How to Convert Cassette Tapes to Digital

Cassette tape technology becomes outdated nearly as soon as digital technology is invented. While the popularity of music doesn't have to be. As a matter of fact, converting cassette tapes to digital audio files could be one simple and effective way to transfer or copy analog music recorded on a cassette tape to a digital format like MP3 file. And the audio from a cassette tape could be easily captured as a digital format with professional recording software to digitize your entire cassette collection easily. The solution of converting cassette tapes to digital to this seemingly complicated question is actually fairly simple. The hardest part about converting cassette tapes to digital is working out a time to playback your cassettes tapes freely. Here we would like to introduce some methods to convert cassette tapes to digital with the powerful program.

Solution 1: How to Convert Cassette Tapes to Digital with Leawo Music Recorder

Leawo Music Recorder is one good helper that enables you to convert tape to digital audio files with its easy-to-use interface. One of the features in which the application is most capable in this regard is the customizing feature. That's to say, one of this recording software's most powerful functions is to make your own specified recorded audios. The article would give a brief introduction to the steps on how to convert cassette tapes to digital with Leawo Music Recorder. First of all, just download and open Leawo Music Recorder, the all-in-one audio editing and recording software available at Leawo official website.

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Step 1: Select the audio source

In the course of the design of the tape to digital converter, the user interface is button-based for intuitive and easy use. You may need to click the "Audio Source" button in the bottom left corner of the interface and there's the pop-up window where you could continue the next operation. Here you may need to choose "Record Audio Input" if you want to record music files from cassette tapes.

Step 2: Choose the output profile as MP3/WAV

This step is specially designed for you to choose your desired output profile as MP3 or WAV as you like under the "Format" menu. You could also have the ability to do some other audio settings like bit rate, sample rate and audio codec to make your exported audio files more colorful.

Step 3: Set output directory to save output files

If you want to choose your own output folder, then you could click the "General" menu to select the recorded audio files at some specified destination path and enter a file name and then click the "OK" button to close the window.

Step 4: Start to record cassette tapes to digital

When you are ready, just click the large red "Record" button in the main program window, and then you may need to press "Play" on the cassette deck to begin recording a new music file. As soon as the recording song is completed, just press "Pause" on the cassette deck, then click the "Stop" button on the Leawo Music Recorder. And you could find the recorded music files on your specified destination.

One of the advantages of Leawo Music Recorder is that it offers automatic tag downloading and adding feature, which means this cassette tape to digital recorder could automatically download and add song tags like artist, album, title, cover, etc. to recorded cassette tapes. This would be of great convenience for you since it saves time on adding these tags manually. Of course, if you're not satisified with these tags automatically added, this Music Recorder offers you manual tag editor to change these music tags of your recorded cassette tape songs.

Video Demo on How to Use Leawo Music Recorder

Solution 2: How to Convert Cassette Tapes to Digital with Audacity

Audacity is one totally free audio editing and recording program that could offer the useful audio editing tools for you. You could download Audacity available at Sourceforge.net. And then you may need to follow the steps in detail to download the tape to digital converter to your hard drive.

Step 1: Sound recording settings of computer

Firstly, you may need to connect your cassette deck to your computer, and then do like this: click on "Sounds and audio devices" under "Control panel" menu > "Audio" tab > the "Volume" button under "Sound recording", there would pop up one windows mixer utility where you could manage the input volume fader to your wanted volume.

Step 2: Do some settings to your recording files

Launch Audacity software and its main interface would be shown below. Just click on "Edit" menu > "Preferences" in order to do some specified settings within Audacity. There's the pop-up window where you could set the devices, recording, quality etc. And then you could click the "OK" button to go on the next step.

Step 3: Start to record cassette tapes to digital file

After all of the settings are done, you may need to click the big "Record" button in the interface and then press "Play" button on the cassette deck to start the recording process until you've finished the recording job.

Step 4: Choose the output folder and output profile

The powerful program enables you to save the track as a MP3 file by choosing "File" tab and "Export Audio." And there's the pop-up window where you are able to choose the output directory and the output profile as MP3. Make sure that you have saved each music to the right output folder. Here you could also choose some MP3 "Format Options" easily.

Step 5: Edit tags for recorded cassette tape songs

Once you've set the output directory and format, confirm these and start to output your recorded cassette tape files. Audacity would then allow you to manually add tags for recorded files.

Comparative studies between the Audacity program and Leawo Music Recorder have revealed their strengths and weaknesses clearly. Leawo Music Recorder has gained wide popularity for its easy-to-use interface, while Audacity that is specially designed for advanced users might be somewhat more complex for new users. Audacity could make you save the output profiles as WAV/MP3/OGG format and so on while WAV/MP3 files for Leawo Music Recorder. As to the supported input audio type. Leawo Music Recorder allows to choose "Record Computer Audio" or "Record Audio Input" according to your own needs. When it comes to the recording quality, both of these two applications could convert cassette tapes to digital with high quality. When we talk about the tags adding and editing, Leawo Music Recorder could make you to accomplish this with only one simple click. On the whole, Leawo Music Recorder could be your ideal option for you to choose with its high cost performance and user-friendly interface.