I have Windows VISTA. I have Audacity 2.11. I have a Dell inspiron 531S and AMD dual core processor and 3 mega bites of memory.
I have 2 people who are computer literate trying to help me but I am not very computer literate. I did have an earlier version of Audacity working and was able to convert tapes to CD’s. I had a problem with my computer due to a virus. One of my computer friends was able to remove the virus and the computer is working but the Audacity he loaded is a newer version of Audacity and we can’t get it to work.
When I try to record and plug the cable into the tape recorder I can no longer get sound from the recorder. So in other words the recorder is giving me sound. I plug in the cable and the sound goes away.
I have tried other recorders.
I have purchased a new cable and new adapter.
We would appreciate any suggestions.
thank you!
mary
Is that a typo for “2.1.1”? If not, please uninstall that 2.11 version because it is bogus. Then download 2.1.1 from us: http://audacityteam.org/download/windows. Don’t download Audacity from anywhere but there.
What is the make and model number of the cassette player and how are you connecting it to the computer? Are you connecting it to the computer with a USB cable? Do you mean there is no sound in the headphones port of the cassette player when you connect its USB cable to the computer?
When I try to record and plug the cable into the tape recorder I can no longer get sound from the recorder. So in other words the recorder is giving me sound. I plug in the cable and the sound goes away.
Yeah… That’s not really clear…
Where is the sound coming from? Does the cassette recorder have a speaker?
It’s normal for the built-in speaker to cut-off when you plug something into the headphone jack (if that’s what you’re doing).
We need to know how you are connected? Make sure you are not connected to the computer’s headphone output… The signal comes out of there, not in.
Assuming you’ve got an analog connection from the tape recorder’s headphone output into your soundcard’s line-input, make sure you’ve selected the line-input as your [u]recording source[/u].
If Audacity can’t see the connection (however you are connected) you may have to go into the Windows Control Panel to enable it. I’m not sure about Vista, but with most versions of Windows you can right-click the speaker/volume icon to select and configure your recording and playback devices.
Gale
Yes it is audacity 2.1.1 version installed.
I have an older cassette player. It is aiwa brand and model CX-NA22.
We are connecting with an audio sterio cable. We are connecting to the microphone port. ( it is identified as PHONES).
I used the same recorder, the same cable and the same port in the past with an older version of Audacity and it worked.
DVD Doug
Yes the cassette recorder has 2 external speakers.
There is a microphone jack into which we are connecting.
We are not connected to the headphone output. In Audacity the line in is selected.
Yes we did select input as the recording source. We set line in with Vista and it appears on the screen in Audacity.
Adaptor: The cassette player has a 0.25 (1/4) inch plug and we got an adaptor which is 1/8 inch to connect to the audio sterio cable.
Thank you both for your help. I talked to one of the computer people who has helped me before getting back to you. I will email the other person also.
Thank you again
mary
Phones is an output - sound comes out of it. You do not want to connect to that.
According to the Inspiron 531S Manual your computer has a back panel with a blue line-in (see top right in the image below):
That blue line-in is the input you want to connect to, that is suitable for the strong signals coming from your cassette deck.
It is not likely to be anything to do with the Audacity version. We just wanted to be sure you do not have a bogus version of Audacity that could harm your computer. You have Audacity 2.1.1 so that is fine.
Do not use the mic port on the front panel, or the pink mic port on the back panel. They are mono inputs, and may distort if you attach the tape deck output to them.
Good. Then when you connect to the blue line-in input (see above) you should be able to record.
