With the LogiLink UA0156, we have now found the perfect solution!
Packing / Contents:
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The device comes in a handy cardboard box which hardly contains air and could not have been much smaller. To protect it is also wrapped in bubble Folio. Included are:
- The device
- USB cable with 40 cm cable length
- Operating instructions in German, English, Spanish and Polish
- CD with Audacity (Version 1.2.6)
Functions / processing unit:
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The device has the shape and size of a - now no longer commercially available - Walkmans, because it is ultimately only. There are buttons for the usual functions Play, Stop, Fast Forward, Rewind. There is also a button for the changes of direction, so that one does not have to take it out and turn over the cassette to listen to the second page. In addition, you can adjust a slider, if this paging works only once, or in closed loop.
On the side you will find the volume control, the opener for the cassette compartment and the mini-USB port and the Kopfhöhrerausgang.
You can actually use the converter with two AA batteries as a Walkman. However, the headset must be purchased separately. In normal converter operation, no batteries are required, the power comes from the USB connection.
The processing of the device is the only weak point I could make out after previously converted ten cassettes. The buttons look cheap and the cartridge door is very fragile. Since the converter anyway is usually only on the desk next to the computer, the fall is not so much the weight.
Audacity features (software):
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Audacity comes in version 1.2.6 with the CD. On the Internet, there are now already the improved version 2.0.2 free download.
The software can be used not only for converting tapes, but for a variety of activities related to audio files. The features are so extensive that this own review would be necessary. But are important the possibility of sections of the recording (eg silence) to delete, a bass booster, a normalizer and the noise removal.
As output formats WAV, MP3 and OGG offered, the output quality can be adjusted extensively.
Converting:
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To be able to convert a cassette / secure, one must first install the supplied software. The device is automatically recognized by Windows Plug & Play (at least under Windows 7). Then we go:
1. Connect the device via USB to the PC
2. Start Audacity
3. Insert the cartridge
4. Press to Play
5. Press in on Audacity recording
6. Wait: the cassette plays now on at normal speed, in Audacity, you can listen to the cassette. When the cartridge is finished, one can
7. Press in Audacity to stop and
8. Stop the cassette
9. in Audacity you can then intuitively edit the recording, for example, cut out the silence at the beginning, the end and in the middle or reduce the noise.
10. in Audacity by selecting File -> Convert Export as ... the recording as WAV, MP3 or OGG file and save.
11. Finish the backup and the next cartridge is off.
Review:
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The operation of the converter and the included Audacity truly intuitive and the recording can be easily edited. The sound quality is moderate, but not on the device but to the generally weak sound quality of the medium cassette is (by now two decades in which we have become accustomed to the clear sound of a CD, you have forgotten how bad that sounded at that time).
The only feature that I miss would be known by older stero systems High Speed Dubbing, with which one could copy at double speed, the cassette back then. To digitize a cassette just takes about 50 minutes.
Overall, however, a really great device that allows the saving of cassettes is made easy - and at a fair price. A real buy recommendation!
