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How do I Convert Audio Tape to MP3?
For many people MP3's are the perfect digital format, music in this format sounds similar to CD quality. MP3 files are much smaller than the standard CD WAV file and using MP3 is free. It seems the only drawback for using MP3's is the fact that many of our music is stored on other medias that are not compatible with our computer and MP3 players. These media include vinyl records and audio tapes. If you are looking for a quick and easy way to convert your audio tapes to MP3, so that you can listen to your favorite music on your computer, MP3 player or iPod, here are some tips.
In order to record your audio tapes into MP3 format you first need a couple of things:
- A computer with a sound card
- WAV File Recording Application (sometimes called Ripping program)
- Application to change the format of a WAV file into an MP3 file (Called Encoder)
- A cable with 1/8" mini plug on each end
Now that you have all the components required to successfully convert your audio tapes to MP3 format, follow these quick steps:
- Connect the mini plug to your earphone output of your receiver that is hooked up to the audio tape player or you can use the earphone jack that is integrated into your audio tape player.
- Connect the other side of the cable into the Line In of your Sound Card (this input is usually green).
- Start your Ripping software on your computer for Line In recording. At the same time, press play to start your audio tape. Your audio tape should be recording onto your computer in real time. It is important to note that you first must save your audio recording in the WAV format, and then change it later into MP3 format.
- Once you have a full recording of the audio from the audio tape saved onto your computer and in WAV format, encode it using your MP3 encoder program. Most ripping programs also include an encoding program. Now your old audio tape music is saved as a digital file which can be played on any computer or stored on a CD or IPod type device.
Important Notes
When saving your audio tapes to your computer as a WAV file, make sure you have plenty of storage. WAV files are very large, usually about 10 megabytes for one minute of sound. The proper settings for CD quality of a WAV file are 44.1kbs, stereo and 16 bit. These settings will assure that your recording is very high CD type quality
Advantages of MP3
MP3's have many advantages including the ability to be transferred over the internet, the ability to be much smaller than a WAV file and to produce near CD quality. For instance, MP3's have a sound quality that is nearly 95% as good as a CD but only takes up 1/12 of the space. Because of this quality and small amount of space these files take up, MP3's have become the most popular digital music file today, being able to be played on IPod's, cell phones and every computer with an MP3 player.
Digital Music Terminology
It is important to note a few terms when working with MP3 files.
- MP3 - stands for MPEG (Motion Pictures Experts Group) Layer 3 Audio compression
- Bit rate - the average amount of bits per second that an audio or video file will consume or process. Usually CD quality is between 128 kbps and 160 kbps; however 128 kbps is the de facto standard.
- Rip - means to extract music from a CD (WAV file). However, you can also rip music from an audio tape, vinyl record or other media using a Line Input from your soundcard.
- Encode - means to take a file, which is usually a large WAV file and process it to a new format. Formats can be MP3, WMA, OGG, etc. Encoding usually requires the file to be compressed to make it smaller.
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