Mac OS 10.14.6 Audacity 2.4.2 Device Dansrue Super USB Cassette Capture; I’m beginning to think it’s the device, although this is the 2nd one I’ve gotten, but it shows up in the about this mac connected to a dedicated USB port, USB PnP Audio Device:
Product ID: 0x0811
Vendor ID: 0xe5b7
Version: 1.00
Serial Number: 20160823
Speed: Up to 12 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: ZhuHai JieLi Technology
Location ID: 0x00400000 / 21
Current Available (mA): 500
Current Required (mA): 400
Extra Operating Current (mA): 0
. When I went into midi setup the device kept appearing then disappearing when in “input”. In Audacity preferences, it just doesn’t show up at all. So… could it be a hardware issue (since I tried it on 2 different macs) or something else? The reason I got this device in the first place was I had all theses cassette tapes that I’d like to burn to disk before the oxide flakes off. What do other people use to do the same thing?
Do you have an existing good quality cassette player? Before The Sickness it was possible to get a simple, affordable adapter to go from the cassette player to your computer.
This is one adapting my analog sound mixer (on the right) to my PC.
Unfortunately, Behringer is partially shut down for safety and the three useful variations, UCA-202, UCA-222, and UFO-202 are difficult to get.
The two sisters, USB Turntables and USB Cassette Players share a common problem. You’re not going to cherish them and give them to your grandchildren, right? You’re going to get to the last cassette and put the whole thing in the trash. The makers know that and sometimes the player quality is trash minus one week. Run for a week and drop dead. Sometimes they fail a little too soon.
There is one very common problem. Plug everything together and let it settle and only then start Audacity. Audacity checks for players when it starts. Then pull down the recorder device listings (microphone symbol) and see if the player is there.
You can also make the Mac tell you stuff. Desktop > Apple (upper left) > System Preferences > Sound > Input. You should be able to see the player and if you play a tape, there should be a bouncing sound meter. You don’t need Audacity at all for this first part.
It’s the device. “Appearing and disappearing” - that’s its signature move. Lots of folks show up on this forum trying to get one of those things to work on Mac. I don’t know anyone who has succeeded.
Head over to eBay and get a good used “hi-fi” cassette deck. As Koz points out, it’s difficult to get the Behringer adapter (or any adapter) these days for a reasonable price. If you do get something other than the Behringer make sure it has a stereo line input; lots of them have mono microphone inputs.
I found a full service Teac stereo cassette machine at my local Council Thrift Shop. $20 USD. Of course, the problem is I had to go to the Council Thrift Shop to find it. And “going” is kind of a problem right now.
