ION Audio Tape 2 PC | USB Cassette Deck Conversion System with RCA & USB cables

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Product Specifications

Quickly transfers music from tapes to digital music format
Quickly transfer music on your tapes to MP3 format on your computer
Dual dubbing cassette deck
Plug and Play USB audio interface, no drivers needed
Metal and CrO2 tape selector
PC and Mac compatible

Product Description

Product Description ION Audio’s Tape 2 PC is a revolutionary tape deck that plays and records tapes, with a twist: it turns your music into MP3s!

Tape 2 PC has a convenient USB connection so you can plug into your Mac or PC.

Tech Specs Type: Stereo double cassette deck Track System: 4-track 2-channel Tape speed: 4.8 cm/sec Frequency Response (-20dB recording) Chrome tape 40-15000Hz (±3dB) Normal tape 40-14000Hz (±3dB) (0dB recording) Chrome tape 40-8000Hz (±3dB) Normal tape 40-8000Hz (±3dB) S/N ratio: 58dB Wow and flutter: <0.2% (DIN45500) Crosstalk: 40dB (1kHz) Harmonic distortion: less than 1% (at 1 kHz, OVU 3rd H.D. normal tape) Channel separation: 40dB (1kHz) Head Deck A: Playback Deck B: Recording/playback, 2-gap ferrite head for erasure Motor: DC servo motor (x 2) Fast forward/Rewind time: ~100 sec w. C-60 cassette Input terminals Line In (x 2) Min. input level: 600mV (0dB) Input impedance: 50kΩ Output terminals Line Out (x 2) Output level: 600mV (0dB) Output impedance: 5kΩ USB Audio Interface: USB 1.1 compatible, 16 bit,44.1kHz (CD quality) or 48kHz sample rate Power requirement: AC220V-230V ~ 60Hz For U.K. 240V ~ 60Hz For U.S.A. & Canada 127V ~ 60Hz Power Consumption: 11.9W Maximum Dimensions (width x height x depth): 16.5” x 5.3” x 8.5” Weight: 8.5lbs Accessories: RCA cable USB cable Software CD Quickstart Manual Safety and Warranty Information Amazon.com Reclaim those old cassettes–both store-bought and recorded from the radio or live performances–and save them to your PC with the Ion Tape 2 PC USB dual cassette deck, which is compatible with both Windows- and Mac-based computers. Just plug the Tape 2 PC into your computer using the provided USB cable, install the software and start converting your music.

The Ion Tape 2 PC USB dual cassette deck (see larger schematic image of front panel controls) It comes with everything you need to turn your music into digital MP3 files. ION’s exclusive software suite makes transfer and editing your music easy. EZ Tape Converter provides an easy way to transfer your music and import it into your iTunes music library. Windows users can download a version of EZ Tape Converter with Gracenote MusicID technology for free. It automatically adds album, artist, and song information for you.

When you’re finished archiving your cassettes to your computer, Tape 2 PC can connect to your stereo system using standard RCA cables for convenient cassette listening in your living room, garage, or wherever your stereo system resides. Other features include recording level adjustment, dubbing (from deck A to deck B) with high-speed dubbing capabilities, and gain adjustment.

Key Features Transfer music on your tapes to MP3 Dual-dubbing cassette deck Plug and Play USB connection–no drivers needed Works with Metal and CrO2 tapes EZ Tape Converter (PC) and EZ Audio Converter (Mac) software for hassle-free recording What’s in the Box Tape 2 PC, USB cable, RCA stereo audio cable, software CD, quick start manual

Computer Requirements PC running Windows XP (32-bit or 64-bit) or Vista (32-bit or 64-bit) Mac running OS X 10.4 or higher One available USB 1.1 port or higher

With EZ Tape Converter, you can quickly start recording LP tracks…

…and then tag individual tracks with artist, album, and song title tags. See all Product description

Product Reviews

ION Tape2PC works great but check your recording settings

The ION Tape2PC is a good tool for converting old audio cassettes to modern digital formats. I have used it to convert over 700 cassettes of varying ages ( some going back over 40 years), brands and types (Ferrous, Chrome, Metal) and sources (home recordings, pre-recorded albums, LP to tape as well as radio and special mixes). Works great for these - I still have about another thousand tapes to convert so doing at least one tape per day I’ve got a few more years of transfers ahead :)A Note on Sound Quality : The ION device itself has been compared by other sites to have audio quality at equivalent to CD level, however I have also noted some persons making the complaint about less than Hi-Fi results. There are some real limitations with any digitization process starting with the quality constraints on the audio cassette in the first place - whatever you have recorded is as good as it will ever be given a few adjustments for EQ and levels.Next the ADC (Analog to Digital Converter) in the ION that takes the tape analog audio to the digital stream coming over the USB cable. This seems to be at a very good level that exceeds or matches the limitations of most audio cassettes.Critically the audio recording input process on the user’s PC is the next big challenge. I would suggest that before making any tape conversions that the user ensures that the recording input settings from the ION device is set to max - i.e. DVD quality.On a Windows PC, check the Sound Settings > Recording Tab then look at the Device Properties in the Advanced Tab. The highest level there is 2 channels, 16 bit, 48000Hz (full stereo with DVD quality). You will not get the best from the ION at any lower setting.I had the unfortunate experience of recording well over 100 tapes, that on later listening review, had slightly muddy sound for quite a few and poor stereo separation. I discovered that my recording input was set at 1 channel, 16bit, 22050Hz (mono with AM radio quality). After fixing that little issue I recopied my tapes at the DVD recording level with the vastly improved results that came alive with clear sound and good stereo separation.Finally, after making sure you’re getting the best from the source material, the choice of recording software and the encoding format - loss-less or lossy - gives the final touch. A tough choice here between the large file sizes from loss-less vs. the space saving but lower quality lossy formats. It comes down to personal choice and storage space realities. You have to try some test recordings and listen to the results for several formats and quality levels. As a general rule try a level or two up from what you find as a good recording - disk space is getting cheaper, your tapes are getting older and you don’t have the time to do it over if you find that it could have been better recorded.I settled on 2 channel mp3 at 320Kbit - this was better than the quality of the source audio cassette and provided a good quality reference to replace my aging cassettes. The originals can go back to storage while the digital files allow them to live on again for hours of listening.

