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One of the less common requests that we get is to take the audio from a cassette tape and convert it to a digital format.  This process is completed in Audacity, using the equipment attached to Station 4 at PEPS.

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Step Guide

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Quick Overview

1. Insert the tape into the cassette player.  It doesn't matter which slot.  Just make sure that you know what audio will be on the side that you insert.
2. In Audacity, make sure that the input is set to "Built-In Line-In" NOTE: This is different from "Built-In Digital-In"
3. Press play on the cassette player, and wait for the audio bars in Audacity to register incoming audio.
4. Rewind the tape to a second or so before the audio started to register
5. Press record in Audacity and Play on the cassette
6. Check on the progress regularly.  While this is not necessary, it does reduce the amount of terminating silence that will have to be delete.
7. When the recording is done, press stop in Audacity and (if needed) on the cassette player.
8. If the client wants the audio split into tracks, select each track (click and drag, shift + arrows) in the recording and copy them to their own projects.
9. Export.  If there are multiple tracks, export each track individually.
10. Be sure to check for whether the tape is double-sided.  If it is, repeat steps 1-9.

Some Helpful Pictures

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From the left: Pause, Play, Stop (unclickable), Previous, Next, Record

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From the left: Pause, Play (active - currently playing), Stop (clickable), Previous, Next, Record (deactivated - press stop in order to be able to record again)

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From the left: Pause, Play (deactivated - stop recording to be able to play the track), Stop (clickable), Previous, Next, Record (active - currently recording, press stop to finish recording)

Exporting

1. Anchor
   ExportingStepOne ExportingStepOne

   Click File -> Export... or press Shift+Command+E
2. Make sure to select "MP3 Files" and press 'options'
3. In the MP3 format options, check that the bitrate is set to 320kbps with Stero, not Joint Stero. (Make sure it looks like the picture on the right)
4. Make sure that you know where you are saving the file (a folder on the Desktop is a good spot) and what its name is.

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