Importing cassette tapes into iTunes

I may be stupid here, but is there a simple way to get my cassette music library into iTunes? I've got some great stuff from "way back when" and don't want to have to buy the CD's (many probably aren't even available now).
Thanks!

This isn't really an iTunes question and you might want to try over at the iMac forums or the OS 10.4 forums. It is more a matter of getting your cassette deck interfaced to your Mac and being able to record the stuff from tape onto the Mac. You may be able to interface directly from the cassette player to the Mac with a patch cord or you might need something like the Griffin iMic to help with hardware and signal conversions.
Then you need software to capture the audio, clean it up, break it into tracks etc. Some things you can do with iTunes (like breaking up the tracks) but is probably faster and easier, plus the other stuff you will want to do, with a third party application like Audacity (free download).
Once you get the tracks into the Mac, then it is simply a Drag & drop operating to add them to iTunes.
Good luck,
Patrick

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Cassette tapes into iTunes library

Please can I ask for your advice on the best way to acheive optimum quality when converting/transferring cassette tapes into my itunes library.
Thank you in advance for your assistance,

I'm not sure what you need covered here. Do you already have a mechanism by which you can convert the cassettes to digital files on your computer or are you asking that too?
Tapes will have hiss. Some of this is deliberate as Dolby Noise Reduction technology of the time, some will just be the tape. Dolby NR is probably best handled at the tape end of things if you make sure you use Dolby filtering on your player for tapes on which it was used originally (you'll only know if it was marked at the time of recording). If you don't have it you can try using computer filtering. I did a bit of this with a program called Amadeus many years ago. It let you sample a bit of the digitized recording which is supposedly blank to get the background noise, then apply it acrosss the whole file. There's always a bit of risk in doing this because you may have something in the recording that looks like the noise signal but is part of the actual sound. Audiophiles can have a field day discussing this.
If you're being really picky, I found I had a bit of noise just produced by my equipment I was using. I would record a few seconds with no tape playing at all just to see what was being produced by my equipment.
Audacity is a free audio editor, but I have never had time to figure it out.
Obviously you are going to want to record your files and edit them in a full-quality lossless format such as AIFF. I archive mine in FLAC format (you could use Apple lossless too), then create a mp3 or AAC version for everyday use.

Importing a cassette tape into I tunes

Can I import and save a cassette tape into itunes thanks

You can't import the audio from your tape directly to iTunes you need software to digitise the audio first. One way is to connect your Cassette deck (through the Tape out sockets of your amplifier) to the audio in socket of your computer. On the computer you'll need audio editing software to capture and edit the resulting long file into individual tracks that can be added to the iTunes Library. There are a number of commercial programs for this (I use Sound Studio for the Mac). If want to try out the process first you could try the open source program Audacity which has Linux, Mac and Windows versions at this link: Audacity
In addition to the software you'll need RCA to 3.5 mm audio plug cables to connect the Tape Out sockets of your amplifier to the audio inputs of your computer. There's a short guide to recording here: How to record from vinyl and cassette to a computer also from the BBC Copying Vinyl Recordings to CD
If your Mac or PC hasn't got an audio in socket you can have a look at the Griffin iMic which connects to a USB port and comes with some software of it's own: iMic USB audio interface

Import cassette tape

what steps to import a cassette tape into garage band. cassette deck line out is connected to audio import of computer. what's next?

Proceed like discribed in this support article. It describes how to record your voice or an acoustic instrument - just start your cassette tape instead of singing or playing, everything else should be pretty much the same.
The most important thing is to watch the level meters, and if they are red instead of green, to reduce the volume to avoid clipping.

I am importing a cd into itunes and it is creating 4 different albums. How can I get it all in one album?

I am importing a CD into itunes and it is creating 5 different albums.
1 album for most of the songs and 4 other albums for single songs from
the CD. How can I get itunes software to put all the songs into 1 album?

Generally all you need to do is fill in an appropriate Album Artist. For more details see my article on Grouping Tracks Into Albums, in particular the topic One album, too many covers.
tt2

Error message when trying to import a CD into iTunes

I get an error message when I try to import a CD into iTunes that says the disk cannot be found. I recently requested to uninstall Tune-up because I kept receiving annoying messages to purchase the software. It looks like Tune-up is deactivated, but now I can't import music. Any suggestions?

Without much to go on I think your drive is having problems. It may be something minor such as dust which could possibly be removed using a drive cleaning disc (computer supply store or CD store), or it could be an irregular error in a laser, or tracking, or loose cable, or...
One way to eliminate any iTunes possibility is if it is consistently doing this with a particular CD then try an alternative ripping tool such as XLD or Max.

