Tutorial - Copying tapes, LPs or minidiscs to CD
 A stereo mini to RCA cable |
 RCA cable in the back of a cassette tape player |
 Back of a typical PC |
 Plug the cable into the blue port |
Contents
A note on terminology
To avoid confusion, please note that in common parlance the terms "jack", "socket", and "port" can be used interchangeably, and that "sockets" can be either inputs or outputs. Until the advent of the Walkman in the 1980s, sockets used in audio applications were frequently 1/4 inch in diameter. Although professional audio equipment and guitar amplifiers continue to use this 1/4 inch standard almost exclusively, most contemporary consumer audio equipment has standardised on sockets that are half that size. Often called a 'minijack' or a 'miniplug', these sockets will appear as 1/8 inch (3.5 mm) diameter holes. On computers, minijacks are used for the headphone, microphone (if present), and line-in (line-input) sockets. Most portable music players - including cassette players, CD players, and MP3 players - use minijacks exclusively for the headphones. However, some smartphone devices that can also play music use a 2.5 mm jack to maintain compatibility with hands-free telephony devices. Adapters to allow use of 2.5 mm equipment with 3.5 mm jacks are readily available at electronics stores and online. Another significant exception to this rule involves the headphone jacks used in better quality non-portable (home) audio equipment, such as home theater receivers and cassette decks, where the larger 1/4 inch jack is normally used.
Please be aware that audio plugs (which fit into these sockets) can be either monophonic or stereophonic. A stereophonic plug can be identified by its use of three metallic rings separated by an insulator, while monophonic plugs will have only two rings. Note that the very tip of the plug and the shaft itself are both considered 'rings'. Some electronic stores sell cables that are monophonic, so it would be wise to inspect the plug to make sure it is what you want prior to making a purchase. In general, and especially if you are a novice, you will always want to purchase cables that are stereophonic.
Connecting the equipment
You can use Audacity and your computer to record sound from any external device which outputs an audio signal. Although cassette tapes and records (LPs) are the most popular examples, Audacity can be used just as easily to record audio from the following:
- open-reel tape decks
- Minidisc (MD) players
- Radios
- Mixers
- Video cassette recorders (VCRs) and DVD players (recording from a dedicated line-out containing audio output only)
- Televisions (via a SCART adaptor cable connected to the computer sound card, or through a VCR's audio out)
- Personal digital voice recorders (DVRs)
- Portable MP3 players (such as iPods)
- even another computer
You need to run an appropriate cable from an "out" jack on the external device (e.g. a tape deck, or an amplifier or receiver connected to a turntable) to the line-in port of the computer. You should not connect a standard turntable directly to a computer - see the next section below. The line-in is normally coloured blue, but check your computer manual. You should not generally connect to the microphone port of the computer, as this port, besides typically being monophonic, will excessively amplify the stronger signals produced by a tape deck or receiver/amplifier. The only exception to this might be the outputs of some personal recorders supplied with a minijack intended for connection to the microphone input of a recorder.
For the average user with consumer level equipment, the headphone jack is probably the best "out" jack to choose, since it will allow you to adjust the output level of the source device. If you choose this approach, the most typical setup is to use a cable with a 1/8 inch (3.5 mm) stereophonic TRS (jack) plug at one end (for connecting to the device's headphone jack), and an identical 1/8 inch (3.5 mm) TRS stereophonic jack plug on the other end (for connecting to the line-in socket on your computer). If the device you are recording from has a 1/4 inch (6.3 mm) headphone jack, you will need to get a 1/4 to 1/8 inch adaptor. Such an adapter is often included free with most new headphones, or can be purchased separately at any electronics store.
Some professionals with high-grade equipment would prefer to use the source device's "aux out", "tape out", "line-out" or "record" output (if so equipped), since that approach bypasses an unnecessary stage of (possibly low-quality) amplification, and standardises the signal at a fixed (non-adjustable) level of approximately 1 - 1.5 volts, resulting in a higher quality recording. If you choose this approach, you will need a cable that has dual RCA red/white plugs at one end (for connecting to the "aux out", "tape out" or "record" jack of the device) and a stereophonic 1/8 inch (3.5 mm) plug at the other end (for connecting to your computer's line-in port).
For further explanation of the different types of connectors in use, see Connecting your Equipment.
