Based on this previous response:
The auxiliary audio jack on your Mac isn’t the same type of thing as the one that comes out of mono cassette players. They are related, and the Mac one is made to work with one of those old cables in an audio-out capacity by default. But as an input port, it really only works with things like the older iPhone EarBuds and earphones. It won’t work with raw audio out from old audio devices.
What you need is a “usb audio adapter.” Search Amazon for that and you’ll see a variety that show up, all pretty cheap. They plug in to your USB port and then you can plug in audio cables to the other end. Then you can select that as an import source and record directly into Audacity, GarageBand, QuickTime Player, etc.
My question is: when I searched for ” usb audio adapter” it shows different ones ..some with volume control and buttons. To copy from a cassette player… do I plug in a cord from the headset into the microphone or headphone spot??
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Fran Hess
A USB adapter may have two inputs: mic and "line in." If you are going from anything other than a microphone, then use "line in." So that's the one you would use coming from a cassette recorder. If one is called "headset" then I would imagine it is something different: a way to listen to the sound via headphones as it plays through the device. This is sometimes called a monitor. But a simple USB audio adapter probably wouldn't have that. I'm not sure which one you are looking at. Either way, it should come with some instructions or online support to tell you exactly what to use.
The only port on the cassette player is the headset. On the USB audio adapters I see headset and microphone plug in spots. So, can I copy the cassette by attaching a headset extension cord .. one side into the cassette headset plug in spot and the other side into the USB adapter microphone plug in spot? I ran out of spaces but my initial question was based on your response to use a USB audio adapter ( 1 year ago) responding on how to copy an audio cassette to Mac air with no microphone jack.
Fran: You'll have to check the documentation for the adapter. It should say. The headset port could represent "input for headset" or it could represent "audio monitor." I can't say without seeing the documentation.
If the documentation doesn't say for some reason, you can always just try it. Only two choices. Try the headset port first. Then try the microphone one. If one is silent, then you know. If they both work, then which one gives you better quality?