording mode like hte Audigy. So while using the Line-in for the plus deck for recording, I could play MP3s, listen to TV via the Aux2-In RCA ports. I can record specifically from the Line-in port and the other audio channels don't get recorded. Thanks! Steven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamond45 Posted January 15, 2007 Share Posted January 15, 2007 Does it have to be a system that converts directly into MP3 from a cassette deck? A stand-alone casssette deck can be plugged into the LINE IN on a sound card. Software such as Creative Labs Wave Studio does the job nicely. I clean up the audio with Gold Wave and convert to MP3 with CDEX or MusicMatch. I've been converting LPs and cassettes to CDs and MP3 files for a number of years now. Reel-to-reel as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berry909 Posted January 29, 2007 Share Posted January 29, 2007 Connect the cassette deck, amplified turntable output computer's Line In socket using a stereo audio cable. Any audio/ Mp3 recording and converting software will be of use. Suggests FlexiMusic Wave Editor to record the cassette audio to Mp3 files. Found related answer in FAQ athttp://www.fleximusic.com/support/record01.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcs800 Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 I hate to ressurect and old post ( not that old I suppose), but if you have a cassette deck and a computer, using Spin It Again from Acoustica works wonders. Since I purchased it, my wife has me converting every tape and LP she can find in her pile of stuff from her younger years. See it here http://www.acoustica.com/spinitagain/buy.asp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gospel Posted April 7, 2007 Author Share Posted April 7, 2007 As I have said above, I was hoping for a stand-alone unit that didn't involve (independent of) a computer. However, I found another PlusDeck 2c for US$85 and got it. So, I am now back to converting tapes again. I like the PlusDeck because I just pop in the tape, click a button, give it a file name, and presto, the PlusDeck does the rest. Thanks, Steven Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamond45 Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 As I have said above, I was hoping for a stand-alone unit that didn't involve (independent of) a computer. However, I found another PlusDeck 2c for US$85 and got it. So, I am now back to converting tapes again. I like the PlusDeck because I just pop in the tape, click a button, give it a file name, and presto, the PlusDeck does the rest. How is the audio quality? I'd be hesitant using a stand alone device unless it provided for some sort of audio repair (volume, tape hiss, bandpass filtering, etc.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobbieTunes Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 Creative makes some very decent outboard USB sound cards, with RCA inputs and w/software. I got mine at Office Depot for $27.00 I can record anything that has RCA line level signals into my PC, choose the format (.wav, .mp3, etc.) and even remove hiss, smooth out the volume (excellent if you're going to listen in the car). Mine was a Soundblaster. I gave up on finding an affordable audio card for the PC that had RCA inputs. I see some PC makers are not putting them in the front of some models. I have a friend that gets good results with RCA-to-mini jack cables out of a cassette deck, straight into his PC sound card, and then uses some Sony software to convert it to mp3. You can also download NICE recorder or Cybercorder to use with your PC sound card (they're free) and they automatically convert the input to mp3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobbieTunes Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 I'm sorry about my reply; I didn't catch that you bought another PlusDeck. Now I want one......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 What about the other way around? I would like to take tunes I got in my computer cd's I rip, and then make a complimation to tape. Stick rockin a tape deck in the vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamond45 Posted August 10, 2007 Share Posted August 10, 2007 That's fairly easy to do. Take the Line Out of the sound card, and plug that into the RCA Line In jacks of a cassette deck. Play around with volume levels on both the computer output and the tape deck recording level. I've never done it, but in theory it should work. There may be an issue with 60 Hz hum. If so, you might want to try those Radio Shack isolation transformers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 That's fairly easy to do. Take the Line Out of the sound card, and plug that into the RCA Line In jacks of a cassette deck. Play around with volume levels on both the computer output and the tape deck recording level. I've never done it, but in theory it should work. There may be an issue with 60 Hz hum. If so, you might want to try those Radio Shack isolation transformers. Thanks Diamond45 I will have to give it a try one of these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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