I have the latest Audacity and a Lenovo tablet running Windows 7. I installed, reinstalled, rebooted, nothing is helping. I just want to use any of the USB ports as a direct “in” from an old cassette deck. I have a cable with RCAs on one end and a USB jack on the other end. I have investigated the “recording devices” by right clicking over the speaker icon. The only thing listed is “internal microphone.” I am lost. HELLLLPPPP! I just want to digitize my old tapes of my own old songs.
Audacity can’t record from the USB device if Windows does not see it.
You can try another USB converter cable. Try everything in the green box “Detecting USB and Firewire devices” on this page http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/faq_recording_troubleshooting.html#flatline .
Gale
Wow. There must be a better product than this. It doesn’t work. Plain and simple. I don’t see how something so simple could be made so complex. Somehome Audacity has done it. Now, through following the directions given, I’ve even managed to make the microphone disappear from the recording devices list! Great. That’s fantastic.
Audacity does not make RCA to USB converter cables, even if Audacity came with the cable. If you paid a few cents for the converter cable, you may have got what you paid for.
If that was a microphone for the pink mic input of the computer, right-click again and “Show Disabled Devices” and right-click again and “Show Disconnected Devices”.
The instructions in “Detecting USB and Firewire devices” don’t say anything about making changes in Windows “Sound”. USB devices like a converter cable appear in Windows Sound when they are connected and working, otherwise they do not appear. Do you see the USB Audio Codec for this cable in Windows Sound? If not, no software will record from it.
Do you have any audio inputs on this Lenovo tablet? What is the exact model number of this tablet? If you only want to record mono speech tapes, you may be able to record by plugging into the mic input on the tablet, though that is not ideal and you will need an RCA to 1/8 inch adaptor.
Gale
Gale: Thanks for your patience with me.
The Lenovo tablet model is X220. I has no other non-USB inputs/outputs.
There is no dedicated mic input. You are supposed to be able to use the headphone jack to record with a mic. I’ve never been able to make that work.
HOWEVER…I don’t care about that.
I want to run outs from the cassette deck into Audacity. I suppose an inexpensive RCA to USB cable could be the fault, it just seems unlikely to me. Wouldn’t I get crappy or faint audio rather no recognition of it at all? Perhaps not. The cable could be wrong for this use. I think it is from a TV actually. There’s a yellow RCA for video and two Red and White RCA for audio. The other end is standard USB. Not ideal maybe, but shouldn’t that work?
All the USB inputs on the tablet do work for other applications.
I do appreciate your help. Please pardon my earlier language of frustration. (I’m sure get it a lot)
So all three RCA plugs (red, white, yellow) lead into the same, single USB cable? If so that is almost certainly combined audio and video. Even if Windows sees it as an audio device, Audacity can’t use it because it needs a separate audio signal.
A video recorder application “may” be able to record from it. You’ll get a video file with audio but no video. If Windows doesn’t recognise it at all in Device Manager, it’s broken so throw it away.
Most cheaper RCA to USB cables are like (I think) you already have so probably won’t be suitable unless they come with software that specifically lets you record just audio. You then would not use Audacity to record at all.
You will probably be better buying a USB interface meant for the job like http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/UCA202.aspx . You’ll also need an additional RCA red/white male to RCA red/white male cable to connect the back of the tape player to the RCA inputs on the interface.
Gale