playback delay while recording

Windows.

First of all if it’s not obvious, I’m new to audacity. My goal is to record podcasts with 2-4 mics using a usb audio interface. At the moment I am using a scarlett 2i2. What do I need to do to get rid of latency while recording? live monitor works perfect, as soon as I hit record there is a third second delay which is affecting my speech.

Stop listening to the computer. Listen to the interface or audio mixer you’re going to need if you get as high as 4 microphones. If you are listening to your interface and still get the echo, then Audacity is set to fold back your recording to you. You can stop that with Audacity > Edit > Preferences > Recording: [_] playthrough (de-select).

You can insure you’re getting a good recording by watching the Audacity recording sound meters.

My mixer (Peavey PV6) runs out at 4 microphones. I have a much larger mixer if I need to go over that. My USB interface is a Behringer UCA202 and It’s certified for overdubbing/sound-on-sound if I need to do that.

http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/pix/peaveyUCA202Lenovo-650.jpg

No Skype interviews? Everybody always wants to do Skype interviews.

Koz

We get into the most trouble by people wanting to do a podcast cold and not following anybody else’s lead. Do you enjoy other people’s podcasts? Did they post how they did it? Do they respond to questions as to the process or equipment they used?

It’s not as easy as it looks. If you have a modern living room with bare wood floors and plain white walls with occasional artwork, it’s almost impossible to make a “clean,” good quality recording no matter who you are or which microphones you buy. The echoes will kill you.

http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/clips/EchoSample.mp3

Koz