Hi, I have a sizeable collection of tapes from underground bands, and since I love them and I want to archive them since I'm quite fearful of the tapes being damaged in any way possible.

I have searched for tutorials online, but what is usually the best way to do it, and where do I get the materials to transfer from tape to PC? Is there any audio specialist stores in the PJ/KJ area that sells them at a good price?

buy male to male cable.. then get a tape walkman.. then using wavepad or any audio recording.. just play the tape and record. easy

so any kind of male to male can be used, is it?

tape walkman has high wow and flutter (meaning -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow-and-flutter )
suggest use a good quality tape deck.
To connect tape deck to pc use a RCA to phone jack cable most computer shop has this kind of cable (IT hypermarket in lowyat or Digital mall)
Than use any sound recording software, i use Audacity (free).

RCA <-> phone jack cable:


This post has been edited by tanhks: Aug 8 2010, 04:31 AM

but can I use a radio instead, cause I don't have a walkman anymore at home. And what are some of the best tape decks I can get?

(correction to my earlier posting)
I tried to find new tape deck on the market but seem like no more shop selling tape decks.
Last time i ask a Audio/video shop in Pertama complex and they said only have Yamaha brand tape deck.

Good quality radio cassette Mini HI FI system can do also.
example:
http://www.panasonic.com.my/web/productsso.../minihifisystem

This post has been edited by tanhks: Aug 12 2010, 04:49 AM

Radio cassette players can get anywhere from Tesco, Jusco, Carrefour........ if you are not too particular.

This post has been edited by Ngto: Aug 12 2010, 08:43 AM

I bought an MP3 player specially for that..that has a line-in for recording...and to play the tapes. of course you need a tape deck

I bought the MP3 for my dad, it was years ago, he doesn't know how to use a computer, and somehow, a MP3 player was a solution....but during that time it was kinda low tech and expensive ....only trouble is, it sucked battery during the recording, buttons were kinda small for 'old people' and somehow, hangs during the recording.

I'm sure they have improved now...I heard the latest software have silence detection to break music, auto level etc. Just google to check the models out there.

This post has been edited by azbro: Aug 12 2010, 08:58 AM

here's a tutorial from youtube

fuser...if you have got a setup...maybe u can help other people to transfer their collection?? I don't mind paying for this service. I have a whole lot of rare japanese pop/rock tapes i collected in my younger days...very precious to me...

PM me if you are willing to help out!

I have already done it before few years back. But after a while it was so time consuming I gave up, espc with a large collection. You have to playback and record in Wav format first while the cassette is playing. That will take about an hour each tape.

You might have to adjust the sound settings for each tape because all of them have different clarity, loudness and equalizer traits. Lots of time spent just playing around trying to get the best possible quality recording.

After that you might want to convert to other formats like MP3 because the Wav file size is HUGE. That will take up some time too.

All in all, you really need a lot of patience.

if it's a music tape, most probably you can find the mp3 for it.. or maybe even available in youtube..

I am amazed your tapes can still be played.

A lot of my tapes grow fungus and creaky oready....