I run Mac OSX 10.7.5 and have just installed Audacity 1.3.12 - beta (Unicode)
I am a newbie with this software, having just purchased a Watts Cassette to digital gadget. I struggled for hours with the tutorials and downloaded audacity as incited and Lame library.
I attempted to make a first recording, left it running for both sides of the tape, converted to MP3 and all I have got is the sound of my own breathing, a bit of rustling paper, a call from my wife to lunch(!) but no music! I saw the panel named (internal microphone), tried to change it but there was no alter
I bought a double ended stereo cable, connected the little Cassette player to the line input on the back of my iMac, then went through all four (see above) input selection panels, making sure that they all read the same way, then with considerable apprehension, I started what I had done many times before without success, but this time it all worked beautifully. This time the EXPORT AUDIO was not greyed out, so I stored the small snippet of music on an external drive. It is a .wav file, which worried me a bit, but it loaded itself into iTunes without any action form me, and plays perfectly. SO ONE VERY HAPPY MAN!
No doubt there will be future questions on detail, such as how to isolate different tracks etc etc, but for the meantime, I shall just get to work digitizing lots of music on Cassette.
Does it use USB? Is that the “Digital” part of the name? Note we’re flying blind without more information.
Audacity checks for new devices when it starts, so plug everything in and make sure it’s connected OK then start Audacity. You can also do it later with Transport > Rescan…
Does it show up now?
You can also configure Audacity to play music to your sound system. Set Audacity > Preferences > Recording: Playthrough (select) > OK and make sure the Device Toolbar is putting your music to someplace rational. The music should play to you while it’s being recorded.
If this Watts is a USB converter, connect it before launching Audacity then open Device Toolbar and set the recording device to USB Audio CODEC or similar and the playback device to the speakers you use for your computer.
Thanks to Koz and Gale for your advice. The gadget I’ve been sold is called USB Cassette Capture. When I google it, I get referred to this very forum! I take your point about the version of Audacity and have now downloaded version 2.1. There are many things for me to try now, but sadly we have to travel away from home for 5 days. I’ll get busy trying what you both suggest when we return next week. The people who sold me the USB Cassette Capture tell me that others running Mac computers are full of praise for the gadget, so here’s hoping!
Thanks for previous advice. I have been away from computer for a while, so am now back into trying to get this Cassette player to digitize cassettes with Audacity. So far no recording is possible.
I use:
iMac OSX 10.7.5
WATTS Tape to Digital converter (I was assured it would work with OSX and the manual with it contains a very short and inadequate section on use with Mac OSX. In the box was a disk with Audacity which I installed, and then upgraded to Version 2.1.0.0
Connecting cable supplied by the Player plugged into a spare socket on the iMac, not into a hub.
Problem: My iMac does not recognize the player, because I cannot find USB Audio Codec.
I have tried:
a) About this Mac - more info - System Report - USB - USB Device Tree
b) System prefs - Sound - Input
c) Utilities - Audio MIDI setup - Audio devices
d) Audacity Preferences - recording
I have tried Transport - rescan audio devices. Nothing appears to happen.
With all of the above the input stays at USB microphone. There is no mention of USB Audi Codec. With b) and c) the words USB microphone disappear when the cassette player is unplugged and reappear when it is plugged in again.
When attempting to record from Cassette player, the bars move across the Audacity panel, but the horizontal line contains no sound waves.
No other problems with my iMac, so I am beginning to wonder whether to ask for my money back on the player. I don’t like admitting defeat!
Then the USB cassette player is apparently named as “USB microphone” and that is what you need to select as recording device in Audacity’s Device Toolbar.
If this USB cassette player has a headphones port, you can put headphones in it to see if you can hear any audio when you play a tape.
Be aware that USB cables supplied with USB tape cassette players are often useless and need to be replaced.
If you can hear audio through the headphones and your Mac has a stereo line-in
then as an alternative you can connect the headphones port to the stereo line in with an appropriate TRS cable. Then tell Audacity to record from line-in.
It’s usually about 40$, small, black like a walkman.
It’s also sold under the Okeba, Topcofr, Arella, AGPtek, Zennox, EZ-tape and EZ-cassette brands and probably a lot of others. The manufaturer is Shinko Electronics and they don’t have a website. I’m also not sure which Shinko Electronics as there are at least six companies that operate under that name.
I came across this one because some “freeware” malware download site uses the shintoku name as a name for a “driver” and “free conversion program” to “record vinyl from cassette” (sic). The program download is an old Audacity beta, the so-called driver is a new trojan downloader. A bad one too. And of course the shintoku hardware doesn’t even need a driver.
There seems to be absolutely no link between the hardware manufacturer and the download site. The site even offers “drivers” for Behringer gear and a lot of other brands too.
Thanks for help, much appreciated. I am making a very little progress - that’s something!
I did discover that the Cassette digitizer does in fact have volume control, which I hadn’t noticed before, and I had it set at minimum, silly! Trying again, I set the player going with a cassette loaded, tapped the record button on the Audacity panel, and watched. Suddenly the sound waves appeared. So far so good. The waves were not large and they were very even, as if the music had no dynamic changes, which I doubt(!). But I guessed I had to hear it, so I then tried to “Export Audio” only to find it greyed out. So something is still not right
I will certainly try your idea of a new cable to the iMac’s stereo line in socket - have to go and buy a cable.
And yes, the player does have a headphone socket, which does work.
I will attach a screenshot of the Audacity Preferences panel, as it should appear when using this Cassette player, taken from the gadget’s own instruction manual. I can see no mention anywhere of “USB PnP Audio Device” in my attempts to get this thing to work, but that panel was in the Windows section of the manual…
So if you can help me with the greyed ou Export control I would be grateful
If you use the USB cable (and hence choose the “USB” recording device in Audacity) you may not be able to adjust the recording volume unless the player has a special volume knob to adjust the recording level.
However if you do connect between headphones of the device and stereo line-in, you will be able to control the volume in two places - the volume knob on the player and the input slider in Audacity.
Go to the Transport Menu at the top of Audacity and click “Software Playthrough” if it does not already have a tick (checkmark) by it. “Software Playthrough” should let you listen in Audacity while recording, as long as you choose the Built-in Output as the Audacity playback device.
Before you can export (or apply effects) you must press the yellow Stop button.
It is usually much better to follow our own documentation: Recording with USB turntables or USB cassette decks - Audacity Manual. You have said that this device is actually listed as “USB microphone” because that name appears and disappears when you connect the device. So make sure in Audacity that you choose the USB microphone as the recording device. If you do not see the USB microphone recording device in Audacity, click Transport > Rescan Audio Devices in the Audacity menu bar.
If you choose the wrong recording device in Audacity, for example, the internal microphone then you may get the low volume, no-dynamic range result you describe.
Well now! Thanks to your advice, SUCCESS AT LONG LAST!
I bought a double ended stereo cable, connected the little Cassette player to the line input on the back of my iMac, then went through all four (see above) input selection panels, making sure that they all read the same way, then with considerable apprehension, I started what I had done many times before without success, but this time it all worked beautifully. This time the EXPORT AUDIO was not greyed out, so I stored the small snippet of music on an external drive. It is a .wav file, which worried me a bit, but it loaded itself into iTunes without any action form me, and plays perfectly. SO ONE VERY HAPPY MAN!
No doubt there will be future questions on detail, such as how to isolate different tracks etc etc, but for the meantime, I shall just get to work digitizing lots of music on Cassette.
