Before you're going to do some fancy mixtapes, here's what you're need:
1. Cassette recorder - Either cassette deck or decent boombox with aux input port. Bonus marks when your cassette recorder have noise reduction mode (usually comes with Dolby NR). Also, amplifier is required when you're using the cassette deck.
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| Cassette deck with noise reduction (bit different than what I got) |
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| Sony boombox comes with CD player and tape recorder |
2. Cassette tapes - There are 3 types of cassette tapes: Type I (Ferrite), Type II (Chrome) and Type IV (Metal). If you're going for decent quality, go for Type 1 cassettes and if you're going for CD-like quality, go for Type 4 cassette tapes but it's pretty pricey.
Why there's isn't Type III? Because this type of tape also called as Ferrite-Chrome tape was a commercial failure so it's pretty rare to see this kind of that tape.
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| Type II cassette tapes. |
3. Aux input cables - Either 3.5mm aux cables or 3.5mm to RCA cable. You might need these to connect your device into the cassette recorder.
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| 3.5mm aux cables |
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| 3.5mm to RCA jack cables. |
4. Music collections - self-explanatory. You can get it from various medias.
After you're have all of these, let's go to Section A for mixtape preparation:
SECTION A - MIXTAPE PREPARATION:
1. If you're want to record it into 60 minutes cassette tape, make a 2 mixtape tracks with 30 minutes each side and you're wanted to do so in 90 minutes, also make a 2 mixtape tracks with 45 minutes each side.
2. Use any platforms to make a mixtape like Audacity or Spotify, just mix it but watch for its playlist duration. You're gonna record it in one go.
3. Save the mixtape in mp3 format or whatever you like and export it into your device.
SECTION B - RECORDING THE MIXTAPE:
1. Plug in your device into aux/line in input port.
2. Check whether sound from the device can be heard from the speaker from the boombox or cassette deck (press record button only for certain models like TEAC).
3. Insert blank cassette tape on the deck. Adjust the position of the tape reel.
4. Adjust the Rec Level on the cassette deck, usually at level 10. For boombox, adjust the volume of the device which plugged in into the boombox, should be at level 60%.
5. Turn off any kind of sounds other than music playback like notifications, screen lock etc on your device.
6. Press Record and then Play button on the cassette deck (boombox requires both button pressed in same time) and press Play on the device after 1-2 seconds.
7. Sit back, relax and enjoy the music while recording. Then, repeat for the other side of the tape.
8. After recording, play the cassette tape and enjoy the mixtape!
ADDITIONAL TIPS:
1. Use sound equalizer feature on your device to adjust how the music sound should be comfort for your listening. You might don't want your recording tape sounds better on loudspeakers but terrible on headphones/earphones.
2. Keep an eye out for VU level if you're using cassette deck. If VU level often stays at higher level, means there's a lot of distortion. You might want to readjust the sound settings on your device.
1. Use sound equalizer feature on your device to adjust how the music sound should be comfort for your listening. You might don't want your recording tape sounds better on loudspeakers but terrible on headphones/earphones.
2. Keep an eye out for VU level if you're using cassette deck. If VU level often stays at higher level, means there's a lot of distortion. You might want to readjust the sound settings on your device.
