If your tape deck’s headphone port isn’t 3.5mm, you can use an RCA to 3.5mm cable. 3.5mm microphone input: You can use a male-to-male 3.5mm cable to connect your tape deck’s 3.5mm headphone output to your computer’s microphone input (the blue one).But every computer and tape deck is different, so you might have to buy some cables: It’s just like plugging your tape deck into a speaker. Connect the tape deck to your computer: This is how your computer records and digitizes the audio.If yours has no bias knob, test a sample track to make sure you’ll be happy with the audio quality. Some decks don’t have bias knobs-they might be automatic or just really old. Do likewise, if your deck has buttons for different tape types, like metal or chrome. Adjust the tape bias and type: Each of your tapes should say “high bias” or “normal bias.” If your tape deck has a bias knob or button, adjust it to match each tape.It’s also great for analog-to-digital audio conversion.
If your USB cassette converter doesn’t include software or instructions, don’t stress. One of the dropdown menus should say “tagging” or “properties.” Open this menu to add album art you’ve fetched from Google Images.Īnd that’s all there is to it! Keep your USB cassette converter handy and offer it to friends who need to digitize their old cassettes. Hold down the CTRL key, click each track of an album, and then right-click your selection. To add artwork manually, open your music player and find your songs.
Add album artwork: You can either do this automatically in Music Tag or manually in music software, like iTunes or foobar2000.Be sure to add the album and artist name to each track, along with a tracklisting (track 1, 2, etc.), so the files stay organized. Put a tape in the converter, plug it into your computer, and read the instructions: After you’ve done this, open the software and follow the instructions to digitize your tracks.
If your computer doesn’t have a disc drive, consult the manufacturer’s website because you can probably download it from there.
How to Use a USB Cassette Converter ReshowĪgain, USB cassette converters are the easiest way to digitize your tapes, especially if you don’t want to deal with unfamiliar software or computer cables. These processes can’t work miracles we’re simply saving recordings from the slow decay and inconvenience of analog tape. They don’t sound as good as CDs, and they’re always going to produce some hiss. Remember, tapes are old and temperamental.
It also provides better sound quality than a USB cassette converter-especially if you can adjust the bias for chrome or metal tapes (if you don’t know what that means, don’t worry about it).