I never had an issue with Audacity until about 6 or so months ago. I use it to push vocals back so I can sing in church. Some how Audacity has taken over ALL my audio files and converted them to play as if I pushed the vocals back. I’ve only used this program on about 15 songs…so please explain to me how it took over and did this by itself to over 200 songs. I have tried to open them through Windows Media Player, Real Player etc and they all sound muffled. I’ve even uninstalled Audacity to see if that would resolve the issue…it did not however. The only way I can listen to my music the way it is suppose to sound is if I open each file up individually through Audacity…Let me tell you how old that gets…I’m very displeased with what has happened and need some answers on how to get my music files back to playing normally through regular media players!
I’m sure I was using the older version of Audacity when this happened. I would use it on occasion to push vocals back so I could sing in church. I’ve only done this with a handful of songs so can someone please explain to me why EVERY last one of my music/audio files plays distorted-as if I pushed the vocals in the background. I have over 200 songs on my computer and every one of them sounds exactly like a file sounds after editing it through Audacity. Before I downloaded the newer version the version I had would allow me to open a file individually and it would play it its original sound, however this was exhausting. I have used several media players to open my music files and despite them all the songs still sound as if I pushed the vocals back using Audacity. I now have the latest version of Audacity and it will no longer play the songs in their original state, but plays the songs distorted. I have no way to listen to any of my music and would like to know if Audacity has completely ruined my files or if there is a way to convert them to their original state? Please help! I like using Audacity for what I use it for but am afraid to upload any more music on my computer for fear of it becoming compromised as well.
Are you sure it’s not a sound-enhancement feature on your computer, (which is nothing to do with Audacity), which is responsible for all your recordings now sounding different.
When such enhancements are turned on or off all the audio played on the computer then will sound different from before,
whether it is played on Audacity or any other media player, ( the enhancement is like a wide stereo effect with a bit of reverb ).
Unless the problem is specific to Audacity , look for a common-denominator as the source of the problem , like enhancements on your computer audio / sound-card. Try listening to your sound files on a device other than your computer , e.g. an mp3 player , that could reveal if the files really are corrupted, or are just being distorted by your computer’s audio.
Please don’t double post in different parts of the Forum. That makes it much harder for us to help you. I merged your posts here into the Windows board.
I agree with Trebor, this is nothing to do with Audacity.
Might you have updated from Windows XP to a later version of Windows that has tunnel sound effects? What version of Windows are you using? What three-section version number of Audacity are you using? Please see Help > About Audacity for version number.
Or might you have installed a new sound card, or updated your sound card drivers and that change has caused the problem?
To begin with I suggest you read this FAQ thoroughly so you know how to turn unwanted sound effects off in Windows or your sound card:
Audacity Manual .
If that does not help please tell us the exact make and model number of the sound card you are using and post a short audio sample of what the problem sounds like. Please see here for how to attach files: https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/how-to-attach-files-to-forum-posts/24026/1 .
Gale
Sorry about double posting. First time on here. Thank you both for your suggestions. My husband has been trying to figure it out by going into the audio/sound program in the computer but can’t seem to find anything that would be changing/distorting the files. Not saying that Audacity did this but whatever has happened to the files is making it sound EXACTLY like the audio files I have pushed vocals in the background using Audacity. Since I’ve posted this question I copied several songs to my tablet and they play normally. Some how my computer is playing all files as if the vocals are pushed back. If online playing any media the sound is normal. It is only when the songs are downloaded and saved to the computer that they become distorted