I bought the Toner Super USB Cassette capture a couple of years ago specifically to transfer conversations from vintage cassette tapes to some kind of Mac-readable computer file.
I have downloaded the ‘always free’ Audacity for OS 3.7.7. I am not sure whether I have avoided the need to register for unnecessary cloud storage.
Maybe I just don’t know how to use the Audacity software (I have tried) but I am getting no sound / soundwaves displayed.
The cassette player is connected with the USB cable and sound plays from the cassette when the headphone jack and wired headphones are used. I have Rescanned Audio devices and can see the following under Audio Set Up:
Playback Device: Built-in Output & my wifi headphones
Recording Device: Built-In Microphone & USB PnP Audio Device
I would have thought that the USB PnP would have been recognised as a Playback Device, with the Software/Mac being the Recording device.
Also important: Does your supercalifragilistic device use USB for sound output, or is the USB-port only for charging its batteries?
In the more recent versions (at least from Sonoma on, possibly even earlier) you need to allow access to “Microphone” in the system settings for Audacity. This can be found in “Privacy and Security” there.
You need to select something with “… USB …” for the input source in Audacity.
You can activate “Play-through” in Audacity to hear on your Mac (or earphones connected to the Mac) what you are recording: Menu “Transport → Transport Options → Enable audible input monitoring”.
The cassette is the recording device, as is the microphone. It is the device Audacity records from.
The built-in speakers are the playback device. It is the device that Audacity plays back to.
Make sure Audacity has permission to use the microphone - System Settings > Privacy and Security > Microphone. (The Mac calls all recording devices “microphones”)
All that said, I have not heard of anyone who has gotten one of those devices to work reliably on Mac.
I didn’t allow permission to use the microphone on software install. I have now allowed this following your instructions and have got it working by using Playback: Built In Audio and Recording Device: USB PnP (not Built In Microphone). Thanks billw58.
Hey romontschun. The Mac version is in the subject title. As noted in thread I now have got this working. Enable audible input monitoring was a very useful tip thanks. I just need to check the import works ok and I think I am up and running!
