Convert Your Tapes and Records to MP3

I have hundreds of tapes, mostly of lectures and sermons. I know that they will never be heard again if they are not saved in a digital format. Some of these recordings are priceless. For several years now, I have begun the process of converting them to MP3s.

If you have some tapes or records that you would like to save to a more permanent audio file, download Audacity. It's free software that turns your computer into digital recorder. You can read more about it here.  To save the file as MP3 an encoder is needed, I use Lame. 

Your computer must have an audio input, like a microphone jack or RCA jacks. Some adjustments will be required and maybe some additional research (with Google) to fine tune it to your liking. After your first recording, click "file," "export as mp3." It will prompt you to allow it to search for the encoder. If it doesn't find it, click browse and find LAME yourself. You may have to download it again if you lost it somewhere in your computer.

Free Audiobook: Heavenly Man by Brother Yun

Every month Christian Audio features a free audiobook for download on MP3. The November book offer is the amazing autobiography of a Chinese Christian, Brother Yun, simply titled, Heavenly Man. This is the full ten hour unabridged edition, a fantastic deal. To get in on the monthly bargains, you will need to open up an account with them. No credit card is necessary to do this and no agreement required to make future purchases. They send one email a month.

CDs and MP3s For Road Drivers

Are you a truck driver? Do you spend hours commuting back and forth from work? Perhaps you are a regional sales rep and travel a lot. I enjoy good radio programs, but after a while it gets boring and I get tired of listening to even the best radio talk show hosts. As a truck driver, my MP3 compatible portable CD player has been essential to maintaining my sanity. I use my CD player with a LineX FM transmitter (the best I've seen and difficult to find, click for eBay and Amazon) and other times I use a CD to cassette adapter, depending on the situation. Some new car stereos actually have a built in input jack which saves a lot of hassle. Of course, if you can obtain an in-dash CD player that plays MP3s, then that is the most convenient way to go.

Rarely do I use an iPod, because the memory is limited and I like variety. Sometimes I just lose interest in the speaker or narrator, then I would be stuck with it. Another reason I prefer burning my MP3s to CD is because I want to keep a backup copy on hand. I have somewhere around 300 to 400 gigabites of audio in MP3 files. If you have iTunes, you know that your computer's hard drive can be maxed out fairly quickly. iTunes is very convenient, when you find an audio source you are interested in, such as Apologetics 315 Interviews, just click "get all" and it will automatically download them without you having to save each file individually and then wait for the next one in line. I listen to a lot of theology, history and philosophy and I can fit somewhere around 20 to 80 MP3s on a single CD.

Check out my resource page for some great stuff.