Customer Reviews

Xitel INport Deluxe [Record From Your Stereo to Your Computer]

5 star:		(77)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

I love the InPort Deluxe. Set up was a glitch-free breeze, and the included software (LP Recorder, DeClick, LP Ripper) work exactly like I'd hoped. Pretty intuitive, not too many parameters and options to cause confusion. Sounds very nice, probably better than the original record once you declick it.

The DeClick program does indeed work very well. I prefer to set the LP Recorder level manually, rather than using the Auto Level feature. This is because when listening to an LP MP3 file next to a CD MP3 file on my MP3 player, the Auto Level record feature causes the LP files to be a little softer than the CD files. Setting the LP Recorder level manually to "39" creates LP MP3's that are the same volume as CD MP3's for me. I detect no clipping using this record level.

Although I have 1400 CD's, I still have 700 LP's. A significant portion of my LP's are still not available on CD. I'm tired of waiting for the record companies. This product allows me to bring my remaining LP collection into the 21st Century. I'm now having lots of fun with this product, listening to my LP's at the gym on my MP3 player, and burning them onto CD's for the car.

InPort Deluxe met all of my requirements, exceeded my expectations, and I would recommend it to anyone who still has a pile of vinyl or cassettes.

I bought this elsewhere but checked after I bought it on Amazon for opinions before I opened the package. I need to transfer a large collection of 45 and 33 RPM records to CD's. I am using a Technics turntable and a Steinberg preamp to feed the unit. It works great!! As for the software it does a good job of recording, cleaning up the noise and clicks and ripping to individual tracks. I have run the software on Windows XP Pro and currently am running it under the Vista Operating System. Everything is compatible and works fine. The documentation is fine and I was up and running in 20 minutes.
I would recommend this product without reservation.

I set up my Xitel Inport Deluxe (received as a gift) yesterday and recorded and saved a recording of a two sided LP record. The process went very smoothly after in initial learning period and I got no errors at any point. The software that comes with the Inport does exactly what it is supposed to do if one follows the documentation carefully. I was especially impressed with the ability to remove pops and clicks (present with most older LP records) from the recorded wav files. The most difficult part of the process is learning to use the feature which splits the large single wav file into separate recorded tracks which correspond to the songs on the LP. Once I understood that it went smoothly.

The most time consuming part of the whole process is simply recording the whole LP record side which obviously must be played from beginning to end while Inport records. Once that's done, processing of the file, removing pops and clicks, and splitting and finally renaming tracks into the original song titles went pretty fast. Those tracks of course can be saved on your hard drive and, if you wish, burned to a CD-ROM (using other software supplied by the user) which I did.

Finally I can permanently preserve some really old jazz and classical recordings that probably are no longer available anywhere. I'm REALLY impressed with the Inport Deluxe Kit!

Update - after re-booting my computer, for some reason this thing now works great! I still re-clean the files with the MAGIX software, but the sound quality is near CD quality. Still an extra step, but WOW!!! I Highly recommend this product!!!

For the last 2 years I have used MAGIX Audio lab to record my extensive vinyl collection into mp3's. But when I saw this product, I thought it might be better than the MAGIX solution. The MAGIX product allows you to clean and master the files before exporting as mp3's or to a CD. That's a double-edged sword; if you tamper with the files too much you lose quality.

I thought this product, with its promise of 1-click cleaning would be my answer. The product was up and running very quickly, and I chose a relatively old album to test. The album was not in excellent condition, but was far from terrible.

The recording was smooth; however, the de-clicking software (Wave corrector) only removed a small portion of the vinyl noise. So, I tried again, using a more sensitive setting. Still, the recording sounds just like the album - clicks, pops and all. NOT what I would call a "CD Quality" version, as promised on the box.

I like the INPort device, however. It allows you to bypass your computer's sound card, which does give you a more faithful representation of the recording. For that purpose alone I am giving it 3 stars.

I had to use my MAGIX software to re-clean the WAV file before I could export it. One additional step, but at least the recording came out sounding crisp and clean.

If you are a discerning listener and audiophile, this product is not for you. This will not really make your vinyl sound CD quality. Sorry, but it doesn't deliver on that promise...

I looked everywhere and called a lot of electronic stores that could transfer my cassette recordings to compact disc. I have a lot of very rare live recordings that will never be available on CD. Cassettes lose their magnetism (or sound crispness) after several years, so this was critical. It also records from LP's.

The unit is very easy and intuitive to use. Just plug your left and right (analog) cables into the unit and computer and go! The device is carefully made with a high performance processor that picks up the highest clarity of sound without distortion. All the terminals are gold-plated, which makes for the best sound transfer. Plus, it works with every Windows program (I have Windows Vista). However, with Vista (unlike XP or earlier versions), you'll need to request the latest version of `LP Recorder' and `LP Ripper from the manufacturer. There is an Auto Level feature that records the optimal sound for you, but I found that if I played with it a bit I could get LP's to sound a little better than with the Auto Level. The additional software also helps you remove `clicks' and `pops' from the LP's, but it won't remove all of the noise - nothing is perfect.

