Episode 4: How Frank Gets His Groove Back

Frank is our Madonna fan who has asked for help. He wants us to hook him up with the right audio equipment so that he can convert his '80s tapes and records to digital files for use on a portable MP3 player or to burn CDs. Byron Estep is the Hook Me Up technician dispatched to help Frank.

Going Digital at Home
Byron's solution for Frank is a new computer, a tape player, and record player built to connect directly to a computer, as well as an iPod and various accessories like multimedia speakers and a car transmitter to help Frank listen to Madonna everywhere.

Byron's choices for Frank are really good; the HP Pavillion computer is focused on the concept of multimedia. It runs a flavor of Microsoft Windows called Media Center OS that helps users to more easily organize and manipulate their songs, videos, and pictures.

The direct-connect tape player and Ion ITTUSB turntable make Frank's digitizing process a lot easier. The phonograph hooks into the computer via USB so you don't need to find the line-in audio jack on the computer, and you don't have to use a preamp: a device that boosts a record's signal to digitally transferable levels.

One point; The PlusDeck 2c Tape Player Byron bought had a bit of an incompatibility problem; Byron's notes on the case explain the problem and the fix:
"Everything worked as advertised except the tape deck wasn't 100%-percent compatible with the computer, because the tape deck used a serial connection and the computer didn't have a serial bus (or port). This wasn't a huge problem though, because we were able to use the computer's sound card for the input of the tape deck instead. So everything worked fine once it was hooked up and Frank learned how to use it."

Taking It on the Road
The 60-gigabyte Apple iPod is a no-brainer; Frank not only wants to convert his existing collection of music for use on a portable player, but he also wants to purchase and download new music. Since the iPod-compatible iTunes is the easiest music software to use and boasts the most downloadable songs, Byron made a great choice with the iPod.

To play Frank's iPod in the car, Byron got the Griffin iTrip portable music system. It broadcasts a radio signal from the iPod and Frank can tune his car's radio to the iTrip's channel.  When you are buying one of these devices, don't get one that limits your frequency broadcast to three to four stations. In urban areas, you need to find an open spot on the dial, and it can be tough when you are near a city and only have 88.1, 88.3, and 88.5 to choose from on a limited broadcast device.

As you probably saw in the episode, Frank was thrilled with his new setup. This '80s throwback is now technologically entrenched in 2006 and happy with his hook-up.