Importing CD's into Itunes Crashes with EXC_BAD_ACCESS KERN_Invalid Address

Every time I try to import a CD into Itunes it crashes. It started with Itunes 10.2, I then downgraded to 10.0 and then to 9.2. The problem is the same. I have repaired the disk, repaired permissions several times and checked my memory. Nothing seems to work. I hope you can suggest a fix. Here is the crash log:
Process: iTunes [348]
Path: /Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunes
Identifier: com.apple.iTunes
Version: 9.2.1 (9.2.1)
Build Info: iTunes-9210401~3
Code Type: PPC (Native)
Parent Process: launchd [127]
Date/Time: 2011-02-21 19:14:40.399 -0800
OS Version: Mac OS X 10.5.8 (9L31a)
Report Version: 6
Anonymous UUID: 0AC10B39-361C-4F1B-89A2-5BBF697E90AA
Exception Type: EXCBADACCESS (SIGSEGV)
Exception Codes: KERNINVALIDADDRESS at 0x0000000009d80ff0
Crashed Thread: 11
Thread 0:
0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x948b81d8 machmsgtrap + 8
1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x948c68ac machportdestroy + 112
2 com.apple.iTunes 0x001c2f94 0x1000 + 1843092
3 com.apple.iTunes 0x0011e4ec 0x1000 + 1168620
4 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x90f48c48 DispatchEventToHandlers(EventTargetRec*, OpaqueEventRef*, HandlerCallRec*) + 1484
5 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x90f47de0 SendEventToEventTargetInternal(OpaqueEventRef*, OpaqueEventTargetRef*, HandlerCallRec*) + 464
6 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x90f47bfc SendEventToEventTargetWithOptions + 52
7 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x90f77b88 ToolboxEventDispatcherHandler(OpaqueEventHandlerCallRef*, OpaqueEventRef*, void*) + 308
8 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x90f4909c DispatchEventToHandlers(EventTargetRec*, OpaqueEventRef*, HandlerCallRec*) + 2592
9 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x90f47de0 SendEventToEventTargetInternal(OpaqueEventRef*, OpaqueEventTargetRef*, HandlerCallRec*) + 464
10 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x90f64d04 SendEventToEventTarget + 52
11 com.apple.iTunes 0x003cfc30 0x1000 + 3992624
12 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x90f48c48 DispatchEventToHandlers(EventTargetRec*, OpaqueEventRef*, HandlerCallRec*) + 1484
13 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x90f47de0 SendEventToEventTargetInternal(OpaqueEventRef*, OpaqueEventTargetRef*, HandlerCallRec*) + 464
14 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x90f47bfc SendEventToEventTargetWithOptions + 52
15 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x90f77b88 ToolboxEventDispatcherHandler(OpaqueEventHandlerCallRef*, OpaqueEventRef*, void*) + 308
16 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x90f4909c DispatchEventToHandlers(EventTargetRec*, OpaqueEventRef*, HandlerCallRec*) + 2592
17 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x90f47de0 SendEventToEventTargetInternal(OpaqueEventRef*, OpaqueEventTargetRef*, HandlerCallRec*) + 464
18 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x90f64d04 SendEventToEventTarget + 52
19 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x90fd34a8 ToolboxEventDispatcher + 84
20 com.apple.HIToolbox 0x90fcf9e4 RunApplicationEventLoop + 164
21 com.apple.iTunes 0x0010e038 0x1000 + 1101880
22 com.apple.iTunes 0x0010df54 0x1000 + 1101652
23 com.apple.iTunes 0x0000cd10 0x1000 + 48400
24 com.apple.iTunes 0x00004c04 0x1000 + 15364
25 com.apple.iTunes 0x000039cc 0x1000 + 10700
26 com.apple.iTunes 0x000036dc 0x1000 + 9948
27 ??? 0x00000ffc 0 + 4092
Thread 1:
0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x948b81d8 machmsgtrap + 8
1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x948bf0fc mach_msg + 56
2 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x95d89394 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 1812
3 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x95d89c1c CFRunLoopRun + 60
