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Review on πŸ”Œ Ion USB Cassette Tape to MP3 Converter - Tape Express by Jake Powell

Revainrating 3 out of 5

The quick and dirty way to convert cassettes to MP3

The good news is that it really works. What's good: 1) The software installs well and is fairly easy to install. Use it for those who aren't computer, iTunes, or audio software experts. 2) The cassette player connects to your computer via USB. There's a slot for batteries, but they're not needed - USB power is enough to power the device, the name of the album. and a name for each track.4) Once the process is complete, the program will automatically save the MP3 file to iTunes with the information you entered. Possible good things: 1) The player automatically reverses the tape, but doesn't. He's not smart enough to stop the recording when it reaches the end of the second page. However, the auto wipe is a good thing in my opinion. 2) When you are about to record you will be given the option to choose whether the tape should be regular or chromed/hi-bias. It also gives you the option to choose whether Dolby was used in the recording. Unfortunately, this is not recorded anywhere on most band releases. Bad things: 1) The cassette player's sound quality is okay, but it doesn't seem to sound as "full" as my stereo component recorder. If you want good high quality recordings, you probably still need to hook up a better tape deck to your computer and get some audio editing software. Personally, I still use it because it's close enough and easy to use for me. 2) Any software that automatically detects the beginning and end of a song will mark a new track when you have a few seconds pause in the song. Likewise, it probably won't start a new track for a song that doesn't have a break. 3) When adding tracks to iTunes, the program doesn't seem to save track number, year, or genre information. 4) The program does NOT save the MP3 files in a folder with the name of artist and album. It also doesn't update the real MP3 filenames with artist and track title. Instead, all the files are stored in a folder called "Unknown Artist" in the iTunes directory and the MP3 files are called "Temp1.mp3", "Temp2.mp3" etc. And finally the tape hiss: there is no digital noise. Reduce the function to avoid tape hiss. On the other side the tape recorder

Pros
  • Good product for the price
Cons
  • Not bad, but...