JAPAN: iPod popularity leads to healthy sales of analogue-to-digital copiers

Andrew Everard 07 July 2009 15:56


In Japan, the country that gave us the Walkman, the iPod is proving popular with middle-aged and senior buyers. And that's leading to strong demand for devices able to convert analogue music formats, such as cassettes and CDs, to digital for pocket storage.

One company reports having shipped 3000 USB-equipped tape decks in just two months. Novac's retro-styled Cassette to Digital unit, which sells for around £50, not only digitises music, but detects silences and makes track breaks automatically.

All the user needs do is insert the cassette, hit 'play' and the Novac unit does the rest.

And USB turntables have been doing well, too: Denon DP-2000USB, which sells for just over £200, has a USB slot to transfer music direct to a memory device without a computer, while Sony's PC-attachable PS-LX300USB (below) is also proving popular.


And teens and twentysomethings, the traditional fans of all things 'i' and Poddy?

Well, in Japan they're certainly buying the Apple players, but they're as likely to be streaming or surfing using their mobile phones.

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About Andrew Everard

Andrew Everard, Audio Editor of Gramophone since November 1999 and What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision's Consulting Editor, read English at Queens' College, Cambridge a very long time ago! He started his journalistic career in 1982 on Haymarket's photographic magazines, and subsequently worked on What Hi-Fi?, High Fidelity, Audiophile and Home Cinema magazines, as well as contributing a monthly column to Japanese title HiVi.