Cassette Digitization

Do you have a treasure trove of old cassette tapes collecting dust, yearning for a second life? Imagine turning your beloved analog collection into a modern, personalized streaming platform that rivals Spotify. It’s all possible thanks to a cheap Android app called Symfonium, that even support Android Auto. With a few essential tools, dedicated software, and a sprinkle of creativity, you can breathe new life into your tapes, organizing them into a seamless digital music library. All you need is your old cassette deck, a way to hook it up to your computer, a flatbed scanner, and some open-source software. Let’s dive into how you can transform nostalgia into accessible, high-quality audio right at your fingertips!

Recording

Hardware:

  • Cassette deck and audio interface (e.g., Pioneer CT-S5506S and Focusrite Scarlett)

  • USB cassette recorder (available online for 30 euros)

Software: Audacity

Workflow:

  • Begin by testing and ensuring the recording level is set with headroom.

  • Start recording.

  • Set the cassette recorder to auto-flip if available or note the running time and manually flip the cassette halfway through.

Cover digitization

Hardware:

  • Flatbed Scanner

Workflow:

  • Scan both sides of the cassette cover, gently bending the edges beforehand.

  • Scanning multiple covers at the same time can be efficient.

  • Save the scans to the Folder “Scans.”

Crop cover

Software:Gimp

Workflow:

  • Open Cassette Cover Scan in Gimp.

  • Rotate the image so the top edge of the cover is aligned with the frame using the Rotate Tool. Use decimal angles if needed.

  • Crop to include the entire front cover. Save as “ - - Front.jpg".

  • If the front cover is large, crop a square section including the front image and spine. Save as “ - - cover.jpg".

  • Repeat for the back cover (if available). Save as “ - - Back.jpg".

Audio Editing

Software: Audacity

Workflow:

  • Navigate to Effect > Column and Compression > Normalize.

  • Manually remove any pauses at the beginning, end, and middle of page changes.

  • Press Ctrl – A to select all content.

  • Go to Analyse > Label Sounds.

  • Set the Label text to “Unknown Track” (This will be overwritten later with Mp3 Tagger if information is available; otherwise, this serves as a safe default).

  • Choose Label type: Point before sound (This is easier to edit than periods and will produce the same result when exporting).

  • Observe the audio and adjust the Minimum silence duration, Minimum label interval, and Threshold based on your observations. If there are too many track markers, increase the Minimum label interval. If there are too few track markers, increase the threshold.

  • Recommended defaults:

  • Minimum silence duration: 1 second

  • Minimum label interval: 3 seconds

  • Threshold: –30

  • Click Apply.

  • Use Discogs to check if track data for the album is available. Depending on the outcome, execute the “Mp3 Tags – Automated” workflow or perform the “Workflow Mp3 Tags – Manual” while reviewing the labels.

  • Navigate through the labels using alt + right, listen by pressing space, and compare with the track list on the scanned cover.

  • File > Export Audio:

  • Filename: Album artist - Albumtitle

  • Folder: Set output folder (“cassette-mp3s” or “cassette-wavs,” then subfolder with “album artist - album title”)

  • Format: export once with mp3, once with wav

  • Quality for mp3: 320 kbps for optimal playback quality

  • Export Range: Multiple Files

  • Name Files: Number before Label/Track Name

  • Export

Mp3 Tags - Automated

Software: Mp3tag

Workflow:

  • Open Cassette Mp3s Folder in Explorer.

  • Right-click the album folder, and select “Mp3tag.”

  • Go to Tag Sources > Discogs.

  • Enter album titles in Search For.

  • Select the correct album.

  • Check that the track list matches the cassette cover scan.

  • Remove track ids from metadata because they are set correctly by Audacity.

  • Do not use covers unless there is no self-scanned cover.

  • Click OK.

  • If tracks are unavailable on Discogs, try Tag Sources > MusicBrainz.

  • Adjust Discogs data manually (e.g., genre for sorting in Symfonium).

Rename Mp3 files after auto-tagging

Software: Mp3tag

Workflow:

  • Select all tracks in the folder

  • Click “Tag - Filename” on the toolbar

Mp3 Tags - Manual

Software: Audacity, ChatGPT, Mp3Tag

Workflow:

  • Search for the tracklist online by googling the artist and title or using an LLM to minimize transcription efforts.

  • If not found, use OCR on the scanned cover:

  • Rotate the scanned cassette cover with MS Photos to orient the text correctly.

  • Go to https://www.onlineocr.net/de/

  • Upload the scanned cover under File.

  • Select language and convert.

  • Optionally, use ChatGPT to refine form or spelling.

  • Copy the converted or found track captions to label in “Artist - Title” format.

  • Perform export as previously described.

  • In MP3tag, select all tracks and use “Filename – Tag “function from toolbar to name songs.

  • Fill in album, album artist, year, and genre.

Recopy cover

Software: Explorer

Workflow:

  • Copy “Album Artist - Album Title - cover.jpg” or alternatively “Album Artist - Album Title - Front.jpg” from covers to the “Album Artist - Album Title “ subfolder in cassette MP3s

  • Copy Album Artist - Album Title - Front.jpg and Album Artist - Album Title - Back .jpg from covers to the Album Artist - Album Title subfolder in cassette wavs

OneDrive-Upload

Software: Web browser, Explorer

Workflow:

  • Open https://onedrive.live.com

  • Log in or register

  • If not available, create folders “Music > Cassettes Wavs” and “Symfonium > Cassettes Mp3s”

  • Copy “Album Artist - Album Title” from “Cassette Wavs” to “Music > Cassette Wavs”

  • Copy “Album Artist - Album Title “ from “Cassette Mp3s” to “Symphony > Cassettes Mp3s”

Tidying up

Software: Explorer

Workflow:

  • Move “Album Artist - Album Title “ from “Cassette Mp3s” to “Album Artist - Album Title “ from “Cassette Mp3s > _onedrive”

  • Move “Album Artist - Album Title “ from “Cassette Wavs” to “Album Artist - Album Title “ from “Cassette Wavs> _onedrive”

  • Move edited cover files from “Covers” to “Covers > _onedrive”

Symfonium setup

Hardware: Android Phone

Software: [Symfonium}(https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.symfonik.music.player&hl=de_AT),

Workflow:

  • Symfonium aus Google Playstore auf Handy installieren (Kosten: 4 Dollar) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.symfonik.music.player&pli=1

  • Manage settings > media sources: Add media source

  • Select Onedrive

  • Login with Onedrive Login

Symfonium playback

Hardware: Android Handy

Software: Symfonium

Workflow:

  • Sync new titles via Settings > Manage Media Sources > Three Dots > Sync.

  • Data is now available for playback.

  • This feature works in Android Auto.