# cassette drive for pc? do they work? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 14, 2004, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassette-drive-for-pc-do-they-work/250358 "2004-06-14T20:50:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassette-drive-for-pc-do-they-work/250358/1 "2004-06-14T20:50:04Z")
> **[ThinkGeek - Shirts, Toys, Collectibles & More | GameStop](https://www.gamestop.com/toys-games/thinkgeek)** > > View all results for thinkgeek. Search our huge selection of new and used video games at fantastic prices at GameStop. The link shows a product that is a cassette tape drive for a pc. I want one of these to archive my old tapes. Anyone used one? Likes, dislikes? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassette-drive-for-pc-do-they-work/250358/2 "2004-06-14T21:07:36Z")
Wow…cool!!! However, I’m waiting for the Vinyl-USB unit 😃 (especially one for 78s 😃 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassette-drive-for-pc-do-they-work/250358/3 "2004-06-14T23:47:27Z")
Eh, I wouldn’t bite on that one, it’s a pretty crude hack. (It’s not an IDE device, as it has been described in a few places.) It’s _kind of_ neat that it can be controlled via the serial port, but the included software doesn’t do squat – you still have to press play, record a track, stop, etc. The bundled software could _at least_ have a “rip entire tape” option, which would take user input for the album name, instruct you to insert it “side A” first, then automatically make sure the tape was rewound and rip the entire cassette, using CDDB to label the tracks, making sure that the run times match etc. It would be a simple task to have it ignore the four-track synchronization tone at the beginning at ending of the tape, if present. The unit just connects to the power supply, and a cable runs to an I/O panel that sits in an empty slot at the back. It physically connects to the in/out jacks on your sound card, with a pass-through for your speakers, and there’s a serial-in port on the panel, too. Myself, I have my PC connected to my home stereo via the sound card anyway, so making cassettes from .mp3s for technologically-backward friends (and ripping cassettes and vinyl) is a regular thing. Why would I want to use a cheap deck to do it just because it looks nifty in my tower? Cassette Walkmans (Walkmen?) are dirt cheap, and it’s a safe bet that you could get a better quality player for less than half the price, A/C adapter included. (I am rather enamored of the [Caffeine Machine](http://articles.pimprig.com/featured_pimprig/the_caffeine_machine.php?page=3), though, although I’ve said before what it needs is a simple RS232IF implementation for the brewing component, so that you could set the timer through a software interface.) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassette-drive-for-pc-do-they-work/250358/4 "2004-06-14T23:51:29Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Myself, I have my PC connected to my home stereo via the sound card anyway, so making cassettes from .mp3s for technologically-backward friends (and ripping cassettes and vinyl) is a regular thing. Why would I want to use a cheap deck to do it just because it looks nifty in my tower? Cassette Walkmans (Walkmen?) are dirt cheap, and it’s a safe bet that you could get a better quality player for less than half the price, A/C adapter included. Same here. I used to have a nice Pioneer dual-deck, but sold after I though I’d finished transferring everything off my old cassettes. Then I found a big box of tapes I’d forgotten about. :smack: I picked up a nice Sony Walkman for $20 ran it through the receiver. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassette-drive-for-pc-do-they-work/250358/5 "2004-06-15T00:28:25Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Myself, I have my PC connected to my home stereo via the sound card anyway, so making cassettes from .mp3s for technologically-backward friends (and ripping cassettes and vinyl) is a regular thing. Why would I want to use a cheap deck to do it just because it looks nifty in my tower? Cassette Walkmans (Walkmen?) are dirt cheap, and it’s a safe bet that you could get a better quality player for less than half the price, A/C adapter included. How did you do this? I’ll admit, I’ve never looked at my sound card. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassette-drive-for-pc-do-they-work/250358/6 "2004-06-15T00:54:09Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#): > > How did you do this? I’ll admit, I’ve never looked at my sound card. You’ll want one of two ports, either the line-in or the microphone, depending on what your particular sound card has. If you have a choice, I would suggest using the line-in. Then you just record the input from that port. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassette-drive-for-pc-do-they-work/250358/7 "2004-06-15T01:09:20Z")
Of course, if you’re on windows, Sound Recorder is crap - search [ww.download.com](http://ww.download.com) for a better utility ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassette-drive-for-pc-do-they-work/250358/8 "2004-06-15T01:15:00Z")
Weird; only this morning I was wondering if anyone had ever made such a device; the implementation of this one looks a little poor though… ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassette-drive-for-pc-do-they-work/250358/9 "2004-06-15T01:45:25Z")
So, could you use this to archive old programs on cassette? Are there emulators for the computers that used cassettes, twenty-plus years ago? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassette-drive-for-pc-do-they-work/250358/10 "2004-06-15T01:47:46Z")
> [@SanibelMan](#): > > So, could you use this to archive old programs on cassette? Are there emulators for the computers that used cassettes, twenty-plus years ago? It inputs the cassette as an audio signal. You’d need an emulatir that can then translate that into code. Which I doubt exists. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassette-drive-for-pc-do-they-work/250358/11 "2004-06-15T01:49:26Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#): > > How did you do this? I’ll admit, I’ve never looked at my sound card. If you have a good sound card, it may have RCA jacks for the line in and line out. If not, you’ll need a [stereo microjack-to-RCA adapter](http://www.audiogear.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?key=Adpt2RcfMsm&preadd=action) (or two.) They’re cheap, and you can get 'em at Radio Shack or whatnot. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cassette-drive-for-pc-do-they-work/250358/12 "2004-06-15T01:52:45Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > You’d need an emulatir that can then translate that into code. Which I doubt exists. [What, are you kidding?](http://wav-prg.sourceforge.net/) Haven’t you ever met a nerd? 😃