Dang, that is not bad at all. I recently passed up an ION Audio Tape 2 PC at Goodwill, but now I'm curious how well that one works.
@LGR7 жыл бұрын
Wow... well, no regrets passing on that thing, haha.
@TechnologySpotlight7 жыл бұрын
Wow.
@ahadmiah96606 жыл бұрын
Use a tape walkman, panasonic, sony or a boombox, much better than using a usb type tape converter.
@kitchentable13626 жыл бұрын
Yeah those ION things are terrible
@Raguleader6 жыл бұрын
Although, as VWestlife pointed out in his introduction, a lot of newer computers lack a Line In port. Although in that case, you should be able to substitute a USB audio interface.
@fiftyclown7 жыл бұрын
Also, I'm extremely impressed at the quality of the rip.
@MSB30007 жыл бұрын
A high quality rip, you say?
@vwestlife7 жыл бұрын
You can't "rip" cassettes. "Ripping" specifically refers to the process of extracting the digital data from a CD or DVD. With analog media, it's called a "dub" / "dubbing".
@DMessham7 жыл бұрын
**silvagunner intensifies**
@fiftyclown7 жыл бұрын
it's a meme u dip
@JoeJ-82822 жыл бұрын
That's cool, I actually have one of these things. I found it in a trash dumpster one time, brand new, unopened, still in the box! (Ridiculous what some people throw away! Maybe they just thought it was a junk player so they tossed it without even trying it... whatever, their loss, my gain!) I still haven't used it to record from a tape to USB, but maybe I'll try it now!... It's also really cool that it still works as an analog LL to USB audio converter, even without having to use it as a tape recorder in the process! It's also nice that it doesn't require any software or driver installs on any computer, it just acts like a normal USB thumb drive and is automatically recognized by whatever computer that you plug it into. Nice review, thanks for re-igniting my interest in its usefulness!
@The8BitGuy6 жыл бұрын
I'm surprised you haven't been hit with copyright issues due to those songs you played. (or did you?) . This device doesn't sound too bad from what I can tell, but it still looks really cheap. I wish there were something out there like this that cost maybe $150 to $200 that was built really well, you know, made to last so to speak.
@vwestlife6 жыл бұрын
If you keep the music clips below 28 seconds usually you won't get any Content ID matches.
@mszymcza6 жыл бұрын
It's an Alan Parson's project.....project.
@splangley6 жыл бұрын
28? Wow, I've had stuff match with as little as 6 seconds. May depend on quality but still.
@kitchentable13626 жыл бұрын
David, I do think theese new decks are great, but if yoy really want to listen to cassettes with high quality, you need an older deck. My main cassette deck is from 1976, I got it from goodwill for 10$, compared to some restorations you have done, theese decks will be easy.
@kitchentable13626 жыл бұрын
Why are you watching videos about it? I Can have any hobby I want. Have you ever actually listened to a high quality tape through a high quality deck? Dont start an argument unless you know what youre talking about.
@electrojones6 жыл бұрын
Another great video. This channel and Techmoan are life savers at my boring job.
@jaykay187 жыл бұрын
EXCELLENT choice of music for this demo!
@spidergloo27087 жыл бұрын
jaykay18 ikr
@buamfrequencies60875 жыл бұрын
i just want to say that i really appreciate the detail you go into and how you give a lot of care to what's on the screen and the audio quality.
@verastaki4 жыл бұрын
That's interesting, I do the opposite. I've got my professional tape deck hooked up to my computer. And I record all of my music from CD's and computer MP3 files unto the compact cassette. People get amazed how good my tapes sound. It's cuz I use studio quality Type II chrome and Type IV metal tapes and studio quality Technics tape deck. I love audio compact cassettes. You can fine tune them, they come in different formats, they last a very long time (I got tapes from 1960's which still sound good today). They come in different styles, brands, colours etc... Tapes are awesome!
@wolfetteplays8894 Жыл бұрын
Facts!!! I absolutely love tapes, music streaming is too sterile and limits self-expression
@CoolDudeClem7 жыл бұрын
Not bad apart from the slight wow and flutter, I could really hear it on the sax in that jazz piece.
@JohnAudioTech7 жыл бұрын
I might be more sensitive to it but the flutter was quite a bit more than slight.
@CoolDudeClem7 жыл бұрын
I was being a bit lenient (i think that's the right word) on saying how much wow and flutter there is, I could notice it in quite a few other places, if they fixed that, and maybe make the frequency response a little flatter, it would be pretty good. Don't know if this has AC or Dc bias recording though.