Special note on connecting a tape deck
If you wish to record from an audio cassette or a reel-to-reel tape deck, you can connect that deck directly to your computer without the need for any external amplifier or receiver. Simply connect the deck's "line-out" RCA jacks to your computer's "line in" jack, using a cable described above. You can also connect to the headphones out jack of an integrated cassette deck or to that of an amplifier connected to the tape deck. If you do this (or if the "line-out" volume of your deck is adjustable), it's best to set that level quite close to its maximum, and adjust the recording level using Audacity's input volume slider (see below). This helps keep the inherent tape noise to a minimum in the signal sent to Audacity. If the cassette you are playing has been encoded with Dolby ® as denoted by the Dolby Double-D symbol, then you must enable Dolby playback on your tape deck, or the recording of the tape will sound over-bright.
| HINT: Before transferring your cassette, see this page for useful tips on proper cleaning and alignment of the tape heads. |
Special note on connecting a standalone turntable
If you have a standalone turntable, you must not connect it directly to your computer. Instead, you must connect it to an amplifier or receiver with a "phono" or turntable input, or to a phono pre-amplifier - and then record from the amplifier's "line out" or "tape out" jacks. This is for two reasons: (1) the audio signals produced by a phono cartridge are too weak to record directly, and (2) most records manufactured from the 1950s onwards were produced with a standard type of equalization called "RIAA", which emphasises high frequencies and de-emphasizes (reduces) low frequencies. If left uncorrected, this will result in a recording that sounds very "tinny". All amplifiers containing a "phono" stage will both boost the signal to line-level so it's suitable for input into a tape deck or a computer, and will reverse the RIAA equalization so that the records sound "normal" again. If you have an integrated "stack system" or "entertainment centre" into which you plug your speakers, your record deck is already connected to a suitable amplifier.
Special note on connecting a USB turntable
A USB turntable is a relatively new kind of turntable which is designed to connect directly to your computer's USB port. The concerns noted in the 'standalone turntable' section above do not apply here, as the necessary pre-amplification and RIAA equalization are already built into the USB turntable. The settings needed in Audacity are slightly different from those used for standalone equipment, and are described on our USB turntables page. Once these settings are adjusted, the remaining instructions for recording, editing and exporting your recording remain the same as for all other equipment, and can be read by jumping down to Recording, editing and exporting, Step 6), below.
Special note on connecting a Minidisc player
Some users find that the line-level output of Minidisc players is too strong for recording on a computer and causes distortion, since its level is not adjustable. If you are encountering this problem, try connecting your cable to the player's headphone jack instead. Since the strengh of the headphone signal is easily adjustable, you can then reduce the signal level sent to the PC. On most players, this means using the same shared line out/headphones out socket/jack, but choosing the headphones out option in the player's "Sound Out" Preferences menu.
Setting up Audacity
1) Go to the of and set both the playback and recording devices explicitly to your inbuilt sound or to the computer sound device your cable is plugged into. Do NOT select "Microsoft SoundMapper" on Windows machines.
2) If you want to record in stereo, change the recording channels on the same Audio I/O tab to "2 (stereo)".
3) On Windows XP or earlier or Linux systems, select line-in as the recording source on Audacity's Mixer Toolbar dropdown input selector:
On Windows Vista choose the line-in option for the recording device you want to use (e.g. "Line-In:Realtek HD Device") in the "Recording Device" dropdown in the of .
On OS X, the Mixer Toolbar will usually be greyed out on "default source". This is normal, but you need to go to (on OS X 10.2 or later) or (pre – OS X 10.2) and make line-in to be the source for the Audio Input. If you use Audacity 1.3.2 or later you may be able to choose line-in in the (or possibly in the ).
If you cannot choose your input source on the Mixer Toolbar as above as you should be able to, or if the line-in input won't record, see our further help for your particular operating system at Mixer Toolbar Issues.
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Some MACs and notebook/laptop computers do not have a line-in port. In that case check if your microphone port can be toggled to line-in with a switch, or by changing the recording source in the software. On some laptops this line-level source is called "mix" or "stereo mix", in which case you could select this source in the system sound preferences (or on Windows and Linux, in Audacity as described above). If you see a line-in option available, always choose that as your recording source. If you have neither a line-in port nor any way to switch the microphone port to line-in, you need to add a line-in by adding a USB soundcard, or other suitable audio input/output device that connects to the computer via USB. Examples of recommendable input/output devices are the Griffin iMic which has a standard 1/8 inch input, and the Behringer UCA202 which has left and right RCA inputs. If recording into a USB device, set this as the "Recording Device" in the Template:Menugrey (and also do so in the Apple Audio-MIDI Setup or Sound Preferences if you're on OS X). Where you use a simple I/O device like iMic or Behringer, the Audacity Mixer Toolbar input selector will not be in use, although you'll need to set the line/mic toggle switch on iMic to "line". In the case of a full USB soundcard you will need to select line-in as the input source in the same way as you choose input sources for your inbuilt audio device. |
4) Decide if you want to "monitor" your recording, that is, hear it played back
as you make it. If you do, and you are on Windows or Linux, you can use what's known as "hardware playthrough". To do this, open the system sound mixer e.g. in the of Windows XP or earlier, unmute line-in as a playback device, and turn the volume up. If you are on OS X, simply go back to Audacity's and enable "hardware playthrough". If this does not work, or if the playback and recording devices on the are different, choose "software playthrough" on the same tab, which works on all operating systems.
