How
to make an MP3
Like others,
this guide shows leave the pre-80's world of cassette tapes, while reaping the benefits of the
digital age. Save your cassette tape collection
from its inevitably approaching muffled doom. Bypass unreliable CD burners, hiccuping CD players, and disintegrating burned CD-Rs and CD-RWs, and
convert your tapes into mp3s. (And definitely
avoid using an in-computer tape drive like the
PlusDeck, which, I found out, ahem, sucks.) There's a better way: use
your computer to make an MP3. (See a list of what's on my MP3
player here.)
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MP3s hold data longer than burnable CDs or cassette tapes. Begin
your new listening life with a portable MP3 player
(recommended: SanDisk SDMX11R
with HTC 2125 8125 MDA SDA XV6700 charger and Sony MDR-W08L
earphones) and a cassette-tape-shaped
MP3-to-cassette-player adapter (recommended: Phillips PH-62050) to interface with your existing tape
players.
Tape players, whether as tape decks
(recommended: Yamaha K-903),
car radio/tape players (recommended: Kenwood KRC-235),
boom boxes (recommended: Sony CFS-B11),
or portable earphone players (recommended: Sony WM-FX290
player with Sony MDR-W08L
earphones), are getting scarce, so converting your
cassette tapes to MP3s is something you should do sooner
or later.
With a few things you probably
already have,
an Internet connection, |
a computer with a sound card, |
a stereo with a tape deck, |
some blank high-bias tapes (normal-bias tapes,
paradoxically, sound too high and have no bass) |
and a few additional things that
should cost less than $20,
you're ready to make an MP3.
So, gather some audio files...
record streaming audio
by recording in Audacity |
- Set Audacity
to record Wave in stereo.
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from old tapes, CDs, radio, even
TV...
make an MP3 from your
cassette tapes, home TV, VCR, DVD, or stereo
by running a Y cable from your home equipment to
your computer's sound card |
- Run the
Y-cable from the audio output of your TV,
VCR, DVD player, tape deck, or stereo
receiver (on my stereo receiver, from the
Video 1 audio output) to your computer
sound card's line input.
- Set
Audacity's input to Line-In.
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mix the files...
mix
use Audacity to make a single mix file
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- Cut and paste
your audio files into an Audacity file,
saving your work often.
- Use
Audacity's Amplify on to raise—or
lower— volume to keep it relatively
uniform between different selections.
- Save the
Audacity file as an MP3 wherever you're
storing it, whether it's your hard drive,
an external hard drive, or in the cloud.
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and if you want, output your MP3 to
a cassette tape, not a CD...
output a mix tape from your
computer
by running a Y cable from computer's sound card
Speaker output to stereo's CD audio input
"Wait,
that's your project? A mix tape? No, a
mix tape is not a project. It's something
you do between bong hits."
- Will & Grace |
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- Open the
Audacity mix file you've made.
- Run the
Y-cable from your computer's sound card's
Speaker output (it's light green) to your
stereo receiver's CD Audio inputs.
- Make sure
your computer's volumes (under control
panel and under Audacity) are about 90%,
and your computer power is set to
"always on."
- Select
"CD" on stereo receiver, set
tape decks recording input volume to
right level, not too loud, not too soft.
- But
inevitably your tape will eventually
muffle and warp, so hold onto the MP3
file.
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Hope this guide helps.
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