4 com.apple.iTunes 0x00361ef8 0x1000 + 3542776
5 libSystem.B.dylib 0x948fa0d0 pthreadstart + 316
Thread 2:
0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x948b81d8 machmsgtrap + 8
1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x948bf0fc mach_msg + 56
2 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x95d89394 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 1812
3 com.apple.audio.CoreAudio 0x96bbafa8 HALRunLoop::OwnThread(void*) + 212
4 com.apple.audio.CoreAudio 0x96bbade4 CAPThread::Entry(CAPThread*) + 104
5 libSystem.B.dylib 0x948fa0d0 pthreadstart + 316
Thread 3:
0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x948b8238 semaphorewait_signaltrap + 8
1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x948fb384 pthread_condwait + 1336
2 com.apple.iTunes 0x0001dfd8 0x1000 + 118744
Thread 4:
0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x9491bd74 select$DARWIN_EXTSN + 12
1 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x95d94808 __CFSocketManager + 764
Thread 5:
0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x94929ef0 accept$NOCANCEL$UNIX2003 + 12
1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x949607d4 accept + 16
2 com.apple.iTunes 0x00448190 0x1000 + 4485520
Thread 6:
0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x94929ef0 accept$NOCANCEL$UNIX2003 + 12
1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x949607d4 accept + 16
2 com.apple.iTunes 0x00448190 0x1000 + 4485520
Thread 7:
0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x948f9910 kevent + 12
1 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x95d609b0 _monitor_file_descriptor_ + 88
Thread 8:
0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x948b81d8 machmsgtrap + 8
1 libSystem.B.dylib 0x948bf0fc mach_msg + 56
2 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x95d89394 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 1812
3 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x95d89c1c CFRunLoopRun + 60
4 com.apple.DiscRecording 0x00fd5f7c DRWorkLoop::WorkLoop() + 248
5 com.apple.DiscRecording 0x00fd5e60 DRWorkLoop::WorkLoopEntry(DRWorkLoop*) + 12
6 com.apple.DiscRecording 0x00fd5a08 DRThreadObject::StartRoutine(DRThreadObject*) + 188
7 com.apple.DiscRecording 0x0104eb90 DRWorkLoop::DRWorkLoop() + 296
8 libSystem.B.dylib 0x948fa0d0 pthreadstart + 316
Thread 9:
0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x9490d76c syscall + 12
1 com.apple.OpenTransport 0x09179fb4 CarbonSelectThreadFunc + 200
Thread 10:
0 libSystem.B.dylib 0x948bebec _semwaitsignal + 12
1 com.apple.OpenTransport 0x09176048 CarbonOperationThreadFunc + 132
Thread 11 Crashed:
0 libSystem.B.dylib 0xffff8c94 __memcpy + 1268 (cpu_capabilities.h:237)
1 ...ple.CoreServices.CarbonCore 0x94cd9ca8 AddNewRef + 188
2 ...ple.CoreServices.CarbonCore 0x94cd9910 AddResourceCommon + 264
3 com.apple.iTunes 0x00356c68 0x1000 + 3497064
4 com.apple.iTunes 0x001af2ec 0x1000 + 1762028
5 com.apple.iTunes 0x0049c334 0x1000 + 4830004
6 com.apple.iTunes 0x00156348 0x1000 + 1397576
7 com.apple.iTunes 0x001aa2a0 0x1000 + 1741472
8 com.apple.iTunes 0x005bf83c 0x1000 + 6023228
9 libSystem.B.dylib 0x948fa0d0 pthreadstart + 316
Thread 11 crashed with PPC Thread State 32:
srr0: 0xffff8c94 srr1: 0x0200d030 dar: 0x09d80ff0 dsisr: 0x40000000
r0: 0x00000002 r1: 0xf0523180 r2: 0x0000000a r3: 0x08dc9012
r4: 0x09d80ff4 r5: 0x00ff7fe2 r6: 0xffffffef r7: 0xffffffdf
r8: 0xffffffcf r9: 0xffffffff r10: 0x00000000 r11: 0xa07ada4c
r12: 0x09d81040 r13: 0x00000000 r14: 0x00000000 r15: 0x001a7f2c
r16: 0x00000000 r17: 0x00000009 r18: 0xf052344a r19: 0xf0523860
r20: 0x00000008 r21: 0xf052344c r22: 0xf0523240 r23: 0x50726f47
r24: 0x08ac2b8c r25: 0xf05232e8 r26: 0x08dc9012 r27: 0x00000550
r28: 0x00000000 r29: 0x08dc1026 r30: 0x00000000 r31: 0x94cd9814
cr: 0x44444442 xer: 0x20000000 lr: 0x94cd9cac ctr: 0x0003ee00
vrsave: 0xfff80000

Since the 10.2 iTunes update I have been completely unable to import from CD's into iTunes. An error message appears.

