[SOLVED] Any built-in audio-tape reader for a tower PC?

[PeterMuellerr]

Purpose: convert my own audio tapes to any modern digital audio format (MP3, WAV, Vorbis OGG, …). The device should be connectable to the Asus WS C422 PRO/SE motherboard and should be usable with Windows11 or Linux Debian 11. I have several 5.25-inch slots and a single 3.5-inch slot. Any ideas? Legacy or second-hand devices are welcome, assuming I can still connect them to the motherboard and useful software is available for it. A quick search lead me to Plusdeck2c, but I have no idea about whether its ancient hardware interfaces would be of any use with my motherboard and about whether the software for it would still run.

 

[Corwin65]

Plusdeck 2c PC Cassette Deck - Tape to MP3! - From 2005

Currently unavailable.
We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.
Plusdeck 2c PC Cassette Deck - Tape to MP3 General Features:

• 5.25-inch Cassette Deck for your Computer / Listen to audio tapes on your computer
• Archive your old cassette tapes to digital media - NOTE: Connection card does not require a motherboard slot, just a slot opening on the case
• Convert, save, and edit sounds in PC to CD, DVD, or MP3 player
• Requires a serial port on your computer / Note: Cannot record to cassette tape

There really is nothing that connects to a slot.

Most of them are "Walkman" style players that let you connect via USB. You press play on your player, then let your PC record the sound. So if you have 100 hours of tapes, it will take 100 hours to convert.

 

[TerryLaze]

Just get anything that can play a cassette, the better the quality the better the result, and connect the 3.5 jack headphone output to the 3.5 jack input of your soundcard.
If you do that you can use whatever audio software to record the audio in real time, audacity is the go to free audio tool for anything, but you could just as well use windows sound recorder.

 

[PeterMuellerr]

@Corwin65 Thanks. As for the serial port, is a physical DB-9 or DB-25 socket required? Or would a serial header port suffice? I can probably get the device from the second-hand market. Do you know whether the software converting the signal from the serial port still runs on Windows11 or Linux Debian 11? Do you know which cables are supplied?
@TerryLaze I have nothing that plays a cassette AND at the same time has a cable to connect to a 3.5 audio input of the motherboard. So, if I wish to convert my audio junk at all, I have to buy some piece of hardware, whether it's a cable or a tape deck or both.

 

[Corwin65]

I would not buy any hardware released in 2005.

Go for something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Converter-Cable-Convert-Cassettes-Compatible-Computers/dp/B09GN35FCN/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?keywords=Cassette+to+Digital+Converter&qid=1640627103&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzS1hRMzBPSTdQWEVUJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTYyMTIxM0tFTktKQ1ZRVkE2SiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNzk1NTgwMjAzVzdJNlVCQzVZRiZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=