Digitise your trip down memory lane

Introduction

I’ve been “into music” since as long as I can remember. Music has been an accompaniment to my life wherever I’ve been and whatever I’ve been doing, be it sitting on a train or re-decorating the lounge. It also came in quite handy in a previous career as a DJ (weddings, parties etc. not exactly Ministry of Sound). I have a ridiculous collection of CDs. And loads of old analogue music, mostly in the form of 12” singles but also some tapes.

Tape was an awful format from a sonic point of view, but it was so convenient, and so portable (thanks to the Sony Walkman and its imitators). Particularly for learning all those 12” singles that had to be mixed together, finding the breaks, looking for good spots to mix, learning which 3 minute intros could be ignored, and which ones actually added something to the 7” version of the song.

So I’ve still got boxes of tapes that have been crying out for attention. Some of them may contain forgotten gems, others may contain total garbage. One day they’ll get looked at. Provided they haven’t deteriorated too badly...

That one day has finally arrived, with the arrival of Honestech Audio Recorder 3 Plus with Cassette Player. I’ve still got analogue equipment lying around that would do the job, but to be able to pick up some software and a USB Walkman (not technically a Sony Walkman of course, but everything got branded as Walkman whether Sony or not) for under 40 quid just makes life so much easier.
 

 

Set Up

No need to rig up old Hi-Fi equipment, just install software from CD, plug USB Walkman into your PC, and in about 5 minutes you’re ready to capture those analogue memories to MP3 (or WAV if you prefer).

The USB Walkman can also be used separately, insert 2 batteries (not supplied) and headphones (supplied), and it’s like the 1980s all over again (supply your own fashions though). But for recording, the supplied USB cable is all you need, no batteries required.

In Use

Simples.

There’s an “Easy Wizard mode” which pretty much does all you need. Test the sound coming out of the USB device, set levels appropriately. Decide how long you want it to record for, press record, press play on the device.

It then records until you tell it to stop (or until the timer that you can set in the previous step runs out) and automatically creates new tracks based on the gaps in the original playback (if there are any of course).

Your tracks are then ready to go. Or you can edit them with the simple editor provided, which allows you to amplify, reduce noise, normalise or fade in and/or out. There are plenty of other sound editors out there (including some great free ones as well as paid for ones reviewed elsewhere on the site) if you really want to tidy up the sound, but this should be adequate for most people.

If you don’t want the wizard mode, you can use the advanced mode - you can still do the same things, you just have more options about how to save things, file formats, bit rates etc.

Oh, by the way, this has become a lost art:-
 

Conclusion

Cracking bit of kit at a cracking price. If you’ve got a few old tapes lying around (maybe some tapes of your teenage band rehearsing or something like that) then this allows you to quickly get them digitised and saved forever before that nasty old tape perishes.

Once you’ve got those old tunes in digital form, you can spend hours tweaking the audio to your liking (if desired), or you can enjoy the digitised version of the tape that you recorded of that flexidisc that was sellotaped to the cover of the NME in 1982 in all its scratchy glory. Or the tape of you working on the sound of the band in your local village hall, and wondering why you never made it big...

My only concern is that the unit is a little flimsy (the door opens at the side rather than the conventional bottom-opening most popular with these devices) and the buttons feel a little cheap. But that’s what you get at this price point, and it’s not something you’re going to use every day for 5 years. It’s very much a use it and then leave it kind of device. I think it will be fine for most people and their little random collections of tapes though.

Recommended, perhaps an ideal Xmas gift for someone who has lots of tapes!