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- High-quality USB audio interface connects your turntable, cassette
- Transfer and restore your valuable vinyl records and tapes to your computer via a simple USB connection
- Phono input switchable to line input source
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Over last few years we replaced all desktops in the house by laptops. One day I decided to convert an old audio cassette into MP3 like I used to do on my desktop. I realized that it was not going to be possible as the 'line-in' input which was available on desktop was missing in all the three laptops in the house. After some futile tries of trying to record through mic-in, I started researching. I somehow stumbled upon this device and decided to give it a try. All I can say is this is EXACTLY what I was looking for. Here is what you need to do if you wish to convert audio cassette into MP3 -You need -
1. Audio cable with one end 3.5 mm jack and other end with red & white L-R audio. You may have a spare A/V cable which comes with camera or dvd players etc. (W R and Yellow ends, you do not need to plug the Y end as it is for video)
(With 'line-in' on desktop, you simply needed an audio cable with 3.5 mm on both sides)
2. Boom box or tape deck (I used boom box)
3. U-Phono202 device
Plug the 3.5mm end of the cable in 'headphone out' of the boom box. Plug the L-R inputs in the L-R inputs of the U-Phono202 and plug it into a USB port of the laptop. Play the audio cassette. You cannot hear the sound through laptop speakers, you have to plug in the headphones in 'headphone out' of the U-Phno202 in order to hear the cassette playing.
If you are using Vista, right click on the speaker icon in the bottom tray and select 'recording devices', change the recording device to the '2USB Audio Codec' (at least that's how it shows up on mine).
I haven't yet used the packaged software. I useed Audacity instead. Open (or download if you have not) Audacity. Go to 'project', select 'new stereo track' and hit record. Whatever is playing on your boombox is now being recorded on your laptop. Hit stop when your recording is done. Export the project as 'Mp3', save it in your desired location.
I suggest making some few minute test recordings to make sure your recording sounds fine or you need to reduce/increase recording volume etc.
It worked exactly as above for me and worked perfectly too. The boombox gave a terrible hiss and an extremely annoying constant background noise while playing the cassette, however the U-Phono202 filtered almost 99% of it and the final MP3 sounds extremely clean.
I wrote detailed review as I had all these questions in my mind before I began searching for the right product. Hope this helps in case you are also looking for a solution to convert your cassettes to Mp3s. Thanks for reading.
UPDATE : UPhono202 is working perfectly fine! Just wanted to mention that if your recording appears over loud and there is jarring even after reducing boom box volume and the PC volume very low, here is what you shall do Keep the boombox and computer volumes at decent levels but reduce the microphone input 'level' Rightclick on the speaker icon in the tray. highlight the Uphono device. Click on properties. Select 'levels' tab and reduce the level all the way to 5 or 7 and then record your clip.
Buy Behringer UFO202 Audio Interface Now
I'm converting old analog recordings (LP, tape) to digital. My new computer only had an integrated sound card, and the jacks didn't work well with my equipment. I had to choose between buying and installing a sound card or trying a USB interface. I wasn't certain about the latter. Although the analog material was vintage, and didn't need a high tech solution, I thought USB might be too much of a short-cut. I stumbled on the UFO202. I had been using another great Behringer product already, the Eurorack UB502. I decided to try the UFO202. Just like the Eurorack, Behringer's claims were 100% true. It's not complicated: connect and it works. The device comes with the USB cable, but you'll need cables to connect it the source (turntable, tape deck). And be aware that you'll need to connect a powered speaker to the UFO202 to monitor your work; the output can't be heard on the computer speakers.Read Best Reviews of Behringer UFO202 Audio Interface Here
This is great! I've been using DAK interface for several years and not really satisfied.The claim that there would be no anoying buzzing or humming was not true, after owning 2 that did and you couldn't really get rid of it with noise reduction. The problem is ground looping. This product just came out in the states. I recieved it, plugged it into the computer's usb and my B&O turntable into it and started recording. The outcome was great. No humming or buzzing, (because it is usb powered) just nice clean music. Lots of thanks to Behringer. Well worth the $29.Want Behringer UFO202 Audio Interface Discount?
