Audacity works fantastic for recording from vinyl (audio-technica AT-LP120-USB turntable), then converting to MP3 files for thumb-drive music playback in my truck. Sounds great. Wonderfully convenient. My problem, more of an annoyance than a deal-killer, is that I am unable to monitor the audio as it is recording.
Super easy - after recording - to hit the Audacity Play button and then listen (rear panel speaker output to external speakers), but why can’t I listen while recording?
Using the Windows 11 “Sound” tool, I have the speakers set as Default under the Playback tab, but again, no sound while recording vinyl using Audacity.
Grrr… 
PS: I also have “USB AUDIO CODEC” selected as recording device under the “Sound” tool Recording tab
tick “software playthrough of input” in Audacity preferences …
https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/recording_preferences.html
Thanks. Sounds reasonable, except the Preferences option under the Edit menu is not selectable (greyed out).
If you are playing audio, preferences is greyed-out. Need to stop or pause playback to see preferences.