How to Adapt a Regular Cassette Player to Connect to a Computer

You will need an audio cable with a male connector at each end.

Audio cassettes were once widely used to play recorded audio. Due to advances in encoding technology, audio cassettes have been supplanted by compact discs and digital audio files.



Some audio recordings exist only in audio cassette format. One way to transfer such a recording is by adapting a cassette player to connect to a computer. When the computer receives an audio signal from the cassette player, the computer can record the audio signal in a digital format.

Things You'll Need

• Audio cassette player
• Computer with installed sound card
• Male-to-male audio cable

Instructions

1. 

   The input jack typically has a microphone graphic next to the port.

   Plug one end of the audio cable into the computer audio input jack.

2. 

   The audio jack on the cassette player will have a headphone graphic, like the headphone jack on this CD player.

   Plug the other end of the audio cable into the output (or headphone) port on the cassette player.

3. Turn on the computer, and right-click the speaker icon in near the computer clock; this will open the "Sounds and Audio Devices Properties" window. Select the "Audio" tab, and select your the sound card (such as "SigmaTel Audio," for example) in the drop-down menu. Click the "OK" button.

4. Click the "Start" button, select "Accessories," and select "Sound Recorder." Click the "Start Recording" button.

5. Insert a cassette into the cassette player. Press the "Play" button. When the tape player stops, click the "Stop Recording" button on the computer.

References

• Microsoft: Record Sound
• Microsoft: How Do I Record Audio from a Device other than a Microphone?