Yes, this thing is easy to use, but it's the software program Audacity that does need some instructions for the rest of us. (This process is not quick,it does take time and patience, lots of patience!)Here's my step-by-step on how I'm using this to digitize old cassettes (language, music, airchecks, etc) with my computer, with each track as a separate MP3 (you can choose to output to a WAV file or OGG VORBIS file). (As I type this I'm digitizing Soul To Soul, A 1971 Concert recorded in Ghana with Roberta Flack, Ike & Tina Turner etc. Soul To Soul music from the original soundtrack (recorded live in Ghana, West Africa).). I've done about 60 hours worth of cassette content so far.
Download Audacity (google it), and the LAME MP3 codec (You can do this from within Audacity, it's a link that takes you to the SourceForge.com site) you'll need to export to MP3 (if that's the format you want to export out). You can export to WAV and OGG VORBIS natively with Audacity, but you'll want MP3 if you're not a sound geek and/or want to play your new files on multiple types of devices (iPods, Android, Creative, and Zune, etc.) and/or want to save space on your hard drive.
Hook up a cassette deck with the red & white audio composite outs into the LINE IN (Update 4/15/12) inputs on the UFO202 (or you could even use a handheld cassette player with an audio jack that has composite plugs on the other end). Plug the USB from the UFO202 into your computer.
You can hook up a pair of small speakers to the UFO202 to monitor the input, or just use your computer speakers to monitor. Go to Audacity > Preferences to select the speakers (if you need to).
Also under Audacity > Edit > Preferences > File SetUp Tab > MP3 Export Setup: select your BitRate for your MP3s. For spoken work, I use 160kbps or below in mono (since there isn't as much going as in music pieces, lower bit rates are fine). For music, 256kbps Stereo (depending on how bad the cassette recording is). 192kbps should be fine too. FYI, I import all my CDs at 320kbps). The lower the number, the smaller the MP3 file will be, but the quality will be lower too. These settings will stay even after you close the program, but remember to change them if you need them. Nothing like importing some language cassette at 120 kbps Mono, and forgetting to change the settings for the next five music cassettes that I wanted to import at 256 kbps Stereo. These are my preferred settings, others may disagree.
If you don't have a quad-core computer or newer, I'd stop everything else I was doing on my computer and just import my music only (close other applications, not surf the internet, etc.), just to ensure the computer can keep up with the importing/encoding.
Clean your tape heads on the cassette player if you can.
Now you're ready to record! Here's how I import music cassettes: Click on the red RECORD button in Audacity, and press PLAY on your cassette player. With a music cassette, you can stop after each song, save it, etc. but I found it's more time-consuming to stop after each song. It's easier to let one side record, flip, record side 2, THEN label, and EXPORT EACH TRACK SEPARATELY LATER (which I outline below). So you don't have to stop after each song. but that's my preference. Go do something else while Side One plays (turn up your speakers so you can hear when it ends). When it's done, press PAUSE in Audacity, fast forward the cassette to the end, flip it to SIDE Two, press PAUSE again to continue recording, and go do something else. You could stop it after Side One, and then create a New recording for Side Two, your preference. I haven't found a setting that let's you stop recording after a certain time, so you have to babysit and be there to press STOP when the cassette has ended, or it'll stop only when you run out of hard drive space.
File > Save Project AS > (create a folder for your recordings where you can find them later) > name your project > SAVE. You'll notice it's saved as a .aup file. That's Audacity's file. Now's the time to delete any dead air, long spaces between songs, etc. To delete a couple seconds, select an area (click and drag, it'll get a darker grey) click on the SCISSORS icon in the upper right corner, and that dead air is gone. Do this after each track if you desire, or between sides. It's tedious. Save your changes: File > Save.
