Hi Tall:
It is possible, and only slightly complicated. The audio files should be saved as "lossless wav" format, 42,000 kbp, 24-bit, best. This is how you do that:
Acquire, as freeware, the program "Audacity" from the internet (easily found thru search-engines) - also download the User's Manual while you are there, and follow the set-up procedures. Once you have Audacity, and the proper connections, as follows, it's pretty much a matter of playing the tape to record as a 'wav' sound file, and then burning the sound file to CD. Have Audacity open and ready to record to on the PC.
Best to have a stereo tape player to do this from, but it can also be done running from a simple ghetto blaster to your PC.
For the stereo tape player, plug one end (male) into the out-put jack of that player, and the other (male) end into your PC sound input. Most newer PC's have a decent enough sound card to do this. If you are using the ghetto blaster, plug one end into the earphone jack, and the other into the PC sound input. Select "record" in the Audacity program, and play your tape at normal listening volume.
Once you have recorded the tape to Audacity, before you do anything else, save it (save as above in the first paragraph). This is NOT your final copy, but you may want it to work with again if you're not entirely happy with the rest of your work here.
You can then play it on the PC (best to use earphones for this), and adjust the sound volume through Audacity, not your PC, so that it is clear, and not red-lining in the program (a little red-line is OK, but for the most part, keep it under the red line). Once you're satisfied you have the proper recording volume set in Audacity, save as above in the first paragraph (change the file name). Note where you save it to on your PC.
I strongly suggest you listen to the finished product through earphones before burning. You can either go back into Audacity to make more adjustments, or you can start fresh from the original recording, if the quality isn't suitable. Experiment on your first recording, and note what works best for future recordings; as they are all from the same source, everything should pretty much stay the same for subsequent tapes.
For burning CD's I use RealPlayer because it's less complicated than using MediaPlayer, which always wants to convert everything to a WMA file. You want to keep the 'wav' format, that's the important thing. The format will still be stereo, and it will also preserve any holosync entrainment that might be on the original tape. Then burn away.
A suggestion: when using Audacity to record from the tape to PC, don't have any other programs running in the background, including a browser or email programs. Doing so may cause some minor, but annoying gaps in the recording quality.
IF you really get stuck, PM me through my web-site, and I'll phone (no charge) to walk you through it if necessary.
Cheers!
Unis
