Help a technical idiot
 

I'm working on my father-in-law's new computer (WinXP, integrated Dell audio), and trying to set it up so that they can convert their old records and cassettes and such to MP3 (then to CD).

I've installed TotalRecorder, which grabs any form of audio that's playing (streaming audio, Windows Media Player files, etc.) or audio from a specific source (such as the microphone) and converts it to .WAV or .MP3. Using it, I've managed to record audio through the microphone jack -- therefore, I can connect the sound card's microphone jack to the headphone jack or other Audio Out jacks on the stereo and record it as .MP3s. So far, so good.

Now, my idiot question: How do I get audio from an outside source to play over the PC's speakers DIRECTLY? (i.e. so I can hear what I'm recording AS I'm recording it.)

Humor me. It's the weekend and my brain is smaller than usual.

I suppose it's not _directly_, but I remember playing mp3s in Winamp as I was downloading them. Wouldn't it work to play the mp3 that is being written as you are recording it?

Why do you want wicked feedback?

(PS: I'm an idiot too.)

I don't have WinAmp installed on this machine -- I'll experiment with it when I get home.

There shouldn't be a feedback issue if it's coming through the microphone jack from an outside source (say, a boom box). If I can _hear_ what's playing as it's being recorded, it makes it a thousand times easier to determine where the tracks begin and end.

(Immediate problem solved: the microphone input was muted in Volume Control settings. If there's a more elegant way of doing this, let me know.)

Are you sure there isn't a line-in jack? Because recording using the mic in, you might not get the levels you want and wind up causing distortion and such. Especially using the headphone out of other equipment. It might seem like it's working but wind up making a totally crappy copy.

End result of some substantial tinkering with WinXP's volume settings == I can record in TotalRecorder using Line In, and in Sound Recorder using Microphone without having to make any changes.

Good enough for me. If my father-in-law needs to record streaming audio sometime, TotalRecorder can do that, too, but I'll explain to him how to do that when the time comes.

UT is right . Go to Radio Shak , they have the cables to go from out put ( on boom box ) to line in ( on pc ) .
Cool edit will let you record the tune ( start and end timeing is every thing ), listen to it and mess with it ( clean up bad starts and endings , mess with sound levels , etc...) then save it in MANY different file types .. I have found that variable bit rate MP3s sound better , but you need to make sure your player can do this.
Good luck:blunt:

Utter jealousy: my father-in-law has a 48x-24x-48x CDRW drive. My LG CED-8120B (12x-8x-32x) may be more compatible with CloneCD, but watching an audio CD burn at 40x made my jaw drop.

Silly question: Are there drives out there that can go at warp speed AND drop down to single- or double-speed? My PlayStation is extremely picky about the backups I make, and I've heard repeatedly that single-speed burns work best for those, but my LG goes no slower than 4x and my father-in-law's no slower than 8x.

(Why backup? Have YOU ever paid $80 for an import?)

I'll toss in some items.

• I second CoolEdit, in principle. Haven't used it much myself, but when I did, it was very powerful and easy.
• Total Recorder is overkill for what you want, and may be a little more fiddly than Dad likes. It's useful for grabbing from movies and games played on that machine, or ripping streaming audio that can't otherwise be copied. But for line-in, any normal sound program is way better.
• Correction: Sounds like you have a good set up. I haven't seen a good sound editor that *integrates* the input selection controls, so dedicating one app to each input sounds good. But beware that Sound Recorder records to memory, so long samples can make trouble.
• This is what I usually do: double-click the volume icon in the task bar to bring up the volume controls. Select Options->Properties, pick Recording, hit OK. Then double-click the volume icon AGAIN. This makes all your volume controls visible at once.
• Windows' standard volume lets you mute/unmute all the different sound sources. So if you plug a tape into line-in, you can un-mute that and hear it as it records.
• Just got a 52x burner myself. The market is completely silly, as it was only $20.

I have a 52X burner, but I have yet to find 52 speed cds. I find this really annoying. Both Wal-Mart and Best Buy only have 48X cdrs. WTF?

Is there really that much of a functional difference between 48x and 52x? I'm actually debating whether it's worth spending the money to go from 12x to 48x.

(Twenty bucks? Where did THAT deal come from? I'm looking at an OEM LG 52x for $59, and thought that was reasonable.)

Here you are, Whines Like A Baby. :)

(There's one of their stores within 5 minutes of my house.)

According to the back of this envelope, it should take about 8 fewer seconds to write a full CD at 52x than at 48x.

Go fer it.

Bah. Micro Center doesn't have my favorite Verbatim CDRs on special any more. (They had 25-packs of DataLifePlus with cases for $8.99 for a long while, which are the only blanks that work semi-reliably with my aging PlayStation. Then again, all brands seem to work fine on the ePSXe emulator...)

I thought they were talking about HW, not the media.

WAHHH!

More bullets:

• Note that these deals are after rebate.
• In general, keep an eye on AnandTech Hot Deals forum.
• Here is the current deal. The drive itself is apparantly made by BTC, which though technically is a generic brand, gets pretty good reviews. Unfortunately, you may have difficulty getting DR to send the rebate.
• Last week they had Verbatim boxes for $20, with Lite-On drives inside. Week before that was DR again, so you might wait to see what happens next week.
• 24x takes about 4:15, and 48x is around 2:30.