@vwestlife7 жыл бұрын
It has AC bias recording.
@5roundsrapid2637 жыл бұрын
I'm listening to this on my 5.1 system. This deck does sound really good.
@xfilesfoxisdead79796 жыл бұрын
Its extreme low fi equipment it Has to have huge wow and flutter. Despite some morons claiming audiophiles are wasting money on expensive gear, truth is you spend more you have more quality. But feel free to listen and record from this crap deck. Im not wasting money and time on it
@clydesight7 жыл бұрын
Sounds really good! Nice to know there is a machine out there that can do this effectively for folks who aren't into the vintage equipment. For use with vintage analog outputs, one could use an audio out to USB adapter. cable.
@superotterboy79373 жыл бұрын
I love cassettes still! I'm no hipster either because I actually grew up throughout all of the 90s using tapes and still use them now. Finding decent blank tapes has become a struggle though! Online prices are insane for the quality offered. I've found a dollar store in another town which sell them for a much lower price but I can't imagine their stock lasting! It's a shame as there's a nice, tangible practicality to opening a new tape and loading it up. There's so much nonsense about them sounding terrible about but a well recorded tape loading in an old, properly engineered tape deck is just as enjoyable to my ears as any CD or spotify session. Yes, the quality is slightly lower but not to a degree that most normal music lovers, like myself would notice.
@baikkuma7 жыл бұрын
I've seen the 8 bit guy's episode and got disappointed with his cassette recorder, but your solution just blew up my mind! Thanks for your amazing solution for recording cassettes to digital format.
@nrdesign19917 жыл бұрын
This one doesn't sound too bad at all! I usually detest USB audio hardware, it always causes issues with programs forgetting the settings or mixing up devices.
@DoRC7 жыл бұрын
a lot of "headphone jacks" on modern laptops are actually software definable jacks that can be selected to be used as a mic or line in as well as headphone and line out.
@rafalg21137 жыл бұрын
My friend once purchased an expensive USB audio interface for podcast recording. He didn't realize that the Zoom H6 recorder he already owned, works as an audio interface, once you hook it up to the computer with USB. I think that even the cheapest H1 Zooms work as USB interface.
@megabojan19937 жыл бұрын
Happy New year Vwestlife.
@doorhanger93176 жыл бұрын
_Relax,_ _Listen to one cool cut after another,_ *CD-101.9*
@bigtimefans1004 жыл бұрын
major nostalgia
@HBC101TVStudios7 жыл бұрын
Happy New Year VWestlife aka Kevin! Thank you for providing the community with your informative videos since 2006! I enjoyed your videos for 8 years already and your video is not boring but rather entertaining for us general viewers to enjoy.. Sincerely, Fred..
@vwestlife7 жыл бұрын
I've had my channel since 2006 but I wasn't making videos until 2008.
@HBC101TVStudios7 жыл бұрын
Oh. Didn't know that before. Sorry.
@Dulayne7 жыл бұрын
All the songs in your videos are just so good. I've enjoyed watching and seeing all your different types of videos. Very well done and looking forward to more.
@tostoday7 жыл бұрын
George Benson...Richard Elliot....Spyro Gyra...Anita Baker...
@talesfromthelotuspodcast5 жыл бұрын
Love spyro gyra
@johnmcminn82884 жыл бұрын
great tutorial, really well made . I digitized a cassete for a out of print Hal Leonard Book, recently from the Chris Amelar Jammin Series, I found when you go R L out RCA jacks , you get R Mono L mono What i did was go 30$ Beringer UCA 222, to USB then using a generic driver into CUBASE 8 Then did 6 Channels and EQd sets of R and L channels one track at a time to get track separation so I had as follows A1 A2= scooped midrange Ballance 50% R and L A3 A4 = high cut low cut all Midrange Ballance 15% R and L A5 A6 stereo split = lower volume R and L Ballance 100% of higher frequence treble Then it was mixed down int 1 wav file and entered a 1 channel Mastering , where it is funneled into 16bit (Which is the most common bits for phones computers CD players etc) i put a little maximizer on there to make it a little bigger. I found if the recording is not rare and out of print , you may be better getting an m4a file of a Digital remaster I seem to remember Jimmy Page of Led Zep, being one of the first guys doing Digital Remastering , he would goto the vault and get the actual master reels and run the board out into a digital board to get real ambiance and ACTUAL Digital Stereo Also when CDs first appeared in the early 90s , after liner tracking turntables(lol) you saw AAD and ADD also DDD . Analog Digital . the 2 inch tape on the master reels were put through a different board . RUSH power windows, may have been the very first , DDD recording released mainstream Now a days you can subscribe to Spotify and stream Digital at 4K for like 10$ a month , and Download as much as you want , of course people in general, are not actually going to Download that much content as a collector or DJ might. I saw the CHICAGO doc on NetFlix, the one member says ," Back in 84 when technology was just getting good...I mean, becoming inventive, or as to say just more stuff available, the drummer got electronic drums" I just have to laugh at the amount of BACK Peddling in that statement . "Getting good " would be like mis speaking for what was available back then! XD
@stereophonicstuff7 жыл бұрын
I've been curious just how bad those cassette to USB converters really are, but could never justify paying for something I knew would be a lost cause. The quality of the Tape2USB would be more than adequate for most every cassette tape transfer undertaken. I'd be interested in seeing a review of the "weeny modern" computer that made a brief cameo in this video. :)
@michaelmartin90225 жыл бұрын
My mum has one I used to record some 40's to 60's comedy shows so I could listen on my phone. It did okay for spoken word and the incidental music, I guess.
