Wow, some misinformation in this thread. Or at least, amateur lack of info. USB cassette players are among the worst things you could use; your walkman is probaly better. Those of us who are audio engineers and make tape transfers part of our professional services look for the best possible playback, and good decks are pricy for good reason - nobody makes them any more and they are wearing out, and are expnsive to repair.

All you really needed to know was how to switch your Mac's jack to input, and it is a teatament to Apple's dumbing down evolution that they don'tsay how to do that in the consumer's operating manual. It is really simple and basic!

Quality pl yback needs a good machine aligned to the tape. I use Nakamichi and Sony cassette decks in tip top condition.

Anyone who has valuable recordings on cassette or reel tapes, contact a profr\essional to get quality transfers to digital files! :-)