I have used the MP3DirectCut for editing audio files in the past. It is
a quite easy piece of software, and does a fantastic job on the areas it
covers, such as cutting, pasting and splitting or joining MP3 files. It
does not, though, have any noise reduction features, or any other sound
fixing capabilities.
Would you want to do some enhancing on the recordings you make, or
should you want to work with other formats than MP3 files, I have two
other software in mind. Have used both in the past, and they are good,
each for their particular usage.
The first one, which is a quite cheap product of an affordable amount of
dollars, is called AAAWave. I could try to find the homepage for you, or
you can try to search for it. It is about 12 years since I bought it, so
hope it still is around out there. It does have a dedicated Tape mode,
attempting to reduce the hyssing noise from old tape recorders. And it
used to be speech friendly enough for doing the job. Have to admit, I
have not had the need for it all the time I have been using Window-Eyes,
only used it with another screen reader. It did have a demo version, so
it should be possible to test it out before buying.
the transferring, and if you desire, the editting needed. They usually
are not exactly free, but you need have no extra job but bringing your
old tapes to the mail office. Just make sure you use reputable companies
for the job, and that your parcels will be trackable in the mail. If
possible, only send them copies of the material, in case something
should go wrong. There might even be a company near you.
Hope this all helped you see the possibilities, and that I did not
increase your confusion.
The other alternative that comes to mind when comes to editing sound
files, is the swiss-knife named GoldWave. Again, it is not free, think
it is about 50 dollars or so. But if you really have the interest and
time to play around with it, it could be worth the price. It offers you
that many capabilities, I don't know if it is worth to dig into them all
here. You can record, speed up or slow-down, noise reduce, cut, paste,
split, join, swap panes, and convert your sound files; plus much more.
It is - as you may imagine - a rather techie product, so takes a bit of
playing and testing to become familiar with it.
Finally, I know some blind people have used SoundForge, but I have heard
mixed feedback when comes to accessibility of that product. And the
pricing is - from what I have heard - not for the hobbiest. Yet, you may
have more complete info on that piece of software, from other users on
the list.
As for what hardware you will need, here is a couple of suggestions.
The easiest way is to simply get an audio cable, and connect it between
the headphone jack on your tape recorder, and the Mic jack on your
computer. In most cases it is sufficient, should you only want to
transfer simple audio from your tape into the computer. Alternatively,
if your tape recorder has a Line-Out jack, I would prefer this one for
the connection, as it has a stabil output level, independent on the
volume knob of the tape recorder.
Next, if you want a more stabil quality on your transmission, you may
want to spend anything between 5 and 100 dollars, on getting a USB Sound
Card. The benefits are a few. First, you will wliminate most of the
static noises that often are experienced on the built-in sound card and
jack on your computer. Running the recording via a separate sound card
will also give you the highest flexibility, and lowest conflicts, with
things like your screen reader and other activities on your computer,
while the transmission is ongoing. The USB cards from about 20 dollars
and up, will have a dedicated Line-In jack, and connecting it with the
Line-Out jack on your tape recorder, will ensure a steady, balanced
transfer level. this could save you a good deal of volume adjustment.
And in case you have a digital output jack on your tapedeck, there would
be USB sound cards with a dedicated jack for that too - ensuring a
totally non-static transmission.
Finally, here is a suggestion for a piece of hardware. It is
unfortunately rare these days, but you may have luck in finding it on
places like Amazon or EBay. The manufacturer is named ION, and they made
a USB Tape player. It came in several versions, some was big and fully
equipped Tape Decks for your stereo system, others were like a pocket
sized walkman. It hooks up via the USB of your computer, draws its power
from there, and shows up as a USB Sound Card on your system. It even
came with a disk, holding the Audacity software. All you needed to do,
is to insert the cassette tape, press the record control on the computer
software, and press the play-button on the tape unit. Then, just lean
back and enjoy the easiness of life. :) Do you have a desktop computer,
with an empty slot for a floppy disk drive, you even could get a model
of the ION for insersion directly in your computer; although I would
have stuck with the USB version. ION also makes units for transmitting
Vinyl Records, and if memory serves me right, I seem to remember they
had a unit for VHS videos as well. Do a search on one of the market
places, for things like:
ION Tape USB
and see what you could get. Might still be possible to get new overstock
products, or at least, some gently used second-handers.
Going to your local radio shop, you may even have some luck. Locally
over here, I know at least one store carried a model of astereo system,
that has a tape deck, a Vinyl player, and a USB slot. The advertisement
says that you should be able to plug in a USB Pen Drive, and have sound
transfered from the tape deck or the Vinyl Record, and directly into MP3
files on your pen drive. Then, plug the pen drive into the computer, and
copy your newly made MP3's. Have never tried the product, so cannot
speak for its accessibility, but if they carry it in your local radio
store, you might be given the chance of testing it, or having the right
to return if it does not behave your way.
The ION products described above, used to range between 100 and 200
dollars. The stereo system with the tape and Vinyl capabilities - I have
seen for something between 150 and a good 200 dollars. May be out of
your wantings for a budget, and depends on how easy you want the job,
besides how many tapes you want transmitted. Do you have a hundred tapes
to transmit, even 200 dollars investment will only give you 2 dollars a
tape, and may save you several hours of hazzle.
OK, I will end my lesson here, only letting you know that there are
numerous companies offering to tranmit your old medias into modern
electronic versions. You will need to send them your old stuff, and they
will do all thDavid
On 2/3/2016 12:35 AM, Butch Bussen via Talk wrote:
Speaking of mp3direct cut, it is here if you want, and I think I put
some tutorials (not done by me) in the zip file. Go here and look for
mp3216
To get the file you want, go to the link below
and hit enter on that file.
http://www.shellworld.net/~butchb
Butch Bussen
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