@blocSonic5 ай бұрын
After checking your review, I got a hold of one of these cheap on ebay. I'm glad I did! Pretty damn good. Thanks for the review!
@mercuryoak27 жыл бұрын
I think thats ridiculous that they gonna try get rid of the 3.5 mm jacks. heck I heard the iphone 7 has no headphone jack. bluetooth headphones are what your to use but fact is i have bluetooth headphones. the connection can suck . even the sound can skip. .
@mercuryoak27 жыл бұрын
I had android since the Motorola citrus. My first Android. Then I got a pantech burst. Then went to a s3 mini. To a s6 active till I dropped it and screen split. The s3 mini still have but I currently have a s3 phone I like but straight talk gave small memory on this. But its nice. Miss my s6 active. Heck half stuff I have is old reel to reel from 60s. I even take and make music on phone sound analog because I hate thr tin sound of mp3s
@mercuryoak27 жыл бұрын
The big issue I have with android is the fact every update is memory hungry . Or their is useless apps that are not used
@slawor47 жыл бұрын
Matthew N You can root the phone and delete the useless bloatware
@wilkes857 жыл бұрын
If it was just Apple that was doing that, it's fine because there are other alternatives.... but every other manufacturer tries to copy everything Apple does whether it's a good idea or not. That means in a few years, headphone jacks will not be an option. Apple is also putting non-standard USB plugs on their computers, so you need a string of adaptors to hook up the most basic components, so expect that to become the norm too. Apple does things that almost any other company would go out of business for.... but since it's Apple, everyone copies the stupid crap they do.
@mercuryoak27 жыл бұрын
Thats just it theres a cost or getting told you cant because it will mess up phone. Google is the biggest bloatware
@garohagopian22535 жыл бұрын
Hello. This does look marginally better than the new cassette deck fare currently out there. There are two things of note that I feel everyone who undertakes "digitizing" their tapes should be aware of. The first is proper head alignment. I see a little hole just below the cassette door about where the azimuth screw for the record/play head would be, which tells me the user can make this adjustment, which is critical. Tapes are recorded on different machines, each with the head alignment likely slightly off, so the treble/high end may be rolled off, leaving tapes sounding "flat" or "dull" when you play them back here. Adjusting the head azimuth (with a small Philips screwdriver, like what jewelers use) for each tape until you hit that "sweet spot" is essential. The second thing is wow & flutter. The new machines out there now are atrocious in this regard, and that's partly because they only use one motor to drive the capstan (which pulls the tape across the heads at constant speed) and the reels. A two-motor machine (whether belt or direct-drive) means one motor is used just for the capstan, and the other for the reels, which results in much more stable and accurate tape speed. There are other points to consider, but again, I feel these two top the list when prepping for transferring cassettes to digital. By the way, though admittedly irrelevant to the discussion, I disagree with your assertion that not that many people used Dolby noise reduction. It was VERY widely used and was virtually "standard equipment" on tape decks, less-so with arch-rival dbx, tapes made of which only sounded good if you could play them back with it, but relatively few decks used dbx.
@chrysanth.57007 жыл бұрын
I have thought on and off about starting a cassette collection. There is something more interesting to me about it than vinyl. Nice to know there's a good device to record those with if I ever start my collection.
@Well_hello_there_5 жыл бұрын
Who else was diggin' the smooth jazz version of I'm not in Love by 10cc?............Anyone?
@mjh54374 жыл бұрын
I went to see 10cc in London about 2 years ago,they were great..hit after hit.
