New and Confused to getting this working

[Mfurman]

I am completely new to all this, received the CT2DG device that helps record all your tapes to MP3 format. I plug it in and press record on Audacity and press play on the tape machine. I don't see that Audacity recognizes any sound coming out of the device so I plugged in head phones to the device and hear the sound perfectly. I am not sure what I am doing wrong but any assistance in getting this working would be greatly appreciated. I was so excited when I received this thinking, finally i would get to listen to my old cassettes again, but have been a bit down since i can't get it going.

Thanks!

[DVDdoug]

You just need to select your USB device as your recording input. (Windows might not show the manufacturer or model number, but you should be able to figure it out.)

The Your First Recording Tutorial should get you going.

so I plugged in head phones to the device and hear the sound perfectly.

That's good! Windows is "seeing" the device and the drivers are working. But, Windows has separate recording & playback "mixers", so you don't always record exactly what you are hearing through the speakers/headphones. (And, that's good because you don't usually want to record the "beeps" and "dings" that Windows makes...

[Mfurman]

hey thanks for the advice, I have made sure under preferences that my usb in the source of input. However when i play back what it should be recording all i hear is the click of the tape player (like when i press play on the actual recorder or when i press stop.. thats the only noise its recording.) any ideas? is there a video that shows this stuff? thanks again

[steve]

In Audacity, go to "Edit menu > Preferences > Devices" and set the Recording device to the USB option.
(This setting is also available in the Device Toolbar if you have that showing).

[kozikowski]

That rang bells, didn't it? Is there a place to plug headphones into your device? Will it play tapes without actually capturing in Audacity?

I'm sure you have to have the USB cable plugged in to get it to work.

It's suspicious that you can hear connect and disconnect noises but no music.

Koz

[steve]

Yes, it definitely suggests that the recorded sound is NOT from the USB device.

[Mfurman]

Yes i had headphones and put them into the player and i heard the music perfectly.

I had already set the preferences to USB device.

And yes, the device requires for the usb to be plugged in.

What has me confused is that i have no microphone on the computer.. so the only way that the noise of the play and stop could be captured would be through the usb, right?

[steve]

The only connection between the USB device and the computer should be the USB cable. Some USB devices also have analogue outputs but these should not be connected to the computer.

Do you have a web cam or any other peripheral device connected to the computer?

[waxcylinder]

The only connection between the USB device and the computer should be the USB cable. Some USB devices also have analogue outputs but these should not be connected to the computer.

And make sure that if you do have such analog outputs that they are not touching each other or a common metal surface otherwise you will get noise. Whan I used to have such a USB TT I wrapped the RCA plugs in electrical insulating tape.

WC