USB Cassette Converter: just about good enough [ezcap Super USB Cassette Capture]

USB Cassette Converter: just about good enough [ezcap Super USB Cassette Capture]
You can grab one of these for even less than I paid, around $23 at the time of writing: amzn.to/2Dgszqt
I was excited to get this USB tape converter because I have a bunch of old cassette tapes with old song demos and ideas, band performances from years ago, dictaphone notes, as well mix tapes and even more recent hipstery cassette-only releases. I no longer had a walkman or any tape player so I couldn’t even listen to any of this, so the idea of digitizing it all was pretty compelling.
These are my thoughts on how the device works out.

[@kitsuna9561]

Cassettes are really awesome, and I think people should use them more. It's like a little bit if the past.

[@spaceted3977]

I am using cassettes now. I record them on a bluetooth cassette Recorder and I use a Bluetooth Cassette Player with a Bluetooth Speaker. The Reason is that I don't want to carry my Phone around everywhere. Those cassette Players are a Bit wobbly at first but they play OK after a few hours of Playing. My Tascam Multitrack recorder is Useless for. Recording on to CDs, and the Quality is not Bad on the Tapes with a Bluetooth Speaker !!!

[@Querencias7]

EXCELLENT review / nice job! Great observations, comments, advice. Much appreciated RC.

[@ronanconroy5282]

Thanks! Glad it was useful!

[@shedtime_au]

I bought one to digitize some 40 year old lectures, and at AU$27 shipped it was great value. I did notice it slowed down towards the end of some poor quality cassettes, but with the better TDK tapes there were no issues at all.

[@mackeymedia]

Honest, down to earth well done. Thank you

[@iBalloonsAndMore]

Awesome, thanks, waiting for mine to arrive soon :)

[@terrystud99]

Thank you for mentioning about the cd that I had to find.

[@FlowJunkie65]

Thanks for this vid. Query: To record tracks into GarageBand, do I use the included USB cable to my Mac? Do you use a converter, like a FocusRite Scarlet USB digital converter between the cassette player at the computer/Mac? I tried going directly to the Mac via the USB cable (no converter), but GarageBand seems confused about what to do with the cassette and no audio is getting into a track. Thanks for any help you can render.

[@ronanconroy5282]

I didn't use a Focusrite, just went straight in, but I may have had to adjust the Garageband preferences and make sure it was seeing the right input

[@francochan]

Good review! Thanks! Plus: you can have a pretty good Drinking Game built around taking shots whenever he says the word “dinky”.

[@ronanconroy5282]

lol yeh when editing I noticed I kept falling back on some limited vocabulary :D

[@amoledzeppelin]

Dinking game

[@jeffreybright8119]

Great review Mate.. i`m a Muso too.. with lots of old jamming tapes .. some were done thru the desk at our gigs.. so they are not too bad .. but the levels are out a fair bit ..i have a good Yamaha twin deck .. so its nice to hear them on that. I have read you can use a Boom box tape player and use the headphone output ? what are your thoughts... this item seems a bit cheap.. i wonder how long before the mechanism starts to slip ? if it uses a belt ..or maybe it doesnt .. but i think that `Slowing might become a problem after a bit of use ... thanks .. it`s great hearing all the songs we played from many years ago...

[@ronanconroy5282]

A headphone output on a boom box is probably equal quality to this USB converter to be honest. This one is just about acceptable but not amazing fidelity.

[@nathandonnelly3369]

Since it has a USB cord is possible that it could hook up to an Android Tablet? I bought an unopened cassette promo single with the radio wersion on side A and three snippets on side B from 1996 and I've been trying to figure out how to convert my tape to an mp3.

[@ronanconroy5282]

I'm not sure - I think the Android tablets are "USB C" (the smaller type) while the ezcap USB Cassette player uses a USB 2.0 (larger type). That said, you might be able to use a different cable than the one that comes with the device, so that it plugs directly into USB C - www.amazon.com/USB-C-Cable-CableCreation-Controller-Devices/dp/B077GRPKT1, but I haven't tried that myself.

[@ApostolicPreaching4J]

Hi question, do you have to add batteries before using? I installed the program and put my cassette tape in and presses record and it’s not recording.

[@ronanconroy5282]

Yes, it takes two double As

[@ducanhnguyen6903]

Can the device record audio FROM my computer ONTO A CASSETE TAPE? Thank you very much!

[@ronanconroy5282]

Sadly, no. There's no record button on this device

[@kcangel4u]

I was really hoping you'd show HOW to transfer...

[@irpacynot]

Sub-$100, what would be your top choice in terms of this type of device to use specifically to copy to WAV files to PC? Thanks

[@ronanconroy5282]

Sorry, I probably don't have a specific choice on that. This USB converter is the only tape to digital device I have.

[@CodGod-sy9dw]

Hello, a bit late to this video. Are you able to used this cassette player as a normal cassette player? Just pop a cassette in and listen with headphones, or do you have to do all that with the computer? Thanks.

[@amoledzeppelin]

One can use it just as a player with 2xAA batteries or mini-USB input from a power bank or the DC 3V input.

[@marceloneves117]

O ruim é que não tem entrada USB para acoplar em outros aparelhos mais modernos.

[@billaitken2989]

Having connected the player to the computer I set it to record, but all I get on the Audacity screen is a few seconds of sound and wave image before it cuts out completely. So the player appears to be faulty. I'll be returning it to the supplier unless you have other advice.

[@ronanconroy5282]

but you get sound when you connect to headphones? Remind me, does this come with the USB cable included or are you using a different one?

