Collecting and trading bootleg recordings is a hobby of mine, so I have a lot of music on tape that I'd like to convert to MP3 or audio CD. The ADS Tech Instant Music ($59.99 direct) is a USB device that adds inbound and outbound RCA Stereo and SPDIF ports to your computer, so you can connect an analog audio component such as a tape deck or a turntable and convert your analog music to digital.

Installation was pretty much a no-brainer. I plugged the Instant Music into a USB 2.0 port and installed the drivers and software from the accompanying CD. I then connected my tape deck, a venerable Denon DR-M10HR, to the Instant Music, and following the clearly written instructions, I to set Windows to use the USB Audio CODEC as the Sound Recording device. 

The included Nero SoundTrax application is wizard-driven and easy to use. I converted my first show, Neil Young at Jones Beach in the summer of 1989 (which, incidentally, I attended), in no time. Just set the sound levels, follow the suggestions for how to process the recording, and record. After that you can save in a variety of audio formats: WAV, MP3, WMA, and AAC. Quality is pretty much what you would expect from a tape: It's not enhanced to CD quality. But if you're looking for an easy solution for migrating music to digital, the Instant Music is a good solution.

By the way, I prefer to use MAGIX audio cleaning lab software. It does a much better job of recording and cleaning analog music than Nero, with many more treatments for audio to decrackle, dehiss, and so on. It also has a graphic equalizer that lets you tweak the music before saving it as a digital file.

Thanks to Friend of Gearlog Matt Sarrel for this review!