The
andybrain tut is the simplest and easiest to understand, I think. Here is a paste:
What you need
You'll need a cassette tape player with a headphone jack, a computer with a soundcard, the
free "Audacity" software, and a 3.5mm (1/8-inch) male-male stereo audio cable. (Though 3.5mm is a standard size, your own hardware may be different.) A six-foot cable can be found for about $5.00 at your local electronics store like Radio Shack.
How to convert
1) Plug one end of the audio cable into your cassette player's headphone or "Line out" jack, and the other end into your computer soundcard's "Microphone" or "Line in" jack.
To prevent possible soundcard damage, use the "Line in" jack if possible, and not the "Microphone".
2) Start Audacity, and change the input type to "Line in" or "Microphone", depending on what soundcard jack you're using. This tells Audacity to record whatever it "hears" on the soundcard input. To do this, open the Edit menu, then Preferences. You'll then see a screen that should do what you need: Use the "Device" selector to pick your input (soundcard, microphone, audio jack, etc), and change the "Channels" selector to pick from mono or stereo recording.
3) Press the record button (red circle) on Audacity, then press play on your cassette tape.
4) Press the stop button (yellow square) on Audacity when the tape is finished playing.
5) Use the "File -> Export as WAV" menu item to save your recording. The resulting WAV file can be saved on your computer, converted to MP3, or burned to a CD. Get fancy with Audacity's audio editor features: You can cut, paste and add effects easily.
You should record a ten-second clip at first, so you can play it back immediately in Audacity (green triangle button) and make sure your volume levels are right. If the recorded audio is too loud or has too much static, decrease the volume on your cassette player.
Don't stop with cassette tapes. The same technique can import, record and convert records / LPs / vinyl, 8-tracks, and other older audio formats. You may need a different cable to match your playback device, but the actual dubbing process is the same.