Why does 'User not registered for online use' show up when I try to import a cd into itunes. None of the cd info shows up either

Why does 'User not registered for online use' show up when I try to import a cd into itunes? None of the cd info shows up either.

Well, the format I upload from the camera is "video clip" or "video for Windows"...sometimes I've converted them to avi format, too. But as I said, it never even lets me get that far...I never get to even select a clip. As soon as I tell the program to "import/clip" it freezes up before I can even go to the folder that the clips are in. It has only begun to do this recently, and I'd never had any problems like this before. Last night I tried it again, and I clicked "open composition", and it froze when I did that too.
I'm not sure how much more specific I can be about the details of the clips, since I'm positive it has nothing to do with the clips themselves...I'm running Windows XP, though...Home Edition Service Pack 2, Pentium 4 CPU 2.80GHz, with 504 MB of RAM. I have had the automatic updates turned on since I did my last reformat a couple of weeks ago. Could it have something to do with some kind of an update it may have done?

TS1387 I am importing CD's into iTunes. There were 3 different selection for the CD I put in and I accidently selected the wrong one, Now how do I change it? It seems to only recognize it as the wrong CD now.

I am importing CD's into iTunes. The CD that I put in had the option of 3 different CD's and I accidentally chose the wrong CD name. Is there a way to change it? It now seems to only recognize that CD as the wrong one.

Trevor,
When you say your superdrive rips, the import speeds are typically around 20x, what encoding method and bit rate are you using ?
I imported another CD and watched for what import speed numbers were displayed. Routinely, they hovered around 8x and sometimes up to 12 or 13x, but never higher. I was told by someone at our local user's group meeting that ripping at AAC 192kbps was a double-pass, I think that was the words they used, and therefore slower. ( Many members thought 7 minutes to rip was typical ) I'm not so sure if that means the drive will only spin at half it's rated max speed ? Anyway, I walked over to my son's PC with the CD and ripped it at AAC 192kbps to his iTunes library. The numbers I saw were from 18x to frequently 23, 24 and sometimes briefly to about 26x. His drive has a max of 40x. By my reasoning, anything that would cause iTunes to rip this CD at a slower speed, whether due to the encoding rate or the CD's surface condition, should affect both computers equally, yes ? Yet the drive on the PC performed on average at twice the rate of the iMac. I think it's safe to say the rip speed is comfortably within the operating margins of both drives.
I'm not yet fully convinced this is normal for an iMac. My CD are in excellent shape. I'm the only one who uses them and I handle them with about as much care as the old audiofiles used to when they handled their vinyl LPs ( well, at least not as far as wearing cotton gloves and sweeping the dust off ). Most of them have absolutely no visible scratches or oily finger prints on their surfaces. I might experiment and see what rates I get if I use MP3 or a lower bit rate for AAC.
Bill

I have plenty of space on my hard drive (500GB), but when I plug in my iPhone there is a window stating the pone cannot be backed up because of lack of disk space. The same occurs with attempting to import CD's into iTunes.

I have plenty of space on my hard drive (500GB), but when I plug in my iPhone there is a window stating the pone cannot be backed up because of lack of disk space. The same occurs with attempting to import CD's into iTunes. The hard disk was replaced recently in order to gain extra memory. Is there some sort of limit set up from the original hard drive causing this problem?

Boot up from your Snow Leopard Install DVD while holding down the "c" key.
Select the language you wish to use, and then choose "Disk Utility" from the menu bar.
Your HD should appear in a panel on the left hand side of the window which opens. Select it and then click on the "repair disk" button in the right hand section of the window.
If Disk First aid is unable to complete the repair you will need to use a stronger 3rd party utility like DiskWarrior or TechTool Pro.
Once this process has been completed restart your computer.
Utilities & info regarding checking your HD space:
Where did my Disk Space go?
Slimming your hard drive
Seven ways to free up drive space
OmniDiskSweeper is a free utility that checks HD space.
FreeSpace cost $1 or is a free utility that checks HD space.
SpaceControl is a free utility that checks HD space.
Disk Inventory X
WhatSize
SpaceControl

I can't import any songs into iTunes.

I can't import any songs into iTunes. I can drag and drop but nothing will happen. Songs show up when a search is done but songs cannot be played or located in iTunes. I think this has something to do with the recent update because I have songs imported into iTunes from December.