@laranaarana5 жыл бұрын
I own over 200 cassettes (pre-recorded and the ones I created for my individual listening), and I always used Dolby when recording them. And I always used Chrome or Metal tapes.
@subbookkeeper7 жыл бұрын
They used similar font as Oracle Corporation logo.
@PardonJulianAssangeNow7 жыл бұрын
ORACLE: One Rich Arsehole Called Larry Ellison
@WarthogRacer7 жыл бұрын
Looking at just the video thumbnail, I was like "I never knew Oracle made cassette players." lol
@vwestlife7 жыл бұрын
Grace Digital isn't even using this logo anymore, anyway. They changed it to all lowercase, to be trendy with the hipsters...
@trevnral17 жыл бұрын
When I saw the logo my initial thought was why is Oracle making audio electronics.
@bobroberts1356 жыл бұрын
The best test of wow and flutter on a tape deck is a pre-recorded piano performance. If the transport isn't steady, it's immediately revealed. I think I'd rather have a vintage tape deck with a better transport. But I enjoyed your video! I subscribed.
@LaskyLabs3 жыл бұрын
"Weenie modern computer." Seems accurate.
@suprb69705 жыл бұрын
I bought one of these. Does what it claims. But still nothing beats a vintage quality recorder.
@21minute7 жыл бұрын
The music samples you included sound so good! 😍
@ourwonderfulworld82147 жыл бұрын
You can use a small USB sound card
@duprie373 жыл бұрын
@@kumarsajal8400 They sound fine. DAC chips are cheap as chips these days. A $5 USB sound card is as good as the rip-off expensive options. It's the source player that determines the quality.
@cbehr917 жыл бұрын
I've had success converting reel-to-reel recordings with a USB sound card and Audacity.
@BertGrink6 жыл бұрын
Towards the end, it sounded as if that radio dj actually ENCOURAGED his audience to tape his shows hehe
@vwestlife6 жыл бұрын
The tape was produced and distributed by the radio station as a promotional item.
@tylerwatt127 жыл бұрын
most laptops, even the cheap ones do have audio input, it's just using the headset jack. Get a 3 ring 3.5mm splitter. I have one so I can use my ipad as a guitar amp.
@cameronrivascreativedirector7 жыл бұрын
This sound great! I couldn't believe it! All of those great music samples brought me back to the 80's.
@vwestlife7 жыл бұрын
You mean the early '90s. The tape is from 1992.
@mr.smash6987 жыл бұрын
But it sounded like it was from the 80's though.
@cameronrivascreativedirector7 жыл бұрын
If you're old enough to remember the 80's, you know that the years begin to run together after a period of time.
@mr.smash6987 жыл бұрын
Cameron Yup.
@mikeculbertson7 жыл бұрын
I think I'd rather get a USB audio stock. those are really cheap these days and you can use a high quality tape deck
@FifoF7 жыл бұрын
You *can* set Audacity to monitor the audio input - go to Transport -> Software Playthrough. Wait, I spoke too soon.
@SudosFTW7 жыл бұрын
the fact they even give you a linear wall-wart is a neat thing in itself.
@markusTegelane7 жыл бұрын
Hey, I know The 8-bit Guy!
@markusTegelane7 жыл бұрын
***** No, his channel
@refraggedbean6 жыл бұрын
I know him more from 8-bit keys
@maziu276 жыл бұрын
Who doesn't
@jamescollins60856 жыл бұрын
I remember when he was The iBook Guy.
@wb3ccn3 жыл бұрын
I've had one of these for several years now and have had no trouble with it. Even better now that I have a better and faster computer than I used to.
@rarewavemusic7 жыл бұрын
Enjoyed the video. One feature that would have been nice to have on this is pitch control. I know you can adjust pitch in software, but it seems it never sounds as good as an analog pitch adjustment. By the way, I used Shazam to figure out the songs I didn't recognize.
@Lagib287 жыл бұрын
That design very much reminds me of the first generation top-loader decks of the late 60s-early 70s. The pre-Dolby era. Its like cassettes have come full circle.
@damek6667 жыл бұрын
Lagib28 it reminds you of it because it was obviously copied from those. this player, however, is a piece of shit.
@spongeyperson7 жыл бұрын
Actually sounds pretty good considering it's going through USB, then an Audio format on your pc, then encoded onto youtube. Hope you've had a great New Year Vwestlife :)
@coondogtheman7 жыл бұрын
When I bought the PC I'm using now, I specifically asked the guy at best buy if it had a line input jack. I also told him I'd be using this machine for games. I have a lot of first person shooter games, most are older (Half Life 2, Doom 3) and this machine plays them with no issues. My new laptop does not have a line input which sucks but I don't use the laptop much anyway. I use GoldWave for audio editing because I know it well and used it for many years. I have a few cassette machines to record tapes to the computer but the belts are breaking down on them. My Sony Casette-Corder is still running strong but it's only mono.
