How To: Convert Your Old Cassette Tapes into Digital MP3 Music Files

Before my time, people used to listen to music recorded on these things...

I didn't really know what this thing was until my parents clarified and told me that they were called cassette tapes. These "cassette tapes" were utilized to store sound recordings on either side of the tape, which could usually hold between 30 to 45 minutes. I laughed at that information as I took out my iPhone 5 (roughly the same size), which can store roughly 40,000 minutes worth of music.

Even though I give my parents a hard time, some of their cassette tape collection is priceless. Some cassettes are one-of-a-kinds that were distributed in small quantities, like their Dead Kennedy and The Clash demo tapes. Some of these songs are impossible to find online, but if they're found, they're usually in very low quality.

What if you could just convert your original cassette into a bunch of easy-to-manage MP3 files? Well, you can, and it's actually quite easy. CNET shows you just one way to convert your cassettes using the free program Audacity.

Note: The video shows a tape deck being used, but any stereo with a headphone input can be used for this process.