I recently purchased a Marantz PMD-300CP Dual Cassette Deck to digitize all my older cassettes. I’ve tried multiple settings in Audacity to record these, and it seems like the only thing that works is if I have the Recording Device set at In Line Microphone, BUT I also end up recording ALL outside noise such as talking, coughing, doors opening, etc. I don’t have this problem with my Audio-Technics Turntable.
Both the turntable and the Cassette Deck are connected through a USB Hub. The only difference is that the cassette deck is also connected to my stereo systems receiver… the turntable is only connected to my Mac via the USB connection.
So as is right now… the cassette deck is connected to the receiver as if the computer isn’t in the picture. It plays normally. It is then also connected to my iMac via a USB Hub. I did by pass the hub and plug it directly into the back of my iMac, but that didn’t change anything.
I wondering about this. My receiver is connected to my iMac via the Mac’s headphone jack. I’m wondering it I disconnect the receiver, and plug the cassette deck into the Mac’s headphone jack, if that makes a difference.
If I go to my Sound Settings in System Preferences, USB AUDIO CODEC is selected, not INTERNAL MICROPHONE
The only reason I mention the turntable is for comparison purposes. I’m trying to understand why the cassette doesn’t work with the same settings that I use in Audacity with the turntable. Sorry for any confusion.
If the turntable works but not the cassette deck, with the same USB connection (and with the same USB cable) the cassette deck may have died.
The only difference is that the cassette deck is also connected to my stereo systems receiver…
The analog connection I assume, and I assume the analog output is working? That shouldn’t interfere with the USB (unless you are shorting-out the analog signal before it’s digitized and in that case the analog wouldn’t be working).
I’m a Windows guy, but sometimes the Windows drivers “get confused” with two different USB devices (even though these things are usually class compliant and they use the drivers supplied with the operating system). So I can’t help you on a Mac, but on Windows you can uninstall the driver, and since you haven’t deleted the driver from your hard drive it re-installs automatically when you plug-in the USB device again and sometimes that resets everything and it works.
This would not be the only cassette unit whose USB port fails to operate properly on MacOS.
If you wish to record via your stereo, let me suggest using a USB audio capture device. Avoid the video units and the super-cheap ones. Be sure it has stereo input ports. (They all have stereo output). A lot of people have used the Behringer device with good success. The Digitnow looks like it should work.
Thanks to both of you… not sure that the cassette deck “died”… 1) it’s brand new, & 2) It plays fine… just not able to use Audacity with it. That fact that the software isn’t compatible is a bit annoying. I used to use the same software before I upgraded my Mac’s OS, which caused a host of other problems as well, but that’s another story.
I guess I need to look into a USB Capture device then… totally foreign to me, but I’ll look into it. Thanks.
So this is not the impression I had - rather that the software driver did not work reliably with MacOS. There is another: “super cassette capture” that seems to work satisfactorily on Windows, but no one seems to be able to get to work on MacOS, which is why you might look into the Behringer device.
“Sometimes”. I get the impression that those little USB cassette players are not very reliable on Windows either.
(They can be bought from AliExpress for under $10, so I’d not expect the build quality to be very good).
I’ve tried a couple of those “little cassette decks” from ION and they were total garbage. I’d get random feedback through every song I recoreded. This is an actual dual cassette deck from Marantz, but with a USB Connection… about $167.00 that I grabbed on Amazon. The sound is really good… the settings in Audacity just pick up every bit of surrounding noise… I still think it’s either the way I have the cassette deck connected, or a setting in Audacity, but I’m really at a loss… seems like I’ve tried everything.
“If you are pick-in-up acoustic sounds you’ve selected the wrong Recording Device and you’re recording from your computer’s built-in microphone.” Exactly… but the only other option is USB AUDIO CODEC… which doesn’t record anything with the cassette deck, but works perfectly with my USB turntable… at least not what I can see or hear… which is making me think I need to unplug the audio jacks that plug into my receiver from the cable pluged into my iMac’s headphone jack, and plug THOSE into the cassette deck… I can’t think of anything else.
“If you wish to record via your stereo, let me suggest using a USB audio capture device. Avoid the video units and the super-cheap ones. Be sure it has stereo input ports. (They all have stereo output). A lot of people have used the Behringer device with good success. The Digitnow looks like it should work.”… which one would you recommend ? I just googled it and I’m not really sure which would work for what I need.
So as I said, “A lot of people have used the Behringer (UCA222 or equivalent) with good success.” It is a few more pennies, but has an established success rate. You may also need cables. Check the Amazon ratings - read the reviews.