Audio Equipment

If you've been putting off converting your old cassettes to digital, Ion has just the thing.

The USB Tape Express makes transfering your analogue tapes into the digital domain a pain-free process. Simply slip in a C90 and hook it up to your PC via USB. The bundled software will take care of converting your precious audio to MP3 or CD.

It also doubles as a battery-powered portable player, if you fancy going for the retro look on the train.

The USB Tape Express is available now for £49.95 from Firebox.

With Griffin's Evolve wireless sound system you don't need to have cables trailing all over your house to get a decent stereo soundstage.

Sit your iPod in the middle and then detach the two speakers and place them anywhere up to 150 feet away from the docking station. Each speaker contains a battery, so you don't need to worry about power, and can run for up to 10 hours between charges.

You'll also find a remote control thrown in so you can command it from afar.

The Evolve is available now for £279.99, see Griffin for further details.

Sonos's latest S5 music player may look simple, but under the hood it's a very versatile device.

The all-in-one unit packs two tweeters, two mid-range drivers and a subwoofer for room-filling sound. It can provide remote access to your iTunes library or you can dip into a library of 25,000 internet radio stations and podcasts.

To help find your way around all the options, you can control it with the free Sonos Controller application for the iPhone and iPod touch or via the Sonos Controller software for your PC or Mac.

The S5 will be available soon for £349, see Sonos for more information.

While some surround-sound systems aim to blend seamlessly into the background, Ferguson Hill has gone the opposite way with the FH009.

It features two striking transparent acrylic horns for the left and right channels and a large white slab that houses the subwoofer and amplifier.

The patented di-polar horn design eliminates interference that comes from traditional boxed speaker systems and the integrated amplifier is the only Class AB amplifier you'll find at this price range, according to Ferguson Hill.

The FH009 is available now for £795, see Ferguson Hill for further details.

Gear4's latest iPod dock doesn't just pump out tunes, it can create an accompanying light show as well.

Tucked away inside the sub-woofer are some LEDs which can scroll through thousands of colours, creating a relaxing display. In addition to the sub-woofer, there's a soundbar to provide higher frequency audio and it incorporates virtual surround sound technology to make everything sound bigger.

There's also a video-out port, so you can play movies stored on your player on your big-screen TV.

The SoundOrb Aurora is available now for £249.99, see Gear4 for more information.