What is the best way to covert Cassettes and LPs to CD so it will be recognized on iTunes?

You could use GarageBand to record the audio from the cassettes and records and then add the resulting files to your iTunes Library.

There's obviously more to it than that.

You feed the audio from the cassette or record source into your computer, and use GarageBand to record what it hears. (Non-Mac users can make use of a programme such as Audacity.) Save the files in a format that iTunes can handle (such as MP3) onto your computer, preferably in the same folder structure used for the rest of your iTunes Library. Then use iTunes to Add File to Library, or even Add Folder to Library.

Both GarageBand and Audacity will take some getting used to, but they will give you more control (and probably better results) than quick-converter methods. For more information, try an online search for "analogue to MP3 conversion".

The fiend's answer identifies one part of the solution, i.e., the software. You also need to look at the source - the quality of results will be determined by:

• How good are the record deck / tape deck you use?
• What is the condition of the original LPs and cassettes?
• Do you have a good analog-to-digital converter that sits between your source(s) and the software that you use to capture the digital audio stream and convert it to a format that will work with iTunes? The A-D conversion provided by most built-in audio on PCs is very poor.

I'd be tempted to say that unless you already have audiophile equipment and/or the LPs and tapes involved are not available in digital format you'd spend a lot less time and get better results just re-buying the music on CD or in a downloadable format. Trying to deal with defects in the source (particularly the pops and clicks that are present in a lot of LPs) can be incredibly time consuming, and any of the tools that claim to clean up such sources automatically generally do so to the detriment of the overall audio quality.

I think hhgttg27 has made a couple of very good points. Perhaps it's worth expanding the discussion.

hhgttg27 wrote:

I'd be tempted to say that unless you already have audiophile equipment and/or the LPs and tapes involved are not available in digital format you'd spend a lot less time and get better results just re-buying the music on CD or in a downloadable format. Trying to deal with defects in the source (particularly the pops and clicks that are present in a lot of LPs) can be incredibly time consuming, and any of the tools that claim to clean up such sources automatically generally do so to the detriment of the overall audio quality.

I have made these conversions myself in the past, and I can confirm, it is a very time consuming process. I usually clean my audio of the clicks and pops manually, which makes the process even longer. As also stated, if the music is available in digital form, it is probably easier to simply buy the digital file. Consider the benefits:

• Since you are creating digital files, ignore the cost of a CD and consider the cost of ready made digital files. Digital albums usually cost less than a CD, and if you don't want a complete album, it's possible (with most albums) to buy only the songs you want, which reduces unnecessary costs
• It will be much less work. (In many countries, the cost of one digital version of a song is probably equivalent to about six minutes of paid employment. When I first started creating digital versions of my vinyl, it was taking me up to four-and-a-half hours to turn one album {of 60 minutes} into digital files. So to create a decent quality file of a four minute song could take me 10 minutes or longer. I could probably do it in less time now, but I'm experienced.)
• Higher Bit Rate songs are available for some music, if 256Kbps (as supplied by iTunes and Amazon, among others) isn't good enough for you

The time taken to create a decent digital version of a song includes:

• The time to record it (real time, so a four minute song takes four minutes)
• Editing the start and finish times, so that you have a clean start and finish to the song
• Editing out faults, such as clicks and pops (this is probably the most time consuming task)
• Typing in the song information
  • song title
  • album title
  • artist
  • track number
  • genre
  • year
  • extra information for compilation (various artist) albums
• Saving the file - giving it a filename
• Finding the artwork for the song/album and adding that to the digital file

You should find Audacity a useful tool for the actual recording process.

tt2

Two options - either rip the CDs in iTunes itself, or use a third party tool (EAC would be a good choice) and then import the resulting digital media into iTunes. First option is simpler, second may get some additional flexibility. Although there are consumer units that will extract audio from CDs and store on a local hard drive they tend to use low bit-rates and deal badly with any errors, plus they may not have an interface to move data to a PC. In most cases I'd say that using iTunes itself is the best way to go.

Avoid ripping in .wav format. If you really want the highest quality rips go for Apple Lossless, but you may find 256k AAC or MP3 just as acceptable and it will consume significantly less drive space.

tt2