IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS When using electrical appliances, basic precautions should always be followed, which include the following: 1. Read all the instructions and keep for reference. 2. Before operating the Tape Grabber remove the unit from its packaging, and check it is in good condition. 3. DO NOT let children play with the packaging, for example plastic bags. 4. DO NOT operate the appliance if the USB cord is damaged. 5. Ensure that your battery size corresponds with the product requirements. 6. DO NOT immerse in water or other liquids. 7. DO NOT use it near water, in the bathtub, in the sink or near any other container. 8. DO NOT use the appliance for anything other than its intended use. 9. This appliance is for HOUSEHOLD USE only. Gen us Tape Grabber INSTRUCTION MANUAL TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION Measures: 115mm(Width)x85mm(Height)x30mm(Depth) Requires: 2xAA batteries WARNING This product is intended for domestic use only. Only use the product as instructed in this manual. Ensure the product is stored away from direct heat and liquids. Never throw or drop the product as this can damage the internal mechanisms and cause the product to function incorrectly or stop working. Imported and distributed by Easylife Group Ltd, London NW1 0JP IN3640-2 2013 Easylife Group Ltd CONVERT YOUR OLD TAPES INTO MP3 FORMAT Model No. EL3640 Please read carefully before use and keep for future reference
Dear Customer Thank you for purchasing the Tape Grabber. Rediscover your old songs by converting your tapes into MP3s to play back on your computer, ipod, in the car or burn to CD. Simply connect the Tape Grabber via USB to your computer, load the supplied CD and let the tape converter software guide you step-by-step through the quick process of transferring your music. It can even integrate with your itunes music library. Handheld and portable, the Tape Grabber can even be used as a traditional Walkman to listen with headphones, on your stereo or other speaker systems via its audio output. Works with chrome or normal cassette tapes and runs on battery or USB power when connected to your computer - not compatible with Macs. BEFORE USE Ensure that the items listed below are included in the box: 4 TAPE GRABBER 4 CD WITH AUDACITY RECORDING SOFTWARE 4 USB CABLE PLEASE READ THIS USER GUIDE BEFORE USING YOUR TAPE GRABBER FUNCTIONS OF PARTS 1 2 3 4 8 5 6 7 1. Stop Press to stop the tape. 2. Forward Press to fast forward the tape. 3. Rewind Press to rewind the tape. 4. Play Press to play the tape. 5. Volume Adjusts the volume of the headphones and the USB connection. 6. Headphones You can connect 1/8 headphones here. 7. USB Connection Use the included USB cable to connect the Tape Grabber to your computer. The USB connection will provide audio from the Tape Grabber to your computer. For transferring your recordings to your computer, we have provided a CD of the Audacity software package. 8. Eject Slide this to open the cassette holder.
When using the software to transfer music from the Tape Grabber to your computer, there will usually be some noise created. This can be avoided by following these setup steps. STEP 3 Decrease the recording level to TWO by using the adjustment bar indicated in the diagram below. This will not effect the quality of the recording. 1 STEP 1 On lower right-hand corner of your computer s desktop you will see an Audio icon. Right click on this and select the Adjust Audio Properties option. STEP 2 Select Audio 1 then select Volume 2 in the window that appears on your screen. STEP 4 Finish by clicking OK in the original Audio window on your screen. 2
Before recording, please ensure that the Tape Grabber s volume it turned to maximum in order to achieve the best quality of sound in the recording. To save your recorded track, click File in the menu at the top of your screen, then Save Project. Choose the destination to which you would like to save your recorded track, give it the file name of your choice and click Save. OPERATION RECORDING INTO A COMPUTER AUDACITY RECORDING SOFTWARE Once you have opened the software application on your computer, press the record icon which is located at the top left of the window. If you can not hear the audio when a track is being recorded, then go to the Preference Menu and ensure that in the Audio Device on USB Bus option, 1 you have Software Playthrough 2 selected and the speaker volume is up on your computer. 2 1 Press the play button on the Tape Grabber. You will see the waveform of the audio on the screen as it is recording (see the above diagram). The audio will be heard coming from the output of your computer s soundcard. If you can t hear this audio coming from your computer, please see the on the next page for advice on how to resolve this issue. Continue to play the entire track or album that you wish to record, then press the stop icon at the top of your software window once the track or album has finished playing. Now that you have completed the recording process, you can play and listen to your recorded track by double clicking on the sound waves on you screen. If the recorded track doesn t play, then please follow the next steps to enable the playback function:
1 2 STEP 1 Right click the Audio icon in the lower right hand corner of your screen and select the Adjust Audio Properties option. STEP 2 Select Audio 1 then in the Sound Playback drop-down menu 2 choose the default device as your internal computer soundcard, rather than USB PnP Audio Device. Select the Effect menu at the top of your screen to choose a desired effect. There are various types of effects which you can add to your recorded track. Normalise should be used to correct the volume of the recording. Select this in the drop down menu (Figure 2) and choose the effect options that you wish to add to your recorded track in the pop up window (Figure 3). Figure 1 ADJUSTING YOUR AUDIO LEVEL (OPTIONAL) Select your entire recording by clicking Edit, then Select and then clicking All. (See Figure 1 on the next page). Figure 3 Figure 2
CLEANING YOUR AUDIO (OPTIONAL) Drag the cursor over the portion of the audio track which contains unwanted noise. We recommend using the beginning or the end of a track where there is no music and only noise. (See Figure 4). Select Noise Removal from the Effect drop down menu at the top of the screen to bring up the Noise Removal window (Figure 5). Click Get Noise Profile. The Noise Removal window will now close automatically. Select the entire section of audio that you wish to remove noise from. If you wish to clean the entire recording use Select All in the Edit menu (see Figure 1). Again, select the Noise Removal window from the Effect menu. Adjust the amount of audio that you would like to filter by moving the slider in the Noise Removal window. We recommend using the minimum noise removal for optimum sound. Finally, click Remove Noise. You can preview the audio before removing the noise by clicking on Preview. Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 TROUBLESHOOTING NO SOUND If you can t hear any sound when using the software application, go to the Audacity Preferences and ensure that the USB input is selected in the Recording Device menu. If you cannot hear the music but you do see the audio waves moving on the screen, open your Audacity Preferences and make sure that your Playback Device is set to your internal computer soundcard. If neither of the above options work, close Audacity, turn off the Tape Grabber and unplug the USB cable. Then plug in the USB cable, turn on the Tape Grabber and reopen Audacity. MICRO-PHONE SLIDER If you can t see the microphone slider on your screen, please go to the Preferences menu in Audacity, click on the Interface tab and make sure that the Enable Mixer Toolbar and Enable Meter Toolbar options are selected. If they are not, please tick them and press OK. The microphone slider should be at full volume (as far to the right as possible). POOR SOUND QUALITY If a recorded track sounds distorted during playback, you may need to adjust the input volume from the Tape Grabber. Try moving the Input Level slider in Audacity to the left to lower the input volume (as shown in Figure 6). You can also use the Normalize effect in the drop down Effect menu.