[@billaitken2989]

@@ronanconroy5282 yes, I do get sound when I connect to headphones. And the USB cable is included in the package.

[@ronanconroy5282]

@@billaitken2989 I'd try a different USB port; then a different USB cable, just to see if either of those things helps. Also, do you have anything like GarageBand you can try instead of Audacity?

[@billaitken2989]

@@ronanconroy5282 I don't have GarageBand or anything similar but I'll try the USB alternatives you suggest. Thanks for the advice.

[@xiiiixxiv5179]

Of course it's cheap and not good material but it does a great job. This player is very cheap in my country and we'll, I don't expect it to be as good as 4 or 5 figure setup

[@ronanconroy5282]

Yep, that's pretty much what I was looking for, something inexpensive that does the job!

[@hajareissa3794]

I bought this from amazone. I have a question can I listen to music on it without connecting it to the USB ?

[@ronanconroy5282]

You can, but honestly the quality isn't going to be amazing I don't think. For me this is just a handy way to get very old tapes into digital format to make sure they don't get lost. If you're intent on listening to cassettes I'd probably wanna get a better quality device.

[@iraq_96]

Thank you I purchased this device , is it possible to increase the recording speed?

[@ronanconroy5282]

I don't think so, no.

[@iraq_96]

@@ronanconroy5282 Thank you dear

[@samsam-ql2cj]

can i download a music without a cassete tape?

[@ronanconroy5282]

Not sure I understand - you mean can you download the music from the cassette? If that's your question, then yes, you can play the cassette over a USB cable into a Mac or PC and record it as an MP3 or other format, and then download that to your player device.

[@laudy467]

crap I bought this thing thinking i could PUT MUSIC ON COSSETS i dont wanna digitize anything i wanna go from MP3 to cossete can it do that?????

[@ronanconroy5282]

No I don't think this has a record button

[@amoledzeppelin]

Today we just listened to some old Pink Floyd bootleg recordings on this. Noice.

[@Bruno65742]

vous n;avez rien expliquer comment installer et quelle drivers faut il utiliser, Meci

[@ronanconroy5282]

I didn't have to use any drivers, thankfully, and was able to use Audacity and Garageband without installing anything else.

[@nashmarasigan8309]

Can i play music there?

[@ronanconroy5282]

You mean can you listen to tapes on this, rather than just converting them? Yes, you can, but the quality is not great. If you have a lot of tapes and you love listening to them, you should probably invest in a higher quality, less cheap, dedicated tape player.

[@nashmarasigan8309]

@@ronanconroy5282 what cheap cassette player can you recommend to me so I can listen to all my cassette tapes.

[@ronanconroy5282]

@@nashmarasigan8309 Sorry, Nash, I actually don’t know 🤷‍♀️ This USB cassette converter is the first and only cassette player I’ve bought in years, so I have nothing to compare it with, I’m afraid.

[@vinylmastersgr1036]

Sorry I bought this and it had hiss,hum,buzz even when I put play without cassette and it was recorded in audacity. I put cassettes in and old typical walkman that I have bought 20 years ago and they played with crystal clear sound but there is no way to convert these. I took back this cassette player in the shop and I took my money back. Same problem with logilink usb cassette player. I'm looking for a usb cassette player that player will have no noise because I want to convert many original cassettes with greek artists that my parents have before my birth, and these cassettes have not been released in compact disc.

[@ronanconroy5282]

yeh it's not exactly hi-fidelity, but it's "just about good enough"

[@vinylmastersgr1036]

@@ronanconroy5282 I stopped have tapes as hobby I gave tapes to my friends and they transferred with good hi-fi system! Some of these were not good from record company (they had very closed bassy sound and peaks that distorted the sound in some way) but others played very good. The only thing that I made and improved in some way the sound is to reduce the gain, at 94-95 because at first it was at 99, and to open highs. Many Greek albums from 70s, 80s have not been released in compact disc.

[@KeysForChrist]

According to Techmoan, there’s only one company that is producing all of the transport and head combinations for these little cheapo cassette player and or boom box devices these days. Their speed, flutter, and so on, are really bad in general. If you want to do a good job of converting cassettes, try to find an old servo operated (in other words not belt driven) cassette deck, and connected with a sound card such as a Behringer UCA222, or something of higher quality. A friend of mine has a couple of Nakamichi dragon servo driven tape players that I’ve been trying to get my hands on for a while. Lol

[@ronanconroy5282]

thanks for the advice!

[@munyumunyu738]

Can I listen to the music without headphone? Just play it there so everyone can hear too

[@ronanconroy5282]

No, you'll either need to use headphones, or plug it into your computer and maybe try to play it live that way.

[@67Ivar]

I only use this to spin my cassette so i can clean them. The sound i crappy.

[@ronanconroy5282]

Yeh it's not the highest audio quality

[@TheTimeProphet]

I got the same machine, but after doing 4 cassettes it started clicking. It is like it is trying to reverse the tape while playing. It is even doing it while rewinding. I think it is a useless piece of crap.

[@ronanconroy5282]

It's definitely not high fidelity top quality - but for grabbing stuff from old cassettes that you can't get in newer formats, it was sufficient for the job

[@TheTimeProphet]

@@ronanconroy5282 I have now bought an interface and I am using my Pioneer tapedeck to digitise my cassettes. I haven't used it for 30 years and yet it works perfectly.

[@Channel-hl5mt]

Only talking show how it's connected

[@iqbalqazi1001]

Please use Urdu for Pakistanis

[@ronanconroy5282]

I'm sorry I don't speak Urdu.