I’m a retired IT tech and former Radio/Television broadcaster. New to Audacity. I’ve got tons of old audio tapes of radio airchecks that I’m trying to digitize. I’ve got the output of my reel-to-reel recorder patched to the audio input of my Dell Optiplex 7090 desktop PC, running Windows 10 Pro, version 22H2, OS Build 19045.3570. PC updated with BIOS, audio drivers, etc. Audacity 3.4.0 installed.
When I tap the red Record button in Audacity I get “Error opening recording device. Error code: -9999 Unanticipated host error.” I’ve created the deviceinfo.txt, log.txt and diagnostic report but not sure how to upload. Any help greatly appreciated. Thanks.
I don’t think your computer has a line input usually color-coded blue.
You may have a combination mic-headphone jack which takes a special 4-conductor TRRS plug to make the microphone connection. The mic input can “work” but it’s not correct for a line-level signal and it’s mono, and usually low-quality.
If you have an extra slot you can get a regular soundcard for your computer.
Or you can get a USB audio interface with line inputs. The Behringer UCA202 is very popular and relatively inexpensive and Behringer makes a few similar models with different features.
The “cheap” Behringer interfaces don’t have recording-volume controls and sometimes that’s a problem if you can’t control the output level on your setup. If you have a headphone output, there is always a volume control and a headphone output can go into a line-level input.
There are lots of higher-end audio interfaces with switchable mic-line inputs and recording controls.
I have an ART USB Phono Plus which has switchable phono-line input and a recording level control.
You’re absolutely correct. I’ve been getting mixed info from a Dell forum about the nature of that front jack and finally found a Dell document that confirms the front input on an Optiplex 7090 is a TRRS jack. When you plug into the port you’re prompted by the OS to define input or output. I had to go through hoops to get that part working correctly. The patch cable I’ve been using has a TRS plug so there’s the problem. Before I invest in a soundcard or Behringer device I’ve located a TRS Female to TRRS Male adapter that may work and it’s just $5.99 so we’ll try that and if it fails to solve the issue I’ll checkout the solutions you suggested. Here’s the link to the adapter if anyone’s interested: Amazon.com: COCOMK Microphone Adapter TRS Female to TRRS Male 3.5mm Mic Audio Patch Cable Converter (Black) : Electronics
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