Input device for MacBook Air 2017

Audacity 3 Help Forum macOS
1

New user here trying to save old 45s and 33s to my MacBook Air. I’m having trouble inputting direct into Audacity. This is what I’ve tried so far.

System
MacBook Air 2017 running Monterey version 12.7.3. 8GB 1600 DDR3 RAM

USB Audio Capture Device
DigitalLife model AV202-B

Within Audacity the Recording Device is set to USB Pnp Audio Device

Problem
When I try to record nothing comes thru. I thought the problem might be with the USB capture device (It’s brand new), so I tried it recording into QuickTime and it works.

I then opened the QuickTime .m4a file with Audacity and it plays but at very reduced quality.

What have I missed?

2

Audacity is known to have trouble with other USB PnP Audio Devices (such as various cheap cassette-to-USB-devices).

Since you can make recordings with QuickTime, perhaps that is a workaround.

In the QuickTime recording dialog, click the down arrow beside the record button and choose “Highest Quality” - that might help.

3

What higher quality device do you recommend I try?

4

Should have done a bit more research before hand.

I’d like to go direct from my older turntable(s). Ie not have to purchase a usb output one. Looks like I’ll need a preamp to usb.

Any suggestions as to the best setup??

Thanks in advance.

5

Try to use GarageBand for the recording, then export as WAV or AIFF (both are lossless). Continue with Adacity to split / label etc. tracks and then export them to the desired format.

6

You either need a phono preamp, or a USB audio interface with a phono preamp built in. I use the Behringer UFO-202. There are others.

If you are connecting the output of the turntable directly to your USB device, the signal will be way too low and be tinny.

7

Thanks, I spoke with others and they also suggest the Behringer with built in preamp. By next week I should have results to share.

8

You did connect the turntable directly to the USB device? Really? Why did you not take the signal from the “Line-out” of your amplifier? I thought it was a well-known fact that any turntable needs a pre-amp, or needs to be connected to the “Phono-in” of your amplifier…

9

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