Tutorial - Copying tapes, LPs or minidiscs to CD
From Audacity Manual
You can use Audacity and your computer to record sound from any external device which outputs an audio signal. Although cassette tapes and records (LPs) are the most popular examples, Audacity can be used just as easily to record audio from the following:
- Open-reel tape decks
- Minidisc (MD) players
- Radios
- Mixers
- Video cassette recorders (VCRs), Personal Video Recorders (PVRs) and DVD players (recording from a dedicated line-out containing audio output only)
- Televisions (via a SCART adapter cable connected to the computer sound card, or through a TV or VCR's audio out)
- Personal digital voice recorders (DVRs)
- Portable MP3 players (such as iPods)
- Other computers
This tutorial assumes that you have read and understood the Your First Recording tutorial, and have figured out how to get sound into your computer and into Audacity. You should at least read and understand Step 1 of that tutorial in order to become familiar with the jacks, plugs and cables you may need to connect your audio device to your computer. The instructions here will apply only to the special situations of connecting a turntable, cassette deck or minidisc player to your computer.
The Tutorials
This tutorial has been broken into several sub-tutorials for ease of reading as there is a lot of material to read and digest. The following topics are covered and should be followed in the order presented here:
- How to connect your equipment
- How to set up Audacity
- Basic Recording, Editing and Exporting
- Splitting a recording into separate tracks
- Burning music files to a CD
The following tutorials address additional special interest topics which may not be of use or interest to the general user who wishes to transcribe LPs, tapes etc:
