5.0 out of 5 stars Easy Analog to Digital dubbing for Your cassettes

E. · February 26, 2024

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } 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 Bolo 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!

4.0 out of 5 stars Does the job relatively easily

S.W. · August 7, 2023

After comparing specs and reading reviews on many similar items, decided to try this one and I pretty happy with it so far. It seems the only options available these days for digitizing cassette tapes are devices in this price range that are all very similar, or getting a real tape deck and an computer audio interface for it. I've had a dual tape deck hooked up to my computer for decades, but hadn't used it in years and discovered it no longer functions :( Buying a new one would easily cost over $200, so wanted to try the this item as a cheaper option, and so far I've digitized several tapes with a good enough result that I can finally get rid of the original tapes.Pros:• Very inexpensive.• The process of digitizing to MP3 is fairly simple and hands free, once you figure it out.• Once you start digitizing, you don't have to monitor it the whole time. I have not heard any unexpected glitches in the resulting MP3s that have required redoing anything.Cons:• The audio quality is not exactly hi-fidelity. There is some hum and hiss even when the tape is not in motion, but it's not terrible (noise floor is around -60db). On the resulting MP3, you only notice it in the pause between tracks. When a song is playing you can't really tell. Especially if the music is loud. I'm mostly transferring metal (ie speed core/thrash) so pristine quality is not required. Might not be good though for more delicate music like classical :)• The whole thing seems very fragile. I would not plan on taking this places and using it to just play tapes like an old Walkman. I will only be using it at home to digitize tapes. The door that you have to open seems particularly fragile, and when you close it, it doesn't click shut with a very solid feeling.• Even though it has an auto-reverse function, I would recommend only playing tapes one direction and then flipping the tape over to play the other side, so that you are always using the same playback head, for consistency with the audio.• I would also recommend doing the transfers with the volume level / recording level as high as possible for a better signal/noise ratio.• Some of the button placement is weird and not intuitive, and the labels are tiny and nearly impossible to read. The manual leaves a bit to be desired, but with it you can figure out the few buttons that are involved in the digitizing process and what order to do things in.• It has a feature where you can have it auto-detect the pause between songs and make each one a separate MP3 file. Personally I didn't find this reliable enough to be useful. Too many cases where it falsely detects a gap or doesn't detect a legit one. I found it much easier to just create one MP3 file per side of the tape, then chop it up in an audio editor like Audacity.• The ear buds it comes with are terrible. I would recommend using actual headphones with a 1/8th inch adapter, or at least higher quality ear buds.Summary:I'm happy enough with it that I'm going to use it to digitize my entire cassette tape collection, and finally be able to get rid of the physical tapes. (A lot of it is original music that isn't available commercially.)

5.0 out of 5 stars Good

D.B. · June 2, 2025

Worked well not really sturdy but doesn't need to be

1.0 out of 5 stars A Piece of Junk That Doesn't Work--Save Your Money

G.C. · June 1, 2025

What a flimsy piece of junk. I have no idea why this ranked so high on a Buyers Guide list. I bought this to transfer treasured old tapes of my family from when I was a child. I tried repeatedly to transfer the first one, and all I could ever get it to grab was 16 seconds of it. The blinking green light indicated it was recording the whole thing to the thumb drive, so I only realized after playing it all the way through that it had transferred almost none of it. When I plugged the USB drive into my computer, it uploaded a half dozen empty or 16-second MP3 files. Even if it worked, the ergonomics of this thing are terrible. The buttons are so tiny I can barely make out the markings on them. The battery compartment cover is flimsy and poorly designed, making it hard to get back in place. It even popped open once while the cassette--which lays on top of it--was inside. The cherry on top: this machine generates a ton of noise when you press record that isn't there if you are just playing the tape. Since you can only listen with headphones, your ears get blasted by that racket without warning. I'm returning this and will look for something better. I'd give this zero stars if I could.

5.0 out of 5 stars It does what it said it would do. Love it

M.D. · May 25, 2025

Does a great job transferring tapes to computer files that can be loaded on CD's.

price / performance, pretty good

A.C. · May 24, 2023

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } I would have given it 5 stars, the volume control not accurate, you have to play with volume control before you commit your mp3 final recording to your USB drive, otherwise not bad.

Usless

P. · January 4, 2025

Did not work

Garbled output

P.Y. · December 26, 2023

Looks cheap ad flimsy. Output on to a FAT32 formatt memory stick was garbled and sounded as though it was recorded under water. Will keep it just to play cassettes rather than convert them. Am using Audacity for conversion with much more control.