Music

Tape Dock transfers songs from cassette tapes to iPhone, iPod touch, and computer

ION's Tape Dock is designed to bring your cassettes to the digital age
ION's Tape Dock is designed to bring your cassettes to the digital age

If you own an iPhone or iPod touch and have a collection of music on cassette tape, this just might be the gadget of your dreams. ION's Tape Dock allows you to take your favorite cassette tapes and bring them to the digital age. It works with chrome or normal cassettes, so your tapes should not have a problem going digital.

Cassette tapes are a dying breed. Finding new music on a cassette is almost impossible. Walk into your local music store and see if there is a huge selection of cassettes. Chances are, there will not be. The second problem with cassettes is that they only last for so long, and the tape stretches and eventually stops working.

If you want to preserve the music from your precious cassettes, you need to transfer them to a digital medium, and this gadget, aptly named the Tape Dock, looks like an easy way to accomplish this. You simply dock your iPhone (or iPod touch), put a tape in the tray, and use the accompanying app to copy the music to your iPhone in digital form.

If you don't own an iPhone or iPod touch, the device also comes with a USB cable that allows you copy your tapes to your Mac or PC. The software you will need to make the conversions is included with the purchase of the device itself.

The converter comes in at a modest eight ounces, so it should prove light enough to carry around. It's 4.5 inches (114.3 mm) long, 3.25 inches (82.55 mm) wide and 1.5 inches (38.1 mm) thick. To keep it portable, it takes two AA batteries, so you do not need to carry a charger around with you.

The device costs US$69.95 and includes the physical device, as well as the software needed to do the conversion and copy the music. It is not available for purchase just yet, but it should hit the market in mid October.

Source: ION Audio via GadgetReview

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3 comments
captain_obvious
It's about time! I have have been holding on to a massive collection of cassette tapes for the last forty years. And despite the invention and improvements of computers and digital media I have have been holding out for a device such as this so I will not have to compromise the superior quality of magnetic tape transferred directly to a phone.
Now I can only hope that one day the technology will exist for me to transfer my collection of vhs tapes directly to my phone. after all this digital media thing is a fad, the quality is terrible and there are no titles available.
Justin Chamberlin
Not a bad idea....for ten years ago. And why go to the trouble of making it portable? Just because you don't need a 75-pound steel case to house the innards doesn't mean it needs to be battery-powered. For the six people still holding on to rare tape recordings or who want to remember the good old days of mix tapes but do so on their phones/computers/music players (and have $70 to burn), this seems like a decent enough product. I can safely speak for everyone else by saying, "I hope ION Audio's next invention is a time machine, so they can go back to 1998 and make a killing on this product."
Okach
Hi there,am a new guy in your website.The ION'S Tape deck has interested me.I have so much music on tape and i would like to turn it digital.Please let me know the cost of the item including shipping it to Nairobi KENYA i will appreciate.