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Confused over what to buy and options within budget

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Sat, Dec 17 2011, 7:51PM
aaand
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I'd appreciate some advice and help in buying suitable kit for my needs.

I've got loads of tapes I want to convert to MP3 so I can hear them at home or when out which can be quite often but I'm quite confused about all the various options as technology has moved on quite considerably.

I've been looking at Apple classic as I can also use it to store work files but I think some of their competitors such as Archos have similar offerings that cost quite a lot less.

At home I want a good tuner, amp, CD player and speakers. The system is not required to blast the ceiling off unless it is guaranteed to blast my neighbour in to orbit around the moon so she cant shove in a complaint to our landlord!

I've looked at Denon's latest kit which sounds great but is more than I can afford right now and as I have a limited budget I'm probably going to buy on ebay or a local forum, so I'd also like advice on questions to ask.  I guess my total budget all in is probably c. £100 - £150 excluding the Apple Classic.

Thanks for your help.  

 

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Sat, Dec 17 2011, 8:00PM
#1
aaand
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RE: Confused over what to buy and options within budget

I've seen:

  1. on ebay and as it would seem to fulfill many of my home listening needs, www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330647009941?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_659wt_1392
  2. I've also seen a teac dab fm radio,cd,ipod system on offer for £100 - apparently normally retails for £179
  3. Would a kindle suit my storage and listening needs which is far cheaper than Apple Classic and would therefore release money either to have a better system at home or to buy a better quality tape to usb conversion device 
  4. I'd also like advice on converting my tapes to mp3 format and still get a decent sound - there seems to be qutie a few low cost tape to usb converters going for £20 but would that be a case of throwing my time and money down the drain because I know I wont be happy with a poor quality sound.

Thanks again

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Sun, Dec 18 2011, 10:02AM
#2
amcluesent
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RE: Confused over what to buy and options within budget

> I guess my total budget all in is probably c. £100 - £150 <

For that budget, it's more what turns up rather than what you'd like...Anyhow, something like a Onkyo CR-515 and Wharfedale Diamond IIs should be doable on Ebay.

>I'd also like advice on converting my tapes to mp3 format<

That would be so tedious, I wouldn't bother. Just d/l what you want off iTunes.

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Tue, Dec 20 2011, 9:34PM
#3
phlogiston
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RE: Confused over what to buy and options within budget

The simplest approach to converting tapes would be to connect your tape player preferably via phono output, but alternatively headphone - microphone socket on pc, then use "Audacity" to convert the tape to mp3.

This has worked quite well for me, and is rather cheaper than repurchasing recordings, many of which may not be unavailable.

I have an oldish (2005) version of Magix, which I have used to declip recordings that were overloaded. 

Converting tapes is a time consuming process, but I have gained personal satisfaction from restoring some recordings that were not in the best shape - and I enjoy listening to them!

The only ones I've had to give up on are the ones where the tape has stretched.

Enjoy!

Best wishes,

P

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