Reshow Portable Cassette Tape Player, Best Overall Standalone USB to MP3 Converter, Audio Cassette to Digital Converter Automatically Divides(Silver)

For years, I have been an avid audiobook listener, a journey that began in the era of 'Books on Tape'—a term synonymous with the pioneering company of the time. I must have accumulated 100+ titles on cassette tape, which I played on my Sony Walkman and the cassette deck hooked up to my stereo. As technology evolved, so did my listening habits, transitioning from the iconic Sony Walkman to Apple's revolutionary iPod, and ultimately, to the convenience of my iPhone. What I appreciate about audiobooks in a digital format is the ability to re-listen to them after a while, and their handy presence right on my phone.While I was excavating my crawl space recently, I unearthed my venerable collection of 'audiobook cassettes. Through my old Denon tape deck, I was thrilled to once again discover the high quality of these productions, from the narration to the sound engineering. And with so many great titles, from Sherlock Holmes with John Gielgud to Ken Follett, to Clive Cussler, I wanted to rediscover them again, but conveniently in a digital format.I initially recorded these analog gems directly into my computer, which required the purchase of specialized software and an adapter. This worked well, but it was time-consuming. I had to monitor the audio levels of the files once they were recording, and then use a second software program, Audacity, to edit it all together and export the native files as MP3s. (Some of these titles were six or eight cassettes in length!) I found that this process was tying up my computer for long periods. So, after digitizing a couple of Clive Cussler epics in this way, I convinced myself there had to be a better, more convenient way to transfer my audiobooks from an analog cassette into a digital mp3 format.I googled "Tape to Digital Converter" which led me to Amazon and this product. When it arrived, I immediately went through the 8-page folded panel instructions that were included. It's worth noting that the instructions are articulated in clear, comprehensible English, a refreshing departure from the usual perplexing 'Engrish' translations. I realized that not only could I record cassettes, but I could also PLAY them from a powered speaker, or headphones (there is a pair of ear-bud style phones supplied) as the unit can function as a tape player/recorder with both Aux line-in and output ports.The recording process is multi-faceted and easy with a standard USB drive, which you insert on the side of the unit. You can choose to record in two modes, "manual" and "auto." The manual mode will record the cassette side "as is" and you will have to turn it off manually once it has stopped. You can select auto-reverse and it will also record the other side, but you will have to stop it manually or it will continue to record each side in a continuous loop. If you choose auto mode, the software will detect the space between tracks and save each into separate files. If a song has a pause longer than two seconds, it will detect this as a new track and record the one song into two files. But, this is easily fixed as you can recombine the files in Audacity.In terms of price and functionality, this product represents unparalleled value. I am more than halfway through digitizing my entire collection of books on tape...it's like getting a whole new audiobook club membership for one low price! The overall process saves me a lot of time.As an FYI, if you have audiobooks on CDs, it will transfer those as well through the "Aux-in" jack. My laptop is relatively new, and they have eliminated external drives from these, so now I "rip" them via this unit.One final note, if you have just one boxed set of audiobooks on tape, you can sell it on eBay after you have digitized it, and the unit has paid for itself!I wholeheartedly endorse this product as the most efficient, economical, and user-friendly method for digitizing your cherished analog cassettes and other 'vintage' recordings, music included!

It's an excellent product and does what it says it will (convert cassette tapes to mp3s). The only problem I had was figuring out how to get it to accept my thumbdrive. Also it sometimes copied both sides of the tape at once! But most of the time it works just great.

I recently purchased the Portable Cassette Player by Reshow from Amazon, and I’m seriously loving it! This little gadget perfectly combines that old-school vibe with some modern perks. The sound quality is way better than I expected, making my old tapes sound fresh and clear. Plus, it’s super sleek and compact, so I can easily take it anywhere. The buttons are really easy to use too.One of my favorite things about it is the fact that the battery life is impressive as well; I can use it for hours without needing to recharge. Overall, the Portable Cassette Player by Reshow is a fantastic buy. If you’re into reliving the good old days or just want to enjoy your tape collection, this is definitely the player to get. Five stars for sure!

The quality of this item really bad. I could put that aside if it functioned well. It doesn't. The transport controls of the tape mechanism work but they feel worse than any tape player I've ever used.The amount of noise this thing emits during playback and recording is insane. I'm not talking about tape hiss or warble. I'm taking about the weird popping and beeping and thrumming noises during playback and recording. All of these noises come through on the digital recording.Another big issue is trying to cue up your track to record. The "automatic" mode is useless. It doesn't work. You end up with one giant track with all the songs missing the first 10 seconds.You'd think recording each song individually would be simple but it's not. From the time you press the record button it takes 10-12 seconds for the signal to start being sent to to USB port, this cuts off the beginning of the song. For the record button to function the play button on the cassette needs pressed first, so you can't even try to time the start of the recording to circumvent the issue.I tried 16 times to record one track and between the delayed record start and the weird boops and pops I could not get a decent recording.You're better off buying a cheap name brand cassette player with RCA outs or even a headphone jack, connect that to your computer and record it that way.

This cassette to mp3 converter provides the user with an easy way to digitize audio cassettes at a very reasonable price. If you have the right expectations upfront, you will be happy with its performance. For example, this equipment is not going to produce a file with stereophonic quality. Occasionally, there can also be some background noise on the file, especially if there are quality issues with the original cassette. You do need to read the instructions to use it and to identify the functions of the buttons on the front and sides of the device, but once you understand these things, the converter is easy to use. What is most important to me is to be able to easily and quickly digitize the numerous cassette tapes that I have, many of which contain audio of family members who are no longer with us. Once the audio is converted to a USB flash drive, the file is easily uploaded to a computer. Without this simple device, my cassettes would just remain in storage, never be heard, and the analog magnetic tape recordings would continue to degrade.