I found the problem. I have VMware fusion that is hosting Window XP on the iMac. When the fusion is running the CD player is not seen in OS. By quitting Fusion I can now insert a CD and the disk icon appears on the OS screen. Now I can bring up iTunes and import the audio and continue as before. The one exception is I cannot bring in a photo of the album cover as before I have to drag the photo out of iPhoto and onto the desk top. Then I can drag it into the artwork patch in the iTunes/ info window.

Can't import a CD into iTunes 7.5

Wow, just tried to import a CD into iTunes 7.5 andam completely unable to do it. I tried dragging and dropping, I tried clicking "Import" in the drop-down menu under "File," and nothing seems to work. In my old version of iTunes there was a big obvious button signifying "import." Now I don't know how to do it. Is this simply operator error (me not knowing the command) or is something wrong with my iTunes installation? Appreciating any advice. Thanks.

You seen these?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93079
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301509
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304707
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93453

Can't import audio CD into iTunes with Vista

I can't import audio CDs into iTunes with my new Dell 531 Vista computer. The songs seem to import, but only small (~50K) files are created, which don't play. Also, I cant play audio CDs using iTunes. CDs do play using Windows Media Player. The DVD/CD drive seems to work fine in all other applications.
I have tried the "device filter" regedit fix, but no luck. Anyone else have this problem?
Here are my diagnostics details:
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Edition (Build 6000)
Dell Inc. Inspiron 531
iTunes 7.4.1.2
CD Driver 2.0.6.1
CD Driver DLL 2.0.6.2
LowerFilters: DRVMCDB (1.0.0.1), DLACDBHM (1.0.0.1),
UpperFilters: GEARAspiWDM (2.0.6.1),
Current user is not an administrator.
Video Display Information:
NVIDIA, NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE
Connected Device Information:
Disk drive, WDC WD25 00JS-75NCB3 SCSI Disk Device, Bus Number 0, Target Id 0, LUN 0
CD-ROM Drive, HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GSA-H31N SCSI CdRom Device, Bus Number 1, Target Id 1, LUN 0
E: HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GSA-H31N, Rev B109
Audio CD in drive.
Found 12 songs on CD, playing time 48:45 on Audio CD.
Track 1, start time 00:02:00
Track 2, start time 05:00:02
Track 3, start time 08:39:55
Track 4, start time 14:39:25
Track 5, start time 18:34:10
Track 6, start time 21:43:22
Track 7, start time 24:56:42
Track 8, start time 27:54:72
Track 9, start time 33:03:52
Track 10, start time 37:55:00
Track 11, start time 43:59:72
Track 12, start time 46:46:22
Audio CD reading succeeded.
Get drive speed succeeded.
The drive CDR speeds are: 8 10 16 40 48.
The drive CDRW speeds are: 8.
The drive DVDR speeds are: 8.
The drive DVDRW speeds are: 8.

JohnAndKel,
That's odd because the CD reading test that the diagnostics runs didn't report an error. What happens if you select a song from the CD in iTunes and play directly from CD?
(Just a note, the filter trick doesn't do anything for CD import, just CD burn. iTunes doesn't use the Gear drivers for reading the CD.)

How to import Flac files into itunes

Hi there,
the title say it all. How can I import Flac files into Itunes?
I have a lot of them. I click onto add to library select the flac file, click on open and nothing happen.
Many thanks for your help.
regards

Hello CESNET the best bet is to try http://blowintopieces.com/fluke/ I myself don't use Flac files but to any audiophile it's important to hear sound at it's best. Also WAV or AIFF & ALAC you will need to use http://tmkk.hp.infoseek.co.jp/xld/index_e.html to convert into ALAC.
P.S. their is also a simple FLAC player but can't remember it one more thing converting FLAC to WAV will not give you full TAGs. Best bet is to try just one file you've copied ether straight into iTunes or convert & see what's best for you.

I can't import mp3 files into iTunes

Just recently, I find that I can't drag/drop (or import) .mp3 files into iTunes (12.1.0.50).
I did confirm that the files aren't locked.
Any ideas? Thanks!

No mp3 files from any source, including iTunes itself, or just some particular batch of mp3s files from some unspecified source? It isn't unusual for some encoders to produce mp3s that are not compliant with iTunes. You can try using the application MP3 Scan+Repair (http://triq.net/mac/mp3-validator-mac-os-x) to fix them but sometimes you have to re-encode them. Try playing with Quicktime Player instead and report if it will play the files.
Oh, it also isn't unusual that files do not have labels built in. They are adding to iTunes but not ending up where you expect them to be.

Importing cassette tapes into iTunes

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