Analog to CD transfer help


X-S Tech

Active Member
This may sound like an easily answered question but Radio Shack has been simply no help. I've been transferring some of my older stuff from cassette to CD and don't have the wires to hook my stereo into my computer. I'm still trying to track down the right wires but in the meantime (before I thought it mattered) I've just been playing the cassette in my little memorex portable cassete recorder (via a wire that doesn't fit my stereo. The playback is fine, but there is no output, except the headphone jack which of course means that the sound is under the influence of the volume control. Can anyone tell me if this will matter, as long as I set it to a good volume?

OR can anyone tell me what is basically a good volume to use (low or med). High clearly generates a lot of feedback but it is hard to find a volume that works for all pieces. Any guidelines will be helpful. I will most likely get the wires I need eventually but in the meantime this would be good to know.
 

Zarpman

Member
What kind of "out" jacks do you have on your good cassette player? Most people use a Y-adapter that has a mini-stereo plug on one end (for the computer's "Line In" jack) and two RCA-style plugs on the ither (generally red and white, and will connect to a "Line Out" jack on the back of most audio devices).

The method you are using is fine, but remember that the headphone jack produces a small amount of power that will sometimes create a "hum" in the audio. You will also have to adjust the volume to a some-what medium level (too low will sometimes reduce in higher volumes of tape hiss, and loud volumes will distort the audio).

Hope some of that helps!
 

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