Hey guys, I bought an MP3 player only about a month ago and would like to convert some old tapes to digital format so that I can burn them to CD and/or play them on my MP3 player. I've got my tape deck connected to the Line In connector on my sound card and can use the software that came with the MP3 player to record tapes PLAYED in my tape deck.

My old stereo system, including the tape deck, are in one room and my computer is in another room. Since most tapes have few seconds of nothing before they actually start playing music, that gives me a chance to start the tape, then go to my computer and start the recording.

But, when the tape finishes playing, I need to be at my computer and stop the recording or I'll get some blank time included at the end of the recording. I wonder whether there's any software that will automatically stop recording when the tape reaches the end. Alternatively, is there a fairly easy way to edit a recording and chop off the blank time at the end of a recording?

The software came with the MP3 player, which is a Creative MuVO TX FM model, is Creative MediaSource Organizer and Creative MediaSource Player; that's what I've used so far to convert two tapes. PERHAPS the editing capability is in the software and I just haven't discovered it yet. Anybody familiar with it?


Soybean, Audacity can edit the wave file and remove the silence. See the software FAQ. Rob, thanks for the link. I downloaded it. I will try it and let you know how it goes.Well, Audacity can be used to remove silence at the end of a recording, although it's done in a different way than I anticipated after you posted your message. Audacity has a Silence COMMAND but that inserts silence rather than removes it. To remove silence at the end of a recording, I can use the Trim command; the technique is similar to cropping a photo.

The audio file is displayed in a graphical representation by Audacity and the silent PORTION is clearly identifiable. By selecting all but the silent part at the end and using Trim, the silent portion is CUTOFF. Then, the actual sound portion can be exported to a new file.That's right.

If you're REALLY *censored* (like me) you can zoom in on the start and end of the recording, and ensure you delete every last millisecond of silence.

By the way, before you go and convert all of your tapes, check out Audacity's noise reduction filter. You will be much happier with the results, if you do.