1) - clean the heads of the most expensive cassette player you can borrow from a friend who will trust you with that operation.

2) Discover the source's format - dolby, metal, etc...

3) - take at least a day off with equal portions patience and coffee at the ready - I've only done this twice - dunno if I've struck a balance there...I like the 'pops' on vinyl - and hate the (to me) horrendous mid (8) track click on 8 track players though they might have appeal to someone...cassettes? I hope everyone remembers bending and twisting cassettes cases to get the tape to just. fucking. roll.

4) resign yourself to the fact that no matter what it's mostly going to suck as they're 3rd or 4th generation copies.

5) encryption - (ala pc) - holy crap - soundforge for the hiss - don't condense one bit - if a 2 minute song takes up a gig - it means it's not as good as the master track. But it might do IMHO.

addendum - I've had people ask me to mask the vocals and then not understand why high and low frequencies drop out when you do so in a day or so -

Conclusions

a) straightforwardaforementionedbasicHi-Fi hookup - play out - play in - meter it - soundforge it if you nust - save at the highest bitrate you can afford -

b) bitch not.

Please forgive the tone - it's late for me. Hope you understand...