Audacity Forum

I'm trying to digitalise some very old taped interviews but need some advice on the best way to import them onto a pc (not a how to as I have read the tutorials part). Which would people say is best. Using the line-in or USB, My gut is saying Line-in. The tape deck we have at the moment is an old ghetto-blaster but they're willing to get something a bit better. Would buying a better one like this be of more use.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Audio-ION-Tape- ... 749&sr=1-4

The pc I've access to for this project only has an onboard sound card and is a Dell. Not sure what make though. I don't want to recommend buying this if the USB doesn't work due to the on-board sound card. Guess I can still use a Jack to Jack though.

Provided you do have a proper line level line-in socket and not just a mic-in (note that most desktops have both, but most laptops only have a mic-in which is unsuitable for what you want) - and provided you have a reasonable or good soundcard in the PC then you shouldn't need the USB device. If you do not have a line-in, or if your PC's soundcard is not up to the job, then you will need to go the USB route

The other thing to consider is the quality of output from the ghetto blaster - if that is ok then just connect its outputs to the PCs's line-in and should be ok. The important thing to do is to experiment and do some listening tests. Oh, and make sure the tape transport mechanism (capstan, pinch rollers) are cleaned.

If it's not ok then you have a couple of options:
1) the USB deck that you mention should work fine
2) or you could just buy an ordinary tape deck and connect it to the line in

You say you have read tutorials - have you seeb this set of tutorials from the 1.3 manual, they should help you: http://manual.audacityteam.org/index.ph ... iscs_to_CD

And you should probably upgrade to the latest Beta 1.3.12 - 1.2.6 is now very old and no longer maintained or updated. You can get 1.3.12 from here: http://audacityteam.org/download/

WC

Thanks Waxcylinder. Sorry I should of posted this in the 1.3 forum as that is the one I am using. The pc I have to do this on does have a line in and already done a test with the ghetto-blaster but the quality was poor, mind you the originals weren't much better! That's why I asked about this piece of kit. No-one seems to have a tape deck any more so they want to buy one. I was just wondering about the USB connector as my gut feeling says line-in would be better.

best is line out from player rca connectors
to line in of an outboard audio interface rca connectors
connecting to pc by usb

next best
is line out from player rca connectors
to genuine line in to pc built in sound card rca connectors
assuming it is actually working
and not to be confused with the tiny plug used for the mike

wont work worth jacksquat
anything connecting to the tiny plug
meant to be used for a mike

blitz_32 wrote:Thanks Waxcylinder. Sorry I should of posted this in the 1.3 forum as that is the one I am using.

I'll move it for you

blitz_32 wrote: The pc I have to do this on does have a line in and already done a test with the ghetto-blaster but the quality was poor, mind you the originals weren't much better!

By originals do you mean the recorded quality of the tape cassettes? If so than even the best deck in the world will not correct for this.

blitz_32 wrote:That's why I asked about this piece of kit. No-one seems to have a tape deck any more so they want to buy one. I was just wondering about the USB connector as my gut feeling says line-in would be better.

I was lucky enough to still have my trusty old Nakamichi deck (which I had serviced before doing my tape transfers). I don't go in via the line-in on my PC as I use an external USB soundcard the Edirol UA-1EX. I do this because the Edirol hasa better ADC (Analog to Digital Converter) than the onboard soundcard in my PC. Though many folk do go straight from the RCA outs from a tape deck into the line-in on a PC and get good results.

I note the reviews on Amazon for the ION unit are somewhat mixed. If I were you I would look at acquiring a normal cassette deck, a goodish one, and try that into the line-in. If that is not good enough then you could look at getting an external USB soundcard.

WC