ByronStatics Portable Cassette Players, Walkman Cassette Player Convert to MP3 WAV by USB Flash, Built-in Mic and Speaker Belt Clip Earbud Included 2 AA Battery

I read reviews for several CONVERTERS and decided on this one in spite of the very confusing reviews. Later I realized that on this site, you have choices of teal, pink, etc., but they are for PLAYING AND RECORDING cassettes, they WILL NOT CONVERT cassettes to MP3s. Be careful what you order.I read reviews mentioning the uncalibrated speed making it sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks and how to calibrate the speed from the little hole in the back, how it chewed up the tapes, how it burned through batteries, etc. You can disregard all those horror stories as not pertaining to the CONVERTER.I specifically wanted a device that had a speaker, as I did not want to have to wear earbuds to monitor how it was going. It does have automatic shut-off at the end of the tape, but if you have a tape that isn't recorded all the way to the end, you will be converting noise, so with a speaker, you can stop the converting manually.I have now recorded more than 70 sides and only had one get chewed and I think it was my fault for not making sure the tape was tight. Thankfully it was about the 3rd one so from then on, I put every side into my good old Sony machine and rewound to make sure the tape was tight, then put it into the converting machine. Also, I recommend using a USB power cable (the jack is not for the USB-C type) to an electrical source for a steady power supply.When I play the converted MP3s, they sound exactly like the original cassettes. I did several tests in the beginning: took the flash drive out of the device and inserted it into my computer to make sure they were converting correctly; the files are sequentially named (TAP0001MP3, 0002, ...) and I renamed them and made sure the renaming didn't corrupt them; I began converting them at the highest volume, adjusting the volume during playback on my computer, but that was too distracting for me to work on other things while it's doing its thing, so I tried lowering the volume way down, and the volume made no difference when it came to playback of the converted file.So, having said all that, here are my instructions for trouble-free conversions --Have the USB power plugged in, and the flash drive inserted.Set the button on the side/edge to "Tape".Insert the tightly re-wound cassette and close the door firmly.Press the Play button on the side/edge of the device.Then quickly press the Record button on the front surface of the device; the light will begin flashing.If you need to stop it manually, press the Stop button on the side/edge.This has been a long review, but maybe either you'll accept what I've written and dive in, or it will prompt you to double-check some things for yourself.One last thing - of course you can simply play pre-recorded cassettes or record on blank cassettes -- the buttons on the edge/side are for use as a regular cassette player/recorder. The 6 buttons on the front are for the converting process. The Play button on the side/edge does double duty.

My goal is to digitize all my 80's tapes. So if you just want to play your tapes, this might work for you. But if you want to convert to MP3 - this doesn't work. I really wanted this to work. I had ordered the MyPin one which worked for about a month... then didn't. Then I ordered two of the same thing from a different supplier (Digitnow) and they did the same thing - just stopped the conversion mid-song for no reason and when it did convert it would "skip" just like a record player skips, but electronically. So then I tried this one (Byronstatics) and it is doing that same skipping thing. It doesn't stop converting mid-song but it is doing that skipping thing. I imaging that all these cheapos use the same programming and common hardware - so maybe they are all essentially the same. ??? So this one goes back. Next up? I'm expecting another one (Dingmi or Gracioso - it doesn't have a name on it so I'm not sure who the maker is). If that one doesn't work, then I think I'm going to try using an old 80's stereo component system and go from the aux out on the deck directly into the PC mic jack and use Audacity to record/convert. I didn't want to have to hang up my PC and have a big stereo component sitting on my desk while burning tapes to MP3, but maybe that's the only good solution. You get what you pay for... how many times have we all heard that but we keep buying crap?!?! We are a funny species.

The media could not be loaded. For $30? Not bad. Bear in mind, I'm no audiophile. I got this A) for the novelty of it, and B) because I wanted something that could play music so I didn't have to waste my phone's battery anymore.The only thing I'd warn anyone about is that I had to force both AA batteries into the compartment, and it worried me at first, but it seems to be working fine, even after a week. (If you don't want to force it,I think the specific size of AA batteries it uses are UM3? But like I said, it still works fine now--knock on wood)What I've been doing to maintain it:-Clean the playhead (little metal piece towards the bottom) with a q-tip and isopropyl alcohol after every hour of use. (Or after you've played the A and B side of a tape)-If you haven't played a tape in awhile fast forward it to the end and then rewind it back to the beginning.-I usually listen to the A side, THEN the B side of the tape just so I don't have tape on both sides of the reel when I'm done with it, and also just so I can start with the A-side the next time I use it.On the video:-When I was looking for reviews on this thing, there were almost none for this model, and none that showed how batteries went in. So, I decided to do so here.-Apologies for how I was moving. Recording with one hand and moving the player around with the other was a bit difficult, haha.Again, got what I paid for! I was worried that the speaker wasn't gonna sound good/loud, but it can honestly get just as loud as a bluetooth speaker. I also neglected to mention that the batteries I used in the video are the exact same ones I put in a week ago. (I've listened to the same tape--which is about 40 mins long--3 times and I haven't experienced any slowdown or the batteries dying)Enjoy!