I have a few old cassette tapes of my kids that I would like to transfer to dvd. I have a Panasonic radiocassette recorder (RX-D26) which has a phones jack (plug type 3.5 mm stereo). I would like to get a cable to connect the radiocassette to my laptop (Dell Studio 1558), which has a single microphone socket (listed as an audio in/microphone connector). I cannot find out what sort of plug (size, stereo or mono) will fit it. Also, if I buy a suitable cable, will I then be able to use Audacicity to process the data? Suggestions, please, on the best approaches. Many thanks in anticipation.
Paul
Brisbane, Australia
According to https://www.cnet.com/products/dell-studio-1558-15-6-core-i3-350m-2-gb-ram-250-gb-hdd-english/specs/ it has separate outputs and inputs, so the input will be 3.5mm TRS. The input is said to be “stereo microphone” so it is probably a “compatible” mic that “might” give reasonable lowish quality results without distortion from a stereo tape deck. You need a stereo 3.5mm TRS to stereo 3.5 mm TRS cable to connect to that mic input, but due to the quality issues you would be better with a USB interface that has a proper stereo “Line-in” input meant for strong signals such as from a tape deck.
See this set of Tutorials
http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/tutorial_copying_tapes_lps_or_minidiscs_to_cd.html
which includes
http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/how_to_connect_your_equipment.html.
Note that your computer does not officially support Windows 10, only Windows 7! It is therefore possible you may have problems with recording from the built-in audio. If so, you may have to buy a USB interface that is compatible with Windows 10. The Behringer UCA 202 should be so compatible.
Gale