Note the sound with software playthrough will be heard after a slight delay, and causes some extra load on the computer.
5) Next, set the volume level of your recording input. Click on the downward pointing arrow in the right hand (red) VU recording level meters:
Meter Toolbar
and click "Monitor Input" (or "Start Monitoring" in Audacity 1.3.3). While playing a loud part of your tape or record, adjust the input level slider on the Mixer Toolbar so the recording meters are almost reaching the right-hand end of the scale. Don't let the meter bars actually reach the right edge, or the red hold lights to right of the meter will come on, indicating you'll have distortion in the recording. If the recording level meters are not visible, go to the of and check , or in Audacity 1.3.3, go to .
Recording, editing and exporting
6) Create a new Project by clicking . Start your recording by pressing the red Record button, then starting the player. You can pause and restart the recording between tracks or sides with the blue Pause button, which keeps your recording on one track within Audacity. This is the easiest way to record into Audacity, because having just one track on screen allows you to split the recording up into the different songs or sections using "labels". See Step 10) below for more on this.
If you do want to start new tracks or sides of the tape or LP on a new track in Audacity, then press the yellow Stop button to stop recording, get the LP or tape to where you want to go to, then press the red Record button in Audacity and start the player. The recording will now restart on a new track.
7) When you have finished recording, press the yellow Stop button and save your recording into the Project you started (). Now the data is safe, you can edit it in Audacity if you want to (e.g. cut redundant pieces out), or come back to it later by re-opening the saved Project file (). See here for explanations of basic editing processes:
You may also want to remove steady noise such as tape hiss or vinyl roar using Audacity's Noise Removal, and clicks from records using its Click Removal
8) When you are happy with your editing, you need to export the recording as an audio file such as .WAV or .MP3 that you can either play on your computer media player (e.g. on iTunes or Windows Media Player), or which you can burn to an audio or MP3 CD. See sections 9) and 10) below about the difference between audio and MP3 CDs. To export a single audio file you use the command. If your recording contains multiple tracks or songs, you may want to export these from your Project as separate audio files. This would be necessary if you wanted to burn a CD with separate CD tracks corresponding to each track in your recording. To prepare your recording for export as separate audio files, you mark the split points between the sections with the command. This places labels (in a new Label Track underneath the audio track) which both act as split points to divide your recording and can carry the name you want for the track. Then you use the command to export your multiple audio files at one go, based on your chosen split points. See Splitting recordings into separate tracks.
9) The most common formats for exporting are .WAV, .AIFF and .MP3. .WAV and .AIFF files are of identical quality to the original recording, but take up 10 MB or more of disc space per minute. If you want to burn an "audio CD" that will play on any standalone CD player (note these only give you 74 - 80 minutes' playing time), export your recording as a 44 100 Hz, 16 bit stereo .WAV or .AIFF file. See: how to burn CDs .
10) If you want your exported audio file to be smaller (you'd want to do this for example if you wanted to make it available on the internet), you can export as .MP3, at the expense of losing some of the audio quality of the original. You can also burn the MP3s to a "data CD" or "MP3 CD" which will give you (at Audacity's default MP3 export settings) over 11 hours' playing time on the CD. Note you can only play these kind of CDs in computers, MP3 CD players (including some newer automotive players), or some DVD players. Generally, you will see an MP3 logo printed somewhere on the device if it is MP3-capable. Note that most players manufactured prior to 2005 will not be able to play MP3 CDs. To export as an .MP3, you first need to add the LAME encoder to your system and show Audacity where it is - see Lame Installation.
11) If you are exporting your file to a media program which has its own "Library" such as Windows Media Player, iTunes or Real Player, you would generally drag your exported file into the program's Library, or use the media program's built-in commands to add the exported file to its Library. For more help on importing your audio file into iTunes (e.g. for burning to CD or for putting on an iPod), see Exporting your Audacity Project into iTunes and iPod .
