Hello and greetings

New member here. Howdy! waves :slight_smile: I am using Windows 7 and Audacity 2.1.1.

Unfortunately, Audacity is currently driving me bananas. :wink: I have an instrumental backing track, and I am trying to record a vocal track to go with it. Here is the instrumental track:
first.png
Unfortunately, when I start recording the vocal track, the instrumental track is doubled without my doing anything - here is what it looks like:
second.png
So when I try to record and then playback, it’s very difficult to actually hear my voice. Also, because the instrumental track is doubled, I find it very hard to hear when I’m supposed to come in etc.

Is there any way to stop the track from being doubled? I’ve tried googling the answer, and [url=https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/when-i-record-the-track-is-doubled/12814/1 an answer here on the Audacity forums[/url] - but unfortunately it was from 2010, and the answer refers to pages on the Audacity wiki that are now defunct. :frowning: So I am back to where I started… banging my head against the wall. :frowning:

Thank you so much! :smiley:

That’s a pretty old version. Audacity 2.2.2 is due to be released at the end of the month. 2.2.1 is available here: Audacity ® | Download for Windows

You need to set Audacity’s “Recording input” to the thing that you want to record (your microphone) in the device toolbar and not “Stereo Mix” or “What U Hear” or “WASAPI loopback” or “Sound Mapper”.

Thanks for the reply, Steve. I have tried what you suggested - as below:
toolbar.png
But unfortunately, nothing that I tried in the Toolbar seems to make any difference. :frowning:

What is the difference between Audacity 2.1.1 and 2.2.2? curious Would downloading the new version solve this problem? I’ve never had any trouble with 2.1.1 until now. Any idea what I’ve missed?

Um, hello? Anyone? confused

Rather a lot:

Unfortunately I can only see a truncated description: “Microphone (RO?” so it’s not clear to me what that is.
Open “Audio Device Info” from the Help menu, and save the info to your Desktop, then attach the file to your reply.

What sort of microphone are you using and how is it connected to your computer?
Are your computer speakers turned off? When recording with a mic you need to use headphones not speakers.

Unfortunately I can only see a truncated description: “Microphone (RO?” so it’s not clear to me what that is.
Open “Audio Device Info” from the Help menu, and save the info to your Desktop, then attach the file to your reply.

What sort of microphone are you using and how is it connected to your computer?
Are your computer speakers turned off? When recording with a mic you need to use headphones not speakers.[/quote]

Sorry for the truncation description - please see the complete toolbar below.


Please also find attached the Microphone info here:
rath_deviceinfo.txt (6.49 KB)
I’m using a Rode NT-USB, connected to my computer with a USB cable (i.e. one of these - sorry for the link to a store’s website; I simply wished to be sure that I had it right).

My speakers were not turned off; if I turn them off, I cannot hear the backing music, even with headphones. :frowning:

I’ve been able to record just fine without this issue in the past, so I’m not sure what’s happening. Any ideas?

This is interesting, because it does not agree with what is showing in the Device Toolbar, but it does explain what the problem is.

According to the device info:

Selected recording device: 1 - Stereo Mix (Realtek High Defini
Selected playback device: 3 - Speakers (Realtek High Definiti

There is no mention of the USB mic.

That means that Audacity is using your speakers for playback (via the Realtek HD audio chip, which I guess is the computer’s on-board audio chip), and is recording from the “Stereo Mix” output of the Realtek HD. These settings will record whatever is playing on the computer. In effect, it links the outputs of the Realtek HD to the inputs of the ReakTek HD

What has probably happened, is that you set Audacity (correctly) to record from the USB mic, but then for some reason, your computer lost its connection to the USB mic. so Audacity fell back to using another device, which happened to be the “Stereo Mix” input of your onboard sound card.

This could have been due to a loose USB connection, or even due to a temporary high load on the computer’s CPU making the USB temporarily unavailable.
If you’ve not rebooted the computer for a long time, that could also be the problem. USB likes to be “refreshed” from time to time.
Also, some computers have trouble waking USB after the computer has been to sleep. When working with audio projects, it is a good idea to disable power saving (and for laptops, run the machine plugged in if possible).

Audacity only looks for available audio devices in three situations:

  1. When Audacity is launched
  2. When you “Rescan Audio Devices” (Transport menu).
  3. When you select “Audio Device Info”

Only the first two will update the Device Toolbar (the third is only for diagnostic purposes).


For overdub recording (which is what you are doing), you should have your headphones plugged into the Rode USB microphone, and set the playback device in the device toolbar to the microphone. This should allow you to hear yourself, and other tracks through your headphones.

I would suggest:

  1. Shut down / power off the computer completely
  2. Check the USB lead is not damaged and is securely plugged in at both ends. Use a different lead / USB socket if necessary.
  3. Restart the computer and wait for it to fully boot up. If Windows / anti-virus / any other software is updating, wait for it to complete (can take a long time).
  4. Turn down the level controls on the mic, and plug your headphones into the mic.
  5. Launch Audacity
  6. Set the device toolbar to the USB mic for both recording and playback.
  7. Adjust the levels on the mic as necessary. Note that the mic controls work in conjunction with the Windows audio controls - ensure that the recording and playback levels are turned up in the Windows sound controls.

Thank you, Steve! :slight_smile: It works just fine now. Thanks again! :smiley:

Just wondering… for the aria that I’m recording, my voice has to vary from pianissimo (very soft) to fortissimo (very loud). Personally, I don’t have a problem with any of this - but I noticed some distortion on my voice when I go into the fortissimo passages. (The recording volume was set at 55%). I reduced the recording volume to 20%, but that was hardly audible, so I increased it by degrees - and at 50%, it was audible without distortion.

If the recording volume is higher than 50%, is it normal for the voice to be distorted? Just wondering…

You may have to move the mic further away, and/or put a shield on it, to stop the distortion during loud sections.
(i.e. the distortion can occur in the mic, not just in subsequent processing of the mic signal).