So I converted my first cassette and, to my delight, it worked! The sound quality is decent as another reviewer pointed out, you're converting tapes, but it still sounds good to me. I was skeptical of it working because it was scratched and, as another reviewer pointed out, cheaply made. Despite the fact that the front was scratched, I decided to give it a try because I bought it to convert cassette tapes, not for its appearance. I noticed that the front of the recorder was scratched up when I received it in the mail, so it's possible that I received the converter that another reviewer had received and returned. I was reading the reviews for this cassette converter and noticed that they were generally positive and that it was simple to convert cassettes to USB without the use of a computer.
This item has been around for a while, but under a different name, according to YouTube review videos. What a time saver! br>br>All you have to do is be cautious- It's entirely made of plastic and appears to be easily breakable. Meaning, you get the entire tape, Side A and B, with one click of Play/Record, while you go do something else, Play/Record, and then forget about it - It will change sides and come to a complete stop on side B. br>br> If you set it to single auto reverse, it will only switch sides once before stopping. I edited the file and created the multiple MP3 files myself, burned them to a CD, and carefully reviewed them. It recorded a single MP3 file that sounded exactly like the cassette tape. I didn't need auto mode because this was speech, and I wanted to edit the MP3 files myself anyway.
I inserted a valuable cassette, plugged in the flash drive, and started recording in manual mode. I'm at a loss for words except to say: This uncomplicated device actually works! It's simple to deduce.
Thankfully, this works without a hitch, but it just goes to show how low-cost these devices appear to be. To stop recording, I need to take the USB flash drive out of the unit. br>br>EDIT 2018- 2018: And now, when the record button, which was previously used to stop recording, is pressed, the device continues to record. If the tapes have creases, the device believes it has reached the end of the tape and restarts in the middle of the other side if your tape runs at a variable speed, the device also believes it has reached the end of the tape and restarts in the middle of the other side. EDIT 2018- br>br> I also discovered that in order for this to work, your tapes must be in immaculate condition.
In light of these considerations, I believe these devices are likely to be low-cost. This is in addition to auto repeating indefinitely when I didn't have that feature turned on, and it working at first. As a result, while these units appear to do the job adequately, they do not appear to be of good quality construction, as I rarely used that feature. EDIT 2018- br>br> The fast forward function was no longer functional. Even though the switch is not set to loop, it now appears as if I have it set to loop the tape to play both sides indefinitely. It would play Side 2 for a while, then stop when it got to the end. br>br>After a while, my unit stopped stopping when it reached the end of the second side it used to play Side 1, finish it, and then start Side 2. This unit is best suited for recording a tape's side from its rewound position to the end. Keep in mind that after you press the start recording button and the light on the USB flash drive flashes, it won't actually start recording for a few seconds. The light on the USB drive flashes when you start recording, but the recording has not yet begun. EDIT 2018- br>br> Just a couple of follow-ups: I discovered that this unit isn't built for precise editing.
There's nothing a good PC audio editing program can't fix. As a result, the recording will be interrupted for a long time.
When it reaches the end of a cassette side, it automatically rewinds to the beginning of the next side and continues recording without pausing. Because there are digital pops and beeps at the beginning of the recording, the sound quality isn't great. So, I'm not thrilled with that, but it does a good enough job for the money it's a little cumbersome to use, but that's nothing that a quick read of the manual can't fix. This device records MP3s at a rate of 128 KBPS, which is roughly half the size of MP3's highest sound quality.