Audio Recorder 2.0 Deluxe

I've now had a few days to play with the Honestech Audio Recorder2.0 Deluxe unit and am quite pleased with the way it works.

I've been doing some converting with another unit which requires that you have eklectricity (This unit doesn't) and I wanted something that was simple to use I have hundreds of audio cassettes of concerts and radio broadcasts and wanted to preserve them. . Though the Audio Recorder 2.0 has capabilities of recording and converting from LPs, you need room next to your PC to put a turntable. So, so far I'm only doing cassettes. If only doing LPs and you need a turntable, you may want a turntable with a USB cord to do that project. For cassettes though this wins hands down!

A week or two ago I got the Honestech unit and tested it out this weekend. I converted five 90-minute audiocassettes so far with ease. The Honestech unit comes with all cords you need and does NOT require any separate electric power. I was up and running in less than three minutes! The unit itself is the size of a pack of cigarettes and it comes with easy to use software.

It only requires that you have a Walkman cassette player or a boom box. Because you are transferring digital files the output will be the same.

There are two options to convert. In the "Easy Wizard Mode", you press play on the cassette player and the record button on the PC screen and let it run. (You can set the length to record but that's not necessary.) Then just come back in 30 or 45 minutes, depending on length of tape. You can check the box to have the software automatically separate songs into tracks but that is based on sound and, in my tests, it didn't get the right tracks about 40% of the time. But not to worry.

The second option is "Advanced Mode" and you'll use this more. No, it's not technical. You basically do the same thing on first pass, but let it record as one long file. After it's done you can ask the unit to separate tracks (similar to Easy Wizard Mode) or use the visual graph to see where the sound drops and manually mark it. This is like Audacity, but I found the Honestech graphics much cleaner and no technology needed.

After you separate the tracks you can name them and save to your PC. OR you can click "burn" and insert a Blank CD and it will burn as a Music CD, MP3 CD or save as a .wav file. (Just remember that a CD will hold 80 minutes of audio and many cassettes are 90 minutes.) And remember you are recording in real time so it will take 90 minutes for each 90 minute cassette.

Another nice feature is that if you've recorded Internet podcasts or concerts via steaming audio recorders like Total Recorder you can open these using the Audio Recorder software and cut them into separate songs or tracks. A nice bonus!

I haven't tried their phone tech support yet (non toll free) but I didn't need it.

Assuming you have a turntable and amplifier with RCA jacks near your PC, you can record Lps. Or if you take a laptop to where your stereo is you can do that as well. I just didn't try that.

So for the money, I'm pretty happy with the Honestech unit and can highly recommend it.

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"

I bought this a couple of weeks ago. Like the other reviewer, I was most interested in transferring cassettes. Let's face it, generally we can replace most of our LPs with CDs, but tapes that we have mixed ourselves, etc. are another story. I am not particularly technical or patient, but this device is easy enough for anyone to use. It is small and the connections couldn't be easier. Plug the USB into your computer and the other end can plug into any device that has a headphone jack. This is really cool when you think about it because almost anything has a headphone jack. There is a particular song from an old movie I really want but it does not exist anywhere. Now I can rent the DVD and plug this device in the headphone jack of the TV and record it! Just on the Wizard setting, it is very adequate, and of course you can go into advanced and easily edit there. I really love this thing and it is reasonably priced for the service it provides to you. The only way it could be easier is if someone else would do it for me! If you have cassettes you were thinking were obsolete, think again and buy this. It does a great job (and the quality is pretty darn good, considering how bad tapes can sometimes be.)

I like this product because it deliver what it promise. I recoreded my cassettes to my PC and converted them to MP3 with noise reduction. that is all what I exactly was looking for. and what other softwares gave me hard time doing it. thanks for the manufacture of this product.

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