I purchased a Wikoo Super USB Cassette Capture device from Amazon. I Downloaded Audacity version 2.2.2 and installed it on my computer. I plugged the USB cable from the Wikoo devise into my computer and started Audacity. I did not change the input device from microphone/USB. I did change preferences so that I could monitor the cassette during the recording. I noticed that there was input from the Wikoo even though I had not started the cassette. When I turned on the speaker there is an audible hum coming from the WIkoo device. It seems to be from the internal workings of the device and I cannot make it go away. Is there a different driver that I must find for the Wikoo device or is there a setting in Audacity that I can use to eliminate this noise?
If the hum remover doesn’t work you can try [u]Noise Reduction[/u], but if the noise is bad _“The cure can be worse than the disease”[/b]. Noise reduction works best when you have a very low level constant background noise and you don’t really need it.
Noise is from the “analog side”…
If you are using an AC adapter you might get low-frequency power-line hum, and you can also get power-line hum through the air (electro-magnetic interference) but that would be rare with a tape machine.
Noise can also get-in through USB power. This is generally higher-pitch (one of our forum members calls it “flying mosquito noise”). In the case of USB-power noise, some computers are noisier than others (and some USB-powered audio devices are more-immune to this noise than others).
But, I’m assuming your cassette player is not USB powered? If your device is USB powered, I assume it can also use batteries. If so, install batteries if you haven’t already done so… The USB power will probably still be connected but the batteries might act as a filter.
Finally all analog electronics add some noise*, so it could be “cheap electronics” in the cassette player. But, usually the tape noise dominates so you might hear a little hum/hiss with the tape stopped, but it should get worse when the tape is playing.
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Preamplifiers (used to amplify low-level signals) for tape heads, phono pickups, and microphones are the worst offenders. If you play a CD/DVD through your stereo receiver the analog electronics in your receiver may not add any audible noise._