I’ve always loved making mixtapes. I’ve recently bought a new high tech stereo that has a cassette deck, but to my surprise, it has no record function!
So instead of going to buy another one, I’ve been thinking of ways to work around my problem. I have an audio input so I can listen to music from my laptop. I also have a headphones jack.
Tell me if this would work: If I got one of those old tape players (you know, those clunky things with the speakers, about 5’’ by 10’’), and if I got a headphone cord and connected it from this tape player (to record) to the stereo, would I come out with a fine enough sound?
Also, I don’t know if “the headphone cord” is technically correct. Does anyone know what the proper word for this piece is, and where I could find it? Thanks a lot!
You’re probably looking for an 1/8" stereo male to 1/8" stereo male, or whatever the input in the old tape player is. You’re sound quality is going to depend on the quality of the record function in the old box, but it’s not getting a very good output to begin with. You won’t really know, until you give it a try. I’m the guy whose computer stereo speakers go through a 30 year old Realistic pre-amp. To my left is a rack with my printer, turntable, and 8-Track octopus that shares speakers an old cube 2-cassette deck+Turntable. The turntable never worked in my possession, but the Aux input powers the Turntable that does.
Radio Shack will have most any cord you need. The bigger round ones, with the kind of ‘shield’ around them are ‘RCA’ plugs. If the input just says ‘mic’ and it’s bigger than most headphone plugs today, you may need a 1/4" male stereo plug. But I’ll bet if you have inputs worth a damn, they’ll be the RCA kind. Some video systems have kept the same style.
Connecting a headphone output to a line-level or microphone input can be problematic in terms of the signal levels - if you do this, start with the volume level on the source device turned right down and slowly increase it until you get an adequate signal level for recording - often this can be very low on the volume scale - perhaps only at position 1 or 2 out of 11 on the dial.
This reminds me of an experiment I did, when I found an 8Track recorder at a thrift store. I bought it, and for a test, I chose Rob Zombie’s ‘Hellbillie Deluxe’. I plugged the 1/8" stereo out from the CD player in my computer (designed for headphones) to the RCA left and right in the recorder, and let it rip. I wasn’t until I was playing my brand new Rob Zombie 8Track that It was discovered the recorder was stuck on fast forward, and now had an entire album of RZ sounding like he’d downed a case of RoboTussin. I still have it, incase company stays too long, or something. Yes, it was overlevelled at the test setting.