@uxwbill7 жыл бұрын
Right away I noticed the unusually heavy bass and flutter in portions of the audio. Other than that, and all of that is pretty minor, it really does sound quite good. I'd be curious to know if the lack of Dolby NR decoding in these units has to do with the lack of suitable ICs being available, and no desire on the maker's part to spend the money on a discrete component implementation. Is it possible to play something from the computer over USB to that unit's sound hardware and have it recorded on tape? There are some cheap USB DACs on eBay with line level inputs and a few of them (particularly one that's seen in a blue colored aluminum shell with multi-channel outputs) are really quite good.
@vwestlife7 жыл бұрын
I didn't try using it as a USB sound output device. I did notice that the microphone on/off switch is functional during cassette playback as well as recording, I guess so you can sing along with your cassettes while transferring them to the computer!
@vwestlife7 жыл бұрын
I just tried it, and you can use the tape deck as a USB sound output device, but it doesn't work -- nothing comes out of the speaker or is recorded to tape, and the level meter doesn't show any activity.
@FakeTheAntivirus6 жыл бұрын
uxwbill o
@doomermusic78105 жыл бұрын
If you want to record from computer to tape on this machine, you can just use an RCA to 3.5mm cable like this one tinyurl.com/ybm98u56 Just plug it into your headphone jack and into the record jacks on the back of the machine and you're good to record anything straight out of your computer. Works beautifully.
@PardonJulianAssangeNow7 жыл бұрын
You've just got me hooked onto Jazz music. Thanks VWestlife!
@RightWing15 жыл бұрын
Even though I don't use it anymore, that is why I hung on to my Pioneer 3 head deck from the late 80's. I suspect nostalgia may set in 1 day for me to resurrect it back into my system, but I tend to play more vinyl or use minidisc for own recorded stuff.
@Mystique2u Жыл бұрын
That sounds like one of my cassettes! Great video!!! 🎶💖
@ClevelandStorms7 жыл бұрын
Nice video as always. Luckily I have a focusrite audio interface. I like it because it supports XLR, 1/4 inch, and rca. I can use it to record any audio but it isn't very cheap. It's cool that they made some specifically for tapes though
@joeblankenship3773 жыл бұрын
I guess it’s good to know that decent versions of this do exist. No telling how many tape nostalgists have bought garbage.
@connorm9556 жыл бұрын
5:35 That is a beautiful waveform
@supernovagamer9297 жыл бұрын
i use a cassette player from the 70's as my main one, actually there's a neat story behind it. it's a multi media system that also has a radio, phonograph (record player, i say phonograph because it sounds neat) and 8-track player. i got it as it was being tossed out at my township's fall cleaning thing for free, next year i got a free karaoke machine with microphone, both working.
@lolfreddy7 жыл бұрын
That actually sounds really good! Something about Analog Audio will always sound so much better in my honest opinion :)
@jeremymiller38005 жыл бұрын
I doesn't need two speakers when they would be that close together. You wouldn't experience the sterio effect. Your still hearing all the sounds you would hear if it had another speaker. It is a cool device. Thanks for sharing.
@MyDiesel1017 жыл бұрын
Good Morning VWestlife, Wishing You & your Family a Happy & Healthy 2017! Thank You for the excellent & very informative videos.
@cliz3056 жыл бұрын
Hey, it's 8 bit guy!
@romandjma.recordplayers78066 жыл бұрын
I use a old computer for my desktop and a old laptop we bought in 2005. both have AUX in jacks on them.
@TheFruitMugger7 жыл бұрын
Those rips sound fantastic, the quality is unreal.
@samserios64285 жыл бұрын
Thats a great idea and much nicer than most devices that just create super low bitrate mp3s. Another way would be to use an external usb soundcard and a seperate tape deck.
@DevaPermanaDrums3 жыл бұрын
You have all best songs collection by the way
@djflixxstudio57357 жыл бұрын
This tape deck has amazing quality
@refraggedbean6 жыл бұрын
I actually made sure my computer motherboard had a full cluster of AUX jacks on the back, all 6, 4 out 2 in, but I used my driver to allow the 2 in to work as outputs, and same with the 2 front jacks
@briangpz3 жыл бұрын
I guess I should really take care of my old desktop PC that has a line in jack. I have had my Aiwa AD-F810 tape deck plugged into it for years. If the computer ever quits, I'm SOL.
