TomasJimenez wrote:Thank you for your help and yes I can do all those things. From the cassette player out there is for headphones, there is line in for microphone to computer and it works and yes I can and do burn CD's. And yes I should be able to download free software.
So I will buy a stereo phono to phono lead. The shops said they did not understand this.
I will try with this system and if not will think about something more complex.
Gracias
Tomás
There are a variety of options and considerations related to your original question "How can I record my cassettes onto CD?" Some of them also apply to another common question many guitarists have - "How can I record my own playing on a computer hard disk or CD?" A reasonably complete explanation of the pros and cons of the many options could fill a small book. Maybe when I have more time I will write not a book, but a long guide aimed at typical needs of flamenco guitarists that can be posted here at the Old School Flamenco Foro.
Most of the various options are not difficult or expensive (although at a professional level some can be expensive). The problems relate more to understanding audio quality, convenience, flexibility, and cost differences between methods and then with that knowledge selecting the best combination of options to achieve end objectives. There aren't methods that are universally best under all circumstances. Some are relatively easy for anyone, regardless of their knowledge of electronics or computers. Others are easy for someone with that knowledge, but extremely difficult without it. Some are free of cost, others are expensive. Some yield professional quality results, others don't.
I will address only one option related to your overall question here -- The best way to send audio signals from common cassette players to a computer.
Most audio cassette players only have electrical analog signal outputs, although some high-end players also have optical digital signal outputs. I will not address using optical digital signal outputs here, because your cassette player most likely has only electrical analog output signals.
If your cassette player has only an earphone output jack it will be necessary to use a stereo-earphone-jack to line-jack adapter cable between your cassette player and your computer as someone previously recommended (they wrote phono, but obviously meant line). Those cables are inexpensive, but don't expect clerks in most sales shops to understand what you need, because they generally have very little knowledge of electronics. However, many cassette players, including nearly all of the better ones, also have a line output jack. It generally is better to use a line output jack than an earphone output jack if a line jack is available. There are three reasons:
- The electrical signals supplied internally to line jacks have a different electrical impedance than the signals supplied internally to earphone jacks. A greatly simplified explanation of electrical impedance that is precisely accurate only under a special condition that rarely exists in practical applications is that electrical impedance equals the root-mean-square ratio of voltage to current in a dynamic electrical circuit (a circuit where voltage and current are changing). A full explanation would require me to write a text book and plenty of them already exist. However, it isn't necessary to understand anything about that except to know that for best results, the impedance of a source signal (in your case the signal coming from your CD player, should match the intrinsic surge impedance of a load (in your case, the audio input circuit of your computer), because impedance mismatches tend to cause several direct and indirect problems:
- Communication circuit impedance mismatches reduce the amplitude (audio volume in your case) of the signals transfered from source to load (cassette player to computer in your case).
- In most cases audio communication circuit impedance mismatches indirectly cause three types of audio distortion; i.e., frequency response distortion, harmonic distortion, and intermodulation distortion. Frequency response distortion changes the amplitude ratios of low, medium and high pitched audio tones like changes to amplifier bass, midrange, and treble tone controls do. Harmonic distortion results in the creation of audio tones that didn't exist in an original recording. The end effect is as though while a guitarist was playing some note a ghost guitarist was playing some different note several octaves higher in pitch. Intermodulation distortion causes one note to change the sound quality of another note where two or more notes are played simultaneously. All these distortion effects obviously tend to degrade various qualities of most audio signals.
- If your computer is connected to your cassette player earphone jack you won't be able to plug an earphone into the cassette player to monitor the audio while you are recording (although it can be monitored at the computer in most cases) without using an audio splitter. Audio splitters can compound the problems mentioned above.
- If you use an earphone to monitor the music you are recording and the earphone and computer both share the earphone output jack from your cassette player, you will not be able to adjust your listening volume without also changing the volume of your audio recording. Cassette player volume controls do not normally change output signal levels from line jacks, so if you instead connect your computer to the line jack and an earphone to the earphone jack you will be able to adjust the earphone volume without affecting the recording sound level.
Digital computers use digital signals internally. Because most cassette players provide only analog output signals, it necessary to convert analog signals to digital. Fortunately, most computers have an internal audio card or similar internal electronic circuits on the mother board that perform analog to digital signal conversions. Most computers have both an analog line input connector (jack) and a microphone input connector (jack). You will only need a standard audio line jumper cable (available inexpensively anywhere where audio components are sold) to connect the line output jack of your cassette player to the line input jack of your computer. Connecting that way will result in a proper impedance match and earphone volume level adjustments will not affect the volume or audio quality of your recordings.
-Bob
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