I searched around and this is not only one of the best analog to digital transfer devices available, it is very affordable.

I purchased this for the sole purpose of transfering tapes onto cds. The tapes are roughly 25 years old and are of artists that are not considered mainstream so finding cds of these groups are very hard to find. Having played with the program a few times I got the hang of it and the three steps are easy to do. The cd I just burned sounded great and a family member couldn't believe that it was a copy from a tape.

There is a two things laptops owners should know before purchasing this. I found this information in the troubleshooting section.

1. No other programs should be running and that includes virus checking programs. (This effects the data flow)
2. The data flow can be severely effected by the power management of the CPU.

I didn't read the manual to the end. So the first time I used the program I found that there was a humming sound in the background of the recording. When I used the de-click program it found over 200,000 clicks. After reading over the troubleshooting guide I realized that those two things may have affected the recording. After turning off the virus protection program (wasn't connected to the internet) and adjusting the power management I re-recorded the tape and didn't hear the humming like I did before and the de-click program only found like 8,000 clicks. Even though the number of clicks were high it clean it up nicely. Overall it is a good program to use and will be well used.

Product is excellent does what it says and then some. Instruction for installation and operating are very easy to follow (a winner in my book). I had issues unrelated to this product running into problems with the stereo I was using in the fact that it didn't have outputs for audio so I was forced to use the headphone jack which required further purchasing adapters for the RCA cable was a bit frustrating but had nothing to do with this product. I converted 2 albums last night into wav files cleaned them up with the audio cleaner included in the software. Used the editing ripper included to split the 1 recording into separate tracks, actually the software does that for you but you have the option to preview there start and ending points for each of the tracks in case it may be off. I only had minor adjustments the ripper was pretty much on the money, overall. I then downloaded the encoder recommended to work with this software and converted the wav files into mp3's with no problem. This is an excellent buy for those out there looking to do there own audio transfer of lp's and cassettes. The sound is excellent on playback.

I bought this to transfer LPs to CD. It is simple to connect to the computer, and the software is easy to use. Just be sure when you download the MP3 encoding program, to put it in the same directory as the LP ripper.
The LP recorder works well and is very easy to use. The LP Ripper, makes it easy to trim the tracks, and then encode them as MP3 files.
When saving them as MP3's I can get approximately 20 LP's on one CD.
I am very satisfied with the product.

I bought this to transfer my vinyl over to mp3 to use when I traveled. My laptop does not have a level line in. I did a lot of research and found this to be the best option. However, I had assumed that this was a 24 bit recording device. The files I have recorded all show as 16 bit recordings. I love my vinyl collection and wanted the best sound possible. There are other 16 bit external sound devices on the market that allow input and output through a level line to usb connection, and they are a bit cheaper as well. My first thought was I had made a big mistake for those reasons.

However, the more I use this device, the more I like it. I still wish it had 24 bit recording capability. If it does and I am wrong, I hope someone lets me know. The ease of use makes up for this minor negative. I turn on my laptop, hook it up and hit record. A clean, great sounding recording is made. Run it through the adjustable click removing program and you have a great recording. Then convert it to a 320 bps file and it sounds wonderful still, keeping a lot of the life that we enjoy our vinyl for. I can tell the difference in recordings I have done from my vinyl and rips from the same album on cd, which makes this unit worth it to me.

So ease of use and the quality recordings it makes definitely make this a worthwhile device. Just remember that you need a receiver or preamp that allows you to run out to the device if you want to record vinyl. Other formats will go directly to the unit.

The bonus 30 foot cable helps get the sound to your computer and seems to be a decent quality cable, though a shorter one wouldn't hurt if you are set up close to your audio system. Coiling it up on the desk has not caused any odd hum, so it isn't really an issue. The only thing I would recommend is to not have your headphones plugged into your laptop, as this has caused a slight hum in my setup.

I would give this 5 stars except for the fact it is 16 bit and the company does not mention that fact anywhere, which seems a bit cheesy to me. In actual use, this device is a winner, you will not be disappointed.

This review is about the current (works with Windows Vista) version of the product. The devil is in the details. If you flip the box over, in fine print, you will see that this product will not work if you plug your turntable directly into it. Tape decks and other audio products can be plugged in directly and will work fine; but not turntables. If you want to transfer LPs, you need to dig out your receiver or amplifier with phono jack inputs, bring it to your computer work area, and then connect this product to your receiver or amplifier. Either that or buy a separate phono preamp to use instead. The packaging and advertising says the box contains everything you need. Yes, if you are just doing tapes. No, if you want to do LPs or 45 RPMs.