@rommix06 жыл бұрын
7:00 I recognize that song :) Spyro Gyra - Morning Dance Great one hit wonder band
@talesfromthelotuspodcast5 жыл бұрын
No way spyro gyra had a ton of records
@JesseEasley6 жыл бұрын
great review! and informative audacity tips! thank you
@Madness8327 жыл бұрын
Yeah, I had one of those "cheap-Walkman" USB players (got it for Xmas 2 years ago). But there was always this awful motor noise through the audio. It would even register on Audacity's VU meters if I played the unit w/ no tape.
@stighenningjohansen Жыл бұрын
I have one works very well, surpricingly good sound quality
@Vector_Ze6 жыл бұрын
I've got a bid in on this unit on eBay. Mine was the first placed on a 5-day auction. Who knows if I'll win the auction. But I hope I'll be happy with it if I get it. I'm not interested in digitizing the few commercially produced music tapes I own. But I've got hundreds, maybe close to a thousand, unique tapes I recorded from the late 1960s through to the late 1980s that I hope to capture. It's getting difficult to find a decent playback deck nowadays, and it probably won't be getting any easier.
@Vector_Ze6 жыл бұрын
Unfortunately, I won the auction. Very disappointed in the Tape2USB II. Not a worthy deck, very noisy either via USB or audio cable. :-(
@acerbt Жыл бұрын
I recently found one of those cheep walkman style player converters on amazon. Unusually it has stereo playback and 4 track auto reverce, and despite wow and flutter issues, it's ok at keeping speed. If I did use it for tape converting, I would just record the tape on one of my devices including the computer, with the headphone port on the player because the usb out only sends audio in mono.
@danthemainman12 жыл бұрын
I have some experience with a mic in (and possibly line in) to USB adapter (effectively a tiny sound card embedded into a device no larger than a small USB thumb drive) from a few years ago. I had been looking to get line in audio into GarageBand on my iPad, if I remember correctly. And to use it with a line level input, you’d want to have a line level to mic level attenuator. (Incidentally, for input onto an iPhone or non-USB C iPad these days, the Lightning to 3.5mm adapter Apple sells supports TRRS jacks, and there’s at least one firm currently online selling line level attenuators using the same TRRS standard Apple uses/used.) So the lack of line in on modern computers isn’t an insurmountable issue, which does free you up to use a better, retro tape drive and hook it up to a computer running Audacity. Though yes, it is a more complicated setup than most people who just want to digitize one or two tapes would want to do. Another option would be to hook up a tape deck to a modern PCM recorder with a 3.5mm jack, but the same caveats about line in to mic in attenuation probably still apply. For spoken word tapes, though, you could probably get away with a much cheaper voice recorder (like one of Olympus’s models with a mic or line in), it’s just that the PCM will capture in PCM, of course.
@piurtv5 жыл бұрын
Well, I had another solution : I bought a used micro hi-fi system with a tape deck...And I have a jack to RCA cable and an external soundcard. (Well, I had the soundcard and cables before, so I just had to buy the actual hi-fi system...)
@keithjones781011 ай бұрын
Dont know if I'm on my own but I go the other way and record digital on to cassette tape. I think it sounds more pleasing. Love your vids.
@gamepad3173 Жыл бұрын
I'm actually considering picking up one of these for my Apple //e Platinum project, since if I remember most games came on cassette or 5 1/4" floppy disk. or well now adays 3 1/2" Floppy disk.
@ThomasTalbotMD5 жыл бұрын
Uh, no Dolby -thats a problem. I recorded everything in Dolby C. How about a nice $8-10 USB audio input adapter with my good old analog cassette deck instead?
@TSMusix5 жыл бұрын
In case you have cassettes recorded with Dolby-B or C, but can only transfer them them to digital from a player that does not offer Dolby-playback, then have a look on a pretty software Dolby-decoder I found on the Mac app store, named DDi Codec. It can restore old cassette audio in amazing quality (including a Play Trim simulation), even if recorded into the computer from a rather poor tape playback device.
@NotSoCrazyNinja6 жыл бұрын
Here it is, August of 2018 and I can't find this deck anywhere. Only the older model and that's over two-hundred dollars.
@stephendobbins92512 жыл бұрын
What a great device. Thanks for sharing. It sounds like it has good signal to noise ratio.