LABEL TRACK(S): So now that your recording is edited and safely saved as an AUP file, now it's time to label each song. Go to Project > New Label. You'll notice a new box under your recorded file. After some trial and error, here's how I do it (but you can do it your way, but this is most efficient to me). Start at the beginning of the file, zoom in to find the very beginning of each track in the LABEL area and type in the name of that track. Zoom out to get to the end quickly, zoom in to edit any dead air between tracks, label the next track, then zoom out again to to get to the end, rinse and repeat. I find that it's easier to zoom out (Magnifying glass icon near the Scissors icon) to find the beginning/end of each track, then zoom in to at least 1/2 seconds, play to make sure I'm not cutting off the very beginning of a track, then label. Again, tedious. To change a file name, the only way is to click on the LABEL and backspace from the end of the label (there's no inserting, deleting one letter etc). Also, to DELETE A LABEL, backspace until you only have the white flag, then press ENTER. I've just saved you a couple hours of searching on how to do that. Save your changes: File > Save.
You could EDIT and LABEL at the same time, since you start the LABEL at the beginning of each track. Just be sure to start at the very beginning of your recording to edit, then LABEL as you go along thru each track. If you LABEL first, then EDIT, your LABELS do not move with the EDITS, so you may be cutting off the beginning of a song while exporting. So EDIT first, then LABEL. It takes me about 10 minutes to edit and label both sides of a music cassette.
EXPORT TO MP3: If you recorded each side all at once, here's the place where each track gets saved as its own file: File > Export Multiple. In the dialogue box that appears choose MP3, and the file to export to. Click OK. Another box comes up to fill in artist info. Click OK. Depending on number of files and speed of your computer, it may take about 20 minutes or so to completely export each track. If you've exported like I do (Side 1 and Side 2 as one big file, with each track labeled), as one big file, since you took the time to LABEL each track, each track will be exported as a separate MP3, already named. Again, I go do something else while this process is going on.
Spot check the each new MP3(s) file to make sure it's/they're how you want it/them. In Windows, listen in Windows Media Player (opens faster than iTunes, at least on my machine). Then import them into whatever you use to organize/play your music iTunes, Windows Media Player, Media Monkey etc.
When you're satisfied with your MP3s, delete the data files found in the file you chose to save your recording in. Don't delete the MP3s, just everything else that's NOT an MP3 file (.au, .aup etc). Better yet, move the MP3s to another file, and then delete. These non-MP3 files take up a lot of room on your hard drive and you don't need them any more, unless you're going to export to WAV or OGG or want them forever). One cassette can take up almost 1Gb, depending on your bitrate.
I think this is pretty thorough, and if I've missed any steps, I apologize. But this should get you started.
That's it. And you're welcome.
The device works fine for what it is if you know how to set it up and already have software available, but the website advertises the software collection, the packaging advertises the software collection, and the company decided to save a few pennies by not including the CD, and more money by maintaining the worst customer service/support in the industry. You will NOT receive what is promised on the box, so returning it to Amazon expecting it was a minor mistake in one package WILL waste a week or more of your time to no effect.
If you know EXACTLY how to set-up and use this box, and know you can handle any issues that might arise with Windows, Linux, or Macintosh system software yourself, then go for it. If you ever think you will need help, advice, or promised software, pass and find another supplier. Truth is, you should probably consider another supplier anyway...I can't imagine this company will be able to sustain itself with such a terrible attitude for its customers.
Pretty sure this will be _my_ last Behringer purchase.
EDIT: After becoming a nuisance on social-media sites, I finally weeks after my initial contact received a link to where all of the software may be downloaded:Note the driver software is only required if your application needs ASIO the UFO202 is plug-and-play for most applications (like Audacity), once you handle the setup in sound control panel. Many of the open-source applications on this page are outdated and should be updated by their respective websites.
This doesn't make me feel any better about the company, and I'll still be looking for alternatives in the future, but at least you can get the "massive" software package you were promised.