Sometimes, you do get what you pay for…

This is a frustrating product- not altogether terrible, but inconsistent nonetheless. Let’s face it, if we’re buying and using this product, it means we’ve got old cassettes that we want to preserve. Old cassettes are generally worn, well-used, temperamental, problematic. Because of that, preservation brings inherent challenges and issues. In one sense, the ION Audio Tape 2 PC is a very economical solution- possibly one of the better or even best options for under $100. That said, here’s my experience:CONS:1) The supporting software automatically exports everything to iTunes. If you have a Mac, you have no choice about it. If you have a PC, there are some workarounds, but it’s complicated. If you love iTunes, great! If you don’t, well… you get the picture.2) There are no easy ways to control the resolution and quality of your imports. My first one sounded terrible- distorted, awful, just plain unusable. I was able to partly fix this by adjusting the gain switch on the back of the unit, but the quality was still terrible. I finally found a workaround that got decent results: I went into iTunes, opened preferences, selected import settings, and set it to “Import using Apple Lossless Encoder / Setting: Automatic.” The next import worked well, and in checking, the resolution of the resulting file was the standard 44.1khz / 16 bit resolution found in CDs.3) This is a pretty cheap build. This isn’t your TASCAM, AKAI, or SONY stereo deck of the late 70s, 80s, or 90s. Heck, it’s not even the venerable groundbreaking ProWalkman. Unfortunately, that translates to inconsistent performance from play to play. I experienced trouble with tapes (especially well-used or older ones ones) tracking at an even speed. In one case, trying to convert a tape from the B deck produced an uneven stereo spread (everything skewed left) and a 60hz hum. I tried the same tape, same song from the A deck and the converter software produced a really nice file. I can only conjecture, but given the looseness of the tape doors, I’m guessing that the tolerances on this machine are wide enough to lead to higher inconsistency.4) When you plug the unit into an outlet, it produces a pretty strong hum… even when the unit is powered off.5) If you are a musician or audiophile trying to preserve cassettes with high fidelity, you’ll probably be frustrated with the results and by the inconsistency. It’s probably better to get a decent vintage tape deck and route the sound to through some kind of analog interface to ProTools or something else.6) The USB port is in the back of the machine, which is less convenient if you’d like to use this unit in your stereo or studio for cassette playback.PROS:1) This is cheap.2) The dubs and conversions that I made when everything was working came out quite well. The quality was better and less harsh than streaming the same tracks from YouTube. EZ Vinyl/Tape Converter does preserve the air and analog feeling of the original cassettes. That said, if you’re simply wanting to hear a beloved album, you’re probably better off with a commercial download.3) Usable as a cassette player in your home stereo. It can dub cassette to cassette, if you really want to do that.4) Though I haven’t tried some of the cheaper options of portable converters, I’m guessing from reviews that this model is considerably better.5) If you’re not worried about high fidelity or musical quality and you’re just preserving lectures, interviews, etc., this machine can do a good job.6) For all my complaining, it is really easy to use once you’ve got it set up.

Great for converting to MP3 or copying a tape. Bad at recording from other sources.

You’d think that since this is supposed to be a tape deck that it would be better at not just recording from one casette to another. YES, you can use this to record from any source since it has Line in (red/white) connectors in the back. But there are some problems:* You can hear what you’re recording if you’re suing the Audio IN. The sound will not play through its USB connection.This is sad because it means you can’t easily use the Tape Deck to do what it does in reverse, to convert digital audio to cassette. It will record it, and you will see the visual sound indicator on the front moving and you can play back what you recorded and listen through your computer (if you have it all set up right), but you can’t hear anything while you record. The only way around this was to use a splitter coming out of the source, one end going into the Tape Deck and the other to a pair of speakers.Granted most people want to convert to MP3, and it does a great job of that. Some people are here talking about the sound but again, this is audio cassette audio quality, I’m not sure what people are expecting.

Easy to set up and use.

This has been very easy to set up and easy to use. The quality of the recording has been the same as the quality of the tape recorded. This as been so simple that my non-technical wife can can do it. The only item that prevented me from giving five stars was the fact that when recording, you can choose to record with automatic tracks or one big recording. I’ve tried both ways of capturing the data. When I used the automatic adding tracks, it capture a lot of the talk on the first track and then 1 min or less on other tracks. I would like to control time intervals on tracks if possible. So I have been capturing as one large file and inserting tracks where i want in a audio editing device (NCH WavePad)

Five Stars

It was for a gift, I carry it on a plane 6000 miles south and my friend lives it

Five Stars

Works great delivered early which was a good thing

Good buy for my use.

Works fine. Does the job, true to the recorded quality, with some editing possible.If you’ve got the time, it sure beats the cost of commercial conversion.

but I can tell that its pretty stupid. a cassette deck is meant to bring …

I havent bought this, but I can tell that its pretty stupid. a cassette deck is meant to bring Radio/Cd to cassette tape so you can listen to the songs over and over again if…

Good Product: Performs As Advertised

Product was as advertised and is performing very well. The only complaint is that you have to turn off the recording process before the cassette tape has finished playing.