@birbv2 жыл бұрын
1:19 you just predicted the future
@Jorge0s7 жыл бұрын
I came up on one at the Goodwill in Los Alamos,ca in good condition for 9.90 can't wait to try it out
@weasel2htm7 жыл бұрын
Some good music in this video! "I'm Not In Love" Minute By Minute." I suspect that the USB audio interface in that unit is the the same or similar to what is in the Behringer UCA202 as both come up as "USB AUDIO CODEC"
@vwestlife7 жыл бұрын
I have the entire CD 101.9 demo tape on my music channel, but it's copyright blocked in the USA. I guess I should re-upload it to Vimeo...
@mr.smash6987 жыл бұрын
Don't do that, just tell people to use a VPN extension on their web browser. That's what I do in order to watch blocked videos.
@tphecca92247 жыл бұрын
The device name is "USB Audio CODEC", which is the same device name given by the ION TAPE2PC which does the same thing but it is a dual cassette deck. I wonder if they use the same USB encoder components.
@DougMcDave2 жыл бұрын
I recently went to a habitat re-store. I know that is a hit-or-miss. God was with me because I scored a JVC td-w309, for $80. Look it up; it's a duel tape deck with Dolby B and C, and automatically detects high bias and metal cassettes, using the tabs on top of the cassette housing. My old school band recordings (1980's and 90"s) were often recorded in Dolby, and on CrO2 tapes.
@Bembeleke4 жыл бұрын
This was very helpful you just gave my old dell an extra life now i just need to get a deck. Thks
@marekmaslak80406 жыл бұрын
Thats some good ,,modern casette recorder that doesnt suck" type machine.I like the design and the sound of it is amazing.
@curtchase37306 жыл бұрын
Yes...It's a nice sounding unit, but since it has no Dolby NR, even "B", the playback of a Dolby encoded tape will be artificially bright giving that wow that sounds good audio. Another thing, since this machine is designed to be an archival machine, it should have an azimuth correction control knob so the user can tweak the head to line up to the magnetic media for the best high end. Years ago, I had a nice Sansui deck with a little hole by the transport. I always had my little jewelers screwdriver handy to adjust the tape head to match the tape I was playing. Believe me, many factory pre-recorded tapes needed an azimuth adjustment!
@eastendphotographer4282 жыл бұрын
I miss CD 101.9 brought back memories
@grumberfwarcraft72825 жыл бұрын
That larry carlton made me giggle at 7:49 didnt know casset made the band sound wider
@screamengine7 жыл бұрын
I have a 'plus deck' 5 1/4 bay cassette deck I cant live without. Uses serial for software control. Auto reverse etc. A lot like an old VW/Blaupunkt car deck!
@stevekiley61215 жыл бұрын
I just got something called E-Z capture, which can be plugged into the headphone socket, but also has two RCAs and a USB at the other end. I can then play my Sony Cassette Player or Sony Minidisc Player through my amp (also a Sony, I'm afraid), and then use Audacity to digitise them. I can't remember where I got it from, but it didn't cost much.
@crapcbm5 жыл бұрын
yes better do it later in software. there you are able to adjust it at best sound 20 years ago I started copy my tapes to PC, save it to hi-mp3 and also brun it to CDs. I lowered the high bands and in next step, when all the tape sound was away, I increased them again and they really sound great
@julianwest40307 жыл бұрын
My Dad was able to do it with an old Technics dual tape deck for 20$ at Goodwill, an RCA to Headphone jack adapter and a Diamond audio XS71U sound card for $30 at Fry's.
@SFtheGreat7 жыл бұрын
Not all older-modern laptops have line input, they have microphone inputs, but not necessarily line-in. Mine has two audio outputs, a mic in, but none is convertible to line-in... This is why I use tower PC. Major drawback, this Grace doesn't have switch for Metal tapes, as if they couldn't have installed automatic detection by notches in shells and the manual doesn't bother to provide any specifications such as SNR, frewuency response, etc...
@vwestlife7 жыл бұрын
The CrO2 setting works for playing Metal tapes, but not for recording on them.
@SFtheGreat7 жыл бұрын
Might as well be, the EQ for both is 70 μs (I never figured out what that even is and what it does), but metal formulation requires more bias, but that's only on recording stage, it still can be played back even on crappy walkman without any kind of cassette type recognition (though the soudn will be affected compared to playing on deck with manual or automatic selection).
@clemsonbloke7 жыл бұрын
Most people did not use Dolby on their tape recordings? Oh yeah we did, I'm 43 and I used it and all my friends did as well. Those who didn't know much about cassettes may have not used it but we knew how to properly setup our decks and we didn't have cheap ones either. We frequently made mixes from our LP's or CD's and then traded mix tapes, it was important to list the type of Dolby on the tape label although most of us used "B" because "C" never tracked right in our opinion. When "S" came along we all got new decks and switched to that.
