I want to record tapes from my .mp3s - is there a way?

My job involves driving a lot (I work for my school's Dept. of Public Safety doing vehicle patrols) and the cars we use (2001 Ford Taurus) only have tape players. I'm tired of listening to the radio and I want to know if there's somethng I can use to record a tape from my computer.

I have a tape player with an input jack - and I'm hoping I can just run a cord from the headphone jack to the input jack on the player - and simply record the output - is that the best way to do it?
 

vetteguy

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Sep 12, 2001
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You know you can get a tape adapter for either a CD player or mp3 player, then you either burn your songs to a CD or dump them to the player. Is that a possible solution for you?
 

I'd like to take as few items with me as possible - I have a habit of forgetting things in the car when I leave (cell phone, etc.). A tape would be the easiest way to hear my music, with as few wires as possible.
 

Mallow

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Jul 25, 2001
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umm... just take a tape recorder and put it mic up to your speaker and record the mp3 via analog signal (ie through the air). Or you could probably get a digital signal from your line-out on your sound car and if your tape recorder has a line-in feature. It is definately possible.
 

Viper96720

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Jul 15, 2002
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Just go from the line out of your sound card to the line in of the tape recorder. You'll need a tape recorder that has a line in jack.
 

PCMarine

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Oct 13, 2002
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Just buy a hard-drive based Mp3 player (with a wired remote if possible), and a car-adapter kit (with the DC / cassette adapters). On my 2000 Taurus (And I believe its the same with the 2001) there is a large space under the stereo/temp controls that you can shove the cables and player in there and control the (almost unlimited) music with the remote.
 

Epsil0n00

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Aug 29, 2001
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I have a tape player with an input jack - and I'm hoping I can just run a cord from the headphone jack to the input jack on the player - and simply record the output - is that the best way to do it?

Yes. This will work! Very simple to do and yields great results. Radioshack will have all the adapters you'll need to make this type of connection.

 

Biggs

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Dec 18, 2000
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Originally posted by: jumpr
My job involves driving a lot (I work for my school's Dept. of Public Safety doing vehicle patrols) and the cars we use (2001 Ford Taurus) only have tape players. I'm tired of listening to the radio and I want to know if there's somethng I can use to record a tape from my computer.

I have a tape player with an input jack - and I'm hoping I can just run a cord from the headphone jack to the input jack on the player - and simply record the output - is that the best way to do it?
Remember that the final output quality would suffer quite a bit from the conversion(s). I've done this method before and I must say, I wasn't too thrilled with the resulting quality (mainly due to the fact that I used an "el cheapo" ES1869 sound card and a run-of-the-mill tape player/recorder).

If you're going to undertake this method, you have to take into consideration the following variables:

1) Original source (e.g. MP3 or WAV)
2) Sound card quality (most especially the DACs)
3) Tape recorder quality

Cheers.
 

vetteguy

Diamond Member
Sep 12, 2001
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Originally posted by: jumpr
I'd like to take as few items with me as possible - I have a habit of forgetting things in the car when I leave (cell phone, etc.). A tape would be the easiest way to hear my music, with as few wires as possible.
Well...there would be only 1 wire really. This is how I do it (or did it before I got a new car that doesn't have a tape player). Good luck anyway.
 

dmw16

Diamond Member
Nov 12, 2000
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...like viper said. Mini-2-RCA and press record. Just make sure that IM and all that stuff is off and your pc isnt making other noises.
-doug
 

psnathan

Member
Dec 29, 2002
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In my opinion, the easiest and hassle-free way to go is to first compile & record the songs you want into audio cds(assuming you have a cd burner....nero is perfect for this). Then record the cd onto your cassette through your cd/tape deck(usualy they have a one-touch recording option for recording a cassette from cd). Of course, you have to get a cassette that has the appropriate length, I usualy get the 90 minute ones.

Now for your question. Yes, you can record by connecting your sound cards line-out to your tape decks line-in. But if you choose to do it this way, make sure your soundcard's output is not amplified(you'll know this by using a headphone and increasing the volume slider.....you should be able to increase the slider all the way without blasting your headphone), if it is amplified then try to keep the volume to an appropriate level. You can set the volume to an appropriate level for recording by first trying out the soundcard's line out on a headphone.....just adjust the volume such that you here the music clearly but not too loud. I think the easiest way to record through this method will be to record your cassete one side a time. Say you have a 90 minutes cassette, compile the songs you want on your pc's mp3 player such that it is roughly around 45 minutes but not exceeding that. Then press the record button on your tape deck(make sure that you can hear the songs you are playing on the pc are also being played on the tape deck's speakers), wait for a few seconds then play the mp3 compilation on the PC witt the shuffle and repeat options disabled. Onece done, switch the cassette side and repeat the whole process.