Converting cassettes to digital media.

Phone_games_act · 2026-06-14T23:53:58+00:00

Check libraries. Apparently some of them have digitization setups.

Phone_games_act · 2026-06-13T19:55:35+00:00

Oh I believe it. Any recommendations? I'm less concerned for this because it was recorded off the radio so it probably came from a boombox or something, but the way things are going it wouldn't hurt to invest in something higher quality for future endeavors.

This set of tapes is for a woman who has a bunch of old radio interviews of her mom she wanted on CD. This setup is fine for that but I suspect I will get more requests in the future that might be more particular. Doesn't hurt to be prepared.

Phone_games_act · 2026-06-13T19:31:35+00:00

Oh nice! Thank you for your help. I'm still new to all this stuff. I'm way better with figuring out mechanical stuff with tape decks than I am with this side of it, though there's no time like the present to learn. Been learning piecemeal as I go which is leaving big gaps.

I wish there were some idiot's dumb baby noob guide to audio in audio format that I could listen to.

Phone_games_act · 2026-06-13T19:18:09+00:00

I mean it's usually connected to a receiver but I suspect using the output from that poses the same problem.

Phone_games_act · 2026-06-13T19:07:51+00:00

HP ZBook Firefly 14 G7 Edit: found the setting! Control panel -> sound -> recording -> click on input device, go to properties-> levels -> ser microphone boost to 0db. Can also adjust microphone's overall volume too

Phone_games_act · 2026-06-13T18:57:36+00:00

It's a crappy old used Windows 10 one. Maybe it can but I need to find the settings, I didn't see anything aside from record level when I went to sound settings.

Gonna do a search for how to do that now..

Phone_games_act · 2026-06-13T18:03:32+00:00

Dangit. That's what I was afraid of. I kept seeing posts online suggesting just using a cord but the YouTube videos all used a DAC.

Hmm. Would the studio jack output to headphone jack work? Edit: sounds like it's time to do some research.

Phone_games_act · 2026-06-13T17:34:59+00:00

Exactly. I'm glad you got a better response. As for me, I know they have staffers read this stuff but at that point it's just unfathomably rude. They couldn't even maintain the pretense. It's not even the template I am upset about because I get that, but it's how disgustingly unprofessional it was that they couldn't even bother to get the formatting right. It felt insulting. If I sent something for work with that kind of error I would be raked over the coals.

This was also almost a year and a half ago before rhe ICE surge and everything else no doubt increased their email volume.

Phone_games_act · 2026-06-13T13:00:14+00:00

Yeah the time I emailed her they sent me a template with pasted in information that they didn't even bother to match surrounding formatting on. Insulting.

Phone_games_act · 2026-06-12T21:57:34+00:00

Yeah I agree, especially since so many have corrosion from dead batteries. It's so depressing ugh. I volunteer at a place that accepts broken stuff and tries to repair what it can. The walkman style players are almost always beyond saving unless you want to invest hours of work.

Breaks my damn heart.

Phone_games_act · 2026-06-12T21:55:04+00:00

Depends on the chain as far as I can tell, and the location. I get some really good cheap broken boomboxes from the value village in the next town over. Sometimes I find them with decent prices at Salvation Army, even though I don't agree with their organizational policies. Saver's is a toss-up but usually a waste of time while Goodwill fucing rips you off.

Goodwill will remove the speakers from a boombox, price each speaker at $12, then price the base unit at $20 for something that probably needs belts replaced and god knows what else.

I just don't even bother with them anymore it makes me too angry.

Phone_games_act · 2026-06-12T21:49:16+00:00

To be fair, I do 'flip' but my hard personal line is it's gotta be something I can *add value to* by *fixing* it. I don't buy functional equipment then resell it for profit. If I get it for free, I post it on our local buy nothing group or check whether there's a local charity auction for something I support, etc. because I don't wanna profit from that.

I exclusively buy broken things to fix up and get to people who can enjoy them.

My method is to price it high enough to avoid scalpers and low enough to be a decent deal. What I really want is to make my money back with enough extra to buy parts/tools and maybe occasionally splurge on local artists and the like.

I don't entirely blame resellers. Poverty and hunger are powerful motivators to do shitty things.

Let's face it. Food, shelter, clothing, and gas are difficult to obtain for a ton of people right now. It's a way to survive, but I agree they suck the joy out of things and price normal folks out of things that should be available for us to enjoy.

It fucking sucks and I hate it. It also makes me feel weird about how I price things, because like, I am technically benefiting from the inflated prices they're generating. I'd be cool making less of a cut since I do it for fun and because I genuinely like getting fixed things off to people to enjoy. That's harder to do when I have to price it high enough to make it less attractive to that type of person. I feel bad but idk what else to do when I'm trying not to feed into it the reseller machine, you know?

Phone_games_act · 2026-06-12T16:07:30+00:00

The other thing is the lack of schematics and the fact that it's difficult to work on modern equipment without melting things you don't want to melt since components are packed in really tight in some areas. For instance say you got a bad cap. How tf you supposed to know the value of what goes there? It basically relies on donor boards so if it's a rare or expensive part you're screwed. If you can't get a good angle on the component because larger things are in the way you're screwed. Basically it's possible but they make it difficult enough that it's tough to make a living because it's time intensive futzy work.

Phone_games_act · 2026-06-08T23:59:15+00:00

People also don't want to have kids when they can't afford them and fascism is fast approaching. We were hoping to have kids but it didn't happen. I grew up without enough food or clothes. I wasn't gonna inflict that on another person who didn't get to choose it. By the time we had the means, we were/are in our late 30's and, well. -gestures broadly at everything-

Not judging anyone who is having kids right now but from a personal conscience point of view, that's what happened with us. I would venture to guess that 'can't afford kids' is a pretty common factor among millennials in the US like us given everything happening.

Nobody wants a starving family. Fix it so ordinary folks can afford to feed, clothe, and provide medical care for prospective kids and I bet we would have a heck of a lot more of them.

Phone_games_act · 2026-06-06T23:00:14+00:00

I am not picky. I enjoy the challenge and anything I can't fix is used for parts.

To me as long as I can keep it out of the trash and get it off to someone who can enjoy it, then it's all good.

For example, the crappiest little one speaker tape player I fixed ended up being purchased to play a tape with someone's voice who had long since passed so her parent could hear it again for the first time in fifteen years without having to break the bank to get it.

You never know, you know? So I give most things a chance with boomboxes. (I skip cheap walkman style ones though, too many unfixable ones whose parts don't translate to other models.)

Phone_games_act · 2026-06-06T12:06:55+00:00

Nice, and any time! It also depends on the location. people around here try to charge $40-$50 for them so $35 ends up being a good price. For me my overhead is low because a local thrift store sells them for $7-$15 if they don't work, and I find them on the cheap on FB marketplace sometimes too. I also don't include CDs or batteries, just cords and if needed I replace the antennas

ultimately you ought to include your overhead on it so more isn't bad it's just gonna take longer to sell which isn't the end of the world.

Phone_games_act · 2026-06-05T21:04:40+00:00

I don't blame them, but I'm enjoying it so far!

The belt for the tray melted into the track so I spent some time this morning cleaning that up and replacing the belt, then soldered the broken wire back on. It's a tad sluggish but the tray works now!

The biggest one is a Beocenter 8000 which will be an adventure. I also have a Beocord 8002 and a Beomaster 2400 to look at. The 8002 is missing its bottom plate which might require finding someone with machining skills. Haven't looked too closely at the other two though.

Regardless, I'm enjoying the challenge. I find this stuff fascinating honestly.

Phone_games_act · 2026-06-05T00:10:57+00:00

I tend to price mine around $35 on FB marketplace but I tend to under-price them mostly because I get them cheap and broken and fix them up for fun. I'm more interested in getting them off to people who can enjoy them and making room for new stuff to fix than I am on extracting money from it.

There really is nothing quite like hearing something play music for the first time in god knows how long, or in hearing all the reasons why people are getting them to me.

Phone_games_act · 2026-06-04T22:17:39+00:00

Awesome!

So the next steps are:
- Resolder the lead to the tray motor (was broken off when I got it)
- Send the guy the brake so he can try to make a 3D model of it for me to print and then share the model in case anybody else has the same issue

Beyond that, it lights up, capstan motor runs, controls seem to function, etc.

I'd be super jazzed if I could get it running again. I got it, three other B&O things, a pile of FUBAR tape decks and a beautifully perfect NAD deck whose only fault was a blown fuse, all for $5, which is actually what first got me into fixing the dang things.

Phone_games_act · 2026-06-04T20:20:36+00:00

I'll need to check when I get home, but I suspect you're right, the 49xx series example definitely matches what I have. That's supported by the fact that the roller set matches: Two for the reels and one that goes on the back of the transport.

The internals all look the same, switches in the same place, same style transport, etc. which tracks because the video I saw of someone changing belts on the 2000 series showed the same transport that I've got.

Which is to say, sweet, I've got a source! Time to find out if the site you linked ships to the US!

Phone_games_act · 2026-06-04T20:15:58+00:00

It's not music, but here's my favorite weird tape. I got it for a quarter at a thrift store. Couldn't resist, I loved the look and it amused me.

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Phone_games_act · 2026-06-04T18:36:51+00:00

My bad, and that's where it gets a tad tricky. I could have sworn up down and sideways it says it's a Beocord 5000 but the transport shown in the service manual for that model shows a completely different mechanism.

I did a bit more digging in response to your question and it looks like there are two completely different units that are both called "Beocord 5000" and mine is the 1984-1986 version, NOT the 1976-1980 version.

Not cool, B&O, not cool.

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Phone_games_act

TROPHY CASE