@vwestlife7 жыл бұрын
The vast majority of cassette recorders ever sold -- portables, boomboxes, and in integrated stereo systems -- did not have Dolby noise reduction at all. Of course, most component tape decks did have Dolby, but those were never the majority of *all* cassette recorders sold.
@clemsonbloke7 жыл бұрын
Interesting observation, however, Dolby has been available for most of the cassette formats life, it was introduced on cassette in the very early 70's. Of course you get what you pay for and some people just have no taste in audio gear. That said, there were boomboxes and even walkmans with the Dolby playback option at least on them. My walkman is both dolby capable and metal/chrome capable as well. It depended more on if you bought cheap shit versus quality as to whether or not it had Dolby.
@vwestlife7 жыл бұрын
clemsonbloke Only high-end Walkmans had Dolby, and I rarely if ever saw it on any boomboxes.
@clemsonbloke7 жыл бұрын
Well now you might not like Dolby and thats fine but for me the damn thing better have Dolby or it's useless to me. Like I said before, the cheap shit is what doesn't have Dolby and I don't buy cheap shit.
@vwestlife7 жыл бұрын
I do like Dolby (when it works properly), but I'm just stating the truth that the vast majority of cassette recorders ever sold don't have it.
@AnotherWorldYT6 жыл бұрын
I use a saffire pro 40 as my output and put it into the aux/ line in of a high quality tape deck. If you're using a deck with phono in make sure the master track of your DAW has an RIAA EQ curve adjustment.
@PlaidDin7 жыл бұрын
I've got my fully functioning JVC TD-X202 from 1987 for $5. :P Nevertheless, I've got a bad news for Windows 10 users. It's generic USB audio drivers are pretty screwed up - they are incredibly silent. So if you connect something like and Audio-Technika LP-60USB or this well sounding deck, you won't hear too much. When amplified, it's a bit hissy. No fixes available, other than downgrading to Windows 7/8.1.
@teomankardal50437 жыл бұрын
Bigbeater Kioshi no problem to me because i use windows 7 on mu main rig and i believe till ots out of supoort
@uxwbill7 жыл бұрын
Time and time again, Windows 10 proves to be a piece of software unburdened by any form of quality control. It boggles the mind how they've managed to break stuff that generally Just Worked and consisted entirely of Solved Problems. I guess it's all that NEW! SHINY!
@AndyMitchellUK267 жыл бұрын
I'm still running 7 as well. New doesn't always mean better and I'm more than happy to stick with what works. And holy hell, I've not seen any of your videos for ages uxwbill. Time to go check out your channel and see what s**t people have thrown out lately! It always amazes me why people throw away perfectly good stuff.
@ciprianwinerElectronicManiac7 жыл бұрын
I just don't want to imagine what the day when I will be forced to buy a new computer and use windows 10, I had it on my tablet and also 8, the whole process of using them was nothing more than problem solving.
@mr.smash6987 жыл бұрын
I'll just stick to Windows XP until my computer blows up.
@KRAFTWERK2K67 жыл бұрын
The problem with these USB solutions is that even thou you need to capture the incoming data with audacity, it the USB deck has already converted the analog signal into an MP3 stream that is being sent via USB. So you don't get a lossless converted digital signal. That's why I rather use my Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS PCMCIA card for this kind of things and plug in a real Tapedeck with tapehead correctly adjusted.
@ederst97596 жыл бұрын
The only thing you didn't address is tape-head alignment. There is a hole on the door that allows you to use a small (unmagnetized, or even plastic) Philips to adjust tape 'azimuth', (or alignment of the head to the tape), and it's likely this is not aligned with many of the older cassettes. "Factory" alignment is not always correct. I've found deviation in alignment an issue on even the best audiophile recordings (i.e. MFSL, "Mo'Fi"), and doing archival backups, found it necessary to drill holes in my Kenwood deck to do adjustments on the fly. This is especially useful for the older tapes recorded on a mono portable, where proper alignment will mean better high-frequency production, alignment affects more than just stereo balance and separation. This is very easy to hear, or see on a scope, as you turn the adjustment screw, clock-wise and counter-clockwise, otherwise many tapes that had different head alignment will often sound muffled. Also the mix tapes playing back 'FM' radio content may have cut off well below 12 kHz , when even a cheap Walkman will achieve 14-18Khz playback on the high end, with a good Chrome tape.