Those college-band concerts you recorded on the sly (1989). That tape of your 4-year-old channeling Celine Dion ("My Heart Will Go On"-shudder-1999). You'll never part with them, but those tapes and LPs are a hassle to play and store. But with three helpers-an LP turntable or a cassette player, a CD-buming application, and the free, open-source program Audacity (audacity.sourceforge. net)-you can bring these 20th-century treasures into 2009. Here's how to archive them all to audio CDs and MP3 files-and even spruce up the sound. First, connect your analog audio source to your PC. If it's a Walkman-style cassette player, get a cable with stereo-not mono-miniplugs.Connect the headphone jack to your sound card's or (if your PC uses integrated audio) motherboard's line-in jack. It's marked with concentric waves and an inward arrow, and usually color-coded blue.
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