Audacity Forum

Ctein wrote:So, please elaborate. What's the S/N issue I'm missing?

I don't think your missing anything. Increasing the bit depth will increase the theoretical maximum SNR. Increasing the sample rate will increase the bandwidth (higher frequency response).

Can you upload a sample of your work somewhere on the internet and post a link, then we may be able to offer some tips on how to improve what you already have.

What have you got the Project Rate set at, and how many channels are set in Edit > Preferences > Audio I/O
Try setting it to 44100 and 1 channel (mono) and see what happens.

Have a look in C:Program Files and check that you have Audacity installed where you think it is installed. Note that by default the installation folder for Audacity 1.3.x is different from Audacity 1.2.x

But one thing I've noticed is that in the mixer window microphone was checked not stereo mix, You should be using "Line in" not the microphone in. This could be a problem if you are using a laptop because they do not usually have a "Line in" socket. The "Mic in" socket...

Does the m-audio show up in the Windows Mixer? If so, could you post a screen shot of the Record and Playback settings.

The solution was very simple indeed, was the problem of the Mic input vs. Line input Great stuff, I thought that would do the trick. I'd still be interested to know if works with the "Stereo Mix" option - perhaps you could try that if you have time (just keep a note of anything that you c...

Make sure that you have ALL other programs closed (including your browser) and try opening Audacity 1.3.5 and looking in "Help > Audio Device Info"
Does Audacity still close down?

Yes

Look in
"Edit > Preferences > Audio I/O"
and
"Edit > Preferences > Quality"
to set the defaults.

Note that in Audacity 1.3.5 you can record in any format, then select your destination format when you Export your finished project.

Go into your "Windows Mixer" (loudspeaker icon near the system clock) and check that the microphone playback setting is muted.

Open Audacity and go to Edit > Preferences > Audio I/O and check that "software playthrough" is not enabled.