I searched on this forum for recording and couldnt find anything.
I have a late 2009 iMac using audacity/garageband I want to record straight from my SP404sx to iMac. . . Can anybody help?

You will need a cable that has the red and white rca's on one end, and the 1/8 stereo mini on the other. They make a full cable like that, or you can use adaptors from radio shack.

output of 404 on the back, to the audio input of your mac - assuming you are using the onboard mac audio in jack?

Yes I tried my red and white to 1/8 stereo. It doesnt work and I've already tried changing my audio input settings on my mac

If your iMac is like my Macbook air it can not record audio input with a standard cable. If I want stereo audio recorded into my macbook air I need to use a USB audio interface. The input on the macbook air is actually like the headphone jack on iPhones. It CAN accept an input, but it's mono only and requires the 3 tip 1/8" connectors. These are usually found on those headphones with the built in mic made for smart phones. I would check into that before messing with any settings on your iMac. By default it should just accept incoming audio either via line in or internal mic.

The late 2009 iMac should have the audio in mini-jack that is also optical audio in? Did you go to Audio/Midi Setup and see if it was set to "Built-in Input"?

I thought it was the same jack as my 2009 mac laptop.

I bought a Vantec Audio Interface and I'm still having trouble with the 'usb line in' not working. What are you using to record?

never tried recording the 404 but it does not matter what the source is, the recording process is pretty simple:

step 1:

open your daw (ableton, cubase, logic, garageband, audacity, whatsoever) and try pressing cmd+, (comma) - if this does not show the preferences menu you`ll have to figure it out. in the preferences menu you will have to select the sound card you got as your default input device (or default sound card, depending on your daw)

step 2:

after selecting the soundcard as an input, try selecting the specific input that you are using (some soundcards have 2-4-6 or more inputs, if it is usb it probably has 2). arm the track now and start jammin`, if the vu-meter is moving then you`re on the right track

step 3:

hit record and enjoy recording

if this does not work for you let me know what exactly the problem is, eventually please also post a picture of your configuration screen