Digitizing
In essence, digitization refers to the process of converting something (anything) into a computer-readable "Digital" format. Audio cassettes are the most common type of media to be digitized when it comes to war music, and this article will go over the process of digitizing them.
Note: there are companies that can digitize your cassettes for you, but we do not recommend this, because they usually don't deliver the quality of a home digitization. However, if you have seen a company that delivers good results, and are willing to risk mailing your tape to them, this may be an option.
Overview
Digitizing tapes is fairly straight forward, and doesn't require any specialized equipment. Before starting you should inspect your tape for mold, sticky shed and any other issues that could lead to the tape being damaged during playback. A detailed inspection process can be found here.
In addition, you should inspect the condition of your player before playing any tapes of value. Check the inside of your player (where the tape goes) and make sure it's free of dust and make sure all the belts in the player are tight, not sticky and degraded. Also make sure the tape transport mechanism is intact and the pinch roller is not sticky, cracked or chipped.
Even if everything looks good, it's worth doing a test run with a blank (or worthless) cassette, just to make sure it doesn't get chewed or mangled because of faulty tape transport. You don't need to do this before every digitization, but you definitely should for your first time using the player.
Equipment needed
To digitize a cassette tape, you will need:
- Cassette player
- Audio cable (Type depends on player)
- A Computer with a "Line In" or stereo microphone jack
- Software to record the audio (Audacity is a free program for this)
Cassette players can still be commonly found in thrift stores or on eBay. Try to find a cassette player that looks new or is still in the original box. Avoid buying cheap players that were made in the modern day, as they usually lack the quality of older players. The best players were manufactured in the late 90's or early 2000's. Do NOT use any player that has a USB output, or claims to do automatic digitization. Most of them are cheap and output low quality MP3 files.
The audio cable you need will depend on what connectors your player has. Cassette players Usually output audio using one or more different connectors. These connectors are usually RCA and quarter-inch. You'll need to adapt one of those connectors to the 3.5mm audio jack found on your computer. On a laptop, there should be separate microphone and headphone jacks, while desktops usually have pink "Line-in" jacks at the back. Line-in jacks are preferred for digitizing. If your computer or laptop does not have a separate microphone input, then you'll need to purchase a USB Soundcard, or use an audio interface (if you're more advanced). 3.5mm combo jacks (ones that carry headphone and mic over one connector) should not be used for digitization, because they cannot record in stereo.
Audacity can be downloaded on Linux and Mac, but this article will focus on digitization with a computer running windows.
Hardware setup
Your tape player will have one or more ways of outputting sound, and to digitize a tape, we need to take the output of the player and feed it into the input of the computer. This will likely involve adapting the connector on your player's output to the 3.5mm audio jack on your computer or laptop.
The most common output connectors are: RCA, Quarter inch (TRS) and Quarter inch (TS).
RCA connectors
RCA connectors are those old, red and white connectors seen on the back of old tech appliances such as CRTs, VCRs, and gaming consoles. They are usually paired with a yellow connector, but decks do not have this since the yellow connector is solely for video output. This is the outlet you will see the most as all cassette decks new and old have these on the back of the unit. The only players that do not have this option are portable players (i.e. Walkmans, Nikola Tesla KC-18, Crosley boomboxes) and some combo units. On some decks, the female connectors aren't color-coded so just keep in mind that white corresponds to the left channel and red corresponds to the right channel.
Phone connectors
Other than RCA output, a cassette deck also has another output method: Phone connectors.
Ever wondered what those abnormally large headphone ports are for? Those are for a special phone connectors: TRS and/or TS. These connectors are about a quarter-inch thick and are older than the RCA connectors. In a time before the 3.5mm format, these were used for headphones.
TS (Tip, Sleeve)
TS connectors are basically 3.5mm audio jacks that you see on wired headphones or aux cables but bigger. You may recognize these plugs as they're most commonly used for electronic instruments like electric guitars, amps and microphones. TS connectors will usually be found as quarter inch plugs on the back of the player, and each of them carries a mono signal.
TRS (Tip, Ring, Sleeve)
TRS connectors carry stereo audio over one cable, and that's usually what the phones port on your player uses. This is because before 3.5mm was a thing, these connectors were used. While it isn't widely used anymore, headphones made for studio sessions and audiophiles will still include a quarter-inch adapter. Neither of these connectors have better output quality than the other, but if you have humming or extra noise coming from the player when not playing tapes, it may be wise to test the other outputs to see if the result is cleaner.
The main difference between these connectors is how they handle stereo. Players that have RCA or TS plugs will always have two, labeled left and right (L & R). This means your adapter cable will look like a normal 3.5mm cable on one end, but then split into two RCA or TS jacks to get a proper stereo signal.
3.5mm connector (1⁄8 in. TRS)
These are the most common form of a TRS cable and what most people are familiar with. While these need an adapter in order to be used on a deck, these are used on computers, phones, tablets, and all sorts of modern tech. We will use this format in order to record audio on a computer. It is ideally the most convenient option as the only things you would need for digitizing by this method are a long distance auxiliary cable (a.k.a. an aux cable) and a quarter-inch adapter. TRRS variants of this connector exist, but is not used for the digitizing process as the extra ring is for a headset microphone.
BEWARE: Most microphone jacks on computers will record in mono, especially if they're combo jacks (that carry mic and headphone over one cable). To record proper stereo, you'll need to use the LINE IN jack (usually on the back of your PC) or buy a small USB soundcard with stereo recording if you only have a laptop. Another option is to use an audio interface for recording, but they're more expensive and more advanced.
Software setup
Digitizing
Digitizing itself is quite straightforward. Simple press record in audacity and play the tape on the player. If you hear nothing, you should troubleshoot your cables. If you hear a faint static, wait for a bit, as tapes usually have a bit of silence before the music starts.
If you hear music, then congratulations! Your setup works. All you need to do now is play the tape back in full while recording in audacity. When your tape reaches the end, don't stop recording, just pull out the tape, flip it to the other side, and resume playback. We do not recommend auto reverse if your player has it.
There are however, some simple things you should look out for when digitizing.
Volume control
If things are too loud, it will sound distorted and totally ruin your recording. To control this, you can tweak the level of volume on your player, along with the input volume on your computer. It's best to fix this before you record, as changing the volume in post will not help fix the recording. Instead, play a song off the tape in full and make sure Audacity's volume meter never reaches max. It's fine if this happens once or twice, but if your recording is "redlined", you should adjust your volume levels. The ideal setup is to have a healthy volume level on the player, and turn your computer input volume down to compensate. You should also make sure the level on the player doesn't max out either. Sometimes the tapes themselves were recorded loud and distorted, but there's no fix for that.
Pitch changes
If the tape audio feels like it's "wowing" up and down, or "fluttering" with squeaky, watery instruments, this could be a sign that your tape has sticky shed (SSS) or your player has a mechanical issue. Try playing a different tape, and if that sounds good, the tape itself is likely the issue. If the problem persists across all tapes, it's likely there's a problem with the tape transport mechanism on your player. This is an issue we recommend stopping playback for.
Ringing or squealing
This kind of distortion is much more noticeable because it can be very loud on the recording, but it also makes a high pitched ringing noise from the player itself. This is an other issue caused by sticky shed, where the tacky tape sticks to the play head and gets pulled along in a series of sticky steps, as opposed to a smooth, constant stream. This is almost certainly an issue with your tape, and not your player. If this is happening to you during playback, it's advised you stop playing the tape and treat the sticky shed first.
Song quality gets worse over time
Sometimes tapes are dirty, and other times, this can be a sign of sticky shed. If you've noticed the end of a track sounds more muffled than the beginning, stop playback, eject the tape, and look at the play head for any gunk that's collected on it. You should wipe this away periodically, with a cotton swab soaked lightly in alcohol, and make sure it's perfectly dry before putting the tape back in. As you play more tracks, it's possible for more gunk to collect, so you'll probably end up having to play the whole tape twice. If the gunk has a reddish-brown color, or matches the color of the tape, it's likely the tape has extreme sticky shed, and we recommend not playing it.
Extreme dropouts and stuttering audio
Take out the tape and inspect it. It's possible your tape has been crinkled or mangled by another player. You can still play it, depending on how bad the damage is, but you will experience dropouts and stutters. However, we've seen war tapes that were very poorly recorded, and the left or right audio channel will drop out completely, even on a totally intact tape.
Audio abruptly stops
If your wiring is fine, and the tape hasn't been ripped and chewed by the player, it's possible this segment of tape has been improperly recorded or erased.