ConnSENSEReview Spin It Again

ConnSENSE Review: Spin It Again

by: Margaret Kardos, MS, OTR/L, ATP

Product reviewed: Spin It Again
Acoustica
www.acoustica.com
Price: $34.95

When I find technology that I really like I get very excited. This is one of those times. While stalking the booths at NECC recently, I came across a display that was technically archaic to say the least; perched upon a pedestal I spied a tribute to my formative years-a record player. Also known as a turntable, this device once provided endless hours of acoustic pleasure. As history revealed, records or "vinyls" gave way to 8-tracks, which brought on cassettes, followed by CD's and ultimately audio files such as mp3's.

Over the years, I kept up with the changes in audio and as what was once considered "hot" cooled down, it eventually found its way onto a blanket in the driveway of the neighborhood yard sale. For those of you who may have been resistant to change, opting instead to hold on to the past and your LP's and cassette tapes, your day has come. Spin It Again is a computer program that converts cassette tapes, records, 8-tracks and even reel-to-reel into audio files that can then be stored, shared or downloaded to a portable format. Hopefully, those who held on to their youth along with their records and tapes, held on to the players as well. It is necessary to connect the turntable or tape player to the computer to complete the conversion. Having purged the shelves of those devices years ago, I found myself scrambling for a player. Originally, I tried to use my husband's Walkman style cassette player to convert one of his precious cassettes, but the volume on the player was not loud enough for a complete conversion. Luckily I remembered that one of the kids had a boom box stashed in a closet somewhere that had somehow managed to escape one of my organizational sweeps, and I was able to use that successfully since it had a much louder output. So, if you are one of those 70's era early technogeeks who stacked woofers on top of tweeters and have managed to keep them all in working order, please consider this: It's time! It's time to take those vinyl's and cassettes and convert them to audio files. The process is quite painless and if you are so inclined you can turn your computer speakers up and listen as the music transforms. Additionally, Spin It Again can clean up old recordings removing hissing and humming making them sound great.

So how might this be considered important to the field of assistive technology you may ask? Well, Spin It Again can also be used in the educational setting to transform books on tape or cd's into mp3 files. This will end the process of having to embarrass kids by having them tethered to a tape player; it can also solve the problem of having to store and maintain both the tapes and the players. Spin It Again is available for a trial download from their web site that will let you make 3 recordings for free. Once you have tried it, though, you will want to own it to convert and/or preserve your recording collections. The price is a bargain for what you get; Spin It Again can also burn CD's once tapes and records have been converted into mp3's. That way if you are still resistant to change you can move up slowly, say to the 90's. Recently my husband announced that he was going to get fit and would begin walking in the evening. My daughter and I just looked at each other and cringed, imagining him going through the neighborhood wearing his gigantic headphones attached to his "portable" cassette player. Fortunately, we have been spared public humiliation thanks to Spin It Again; we converted his tapes and he has agreed to use an mp3 player, provided of course that one of us programs it before he goes out. So go online and get this nifty program; just keep telling yourself that change is good. It is, really.

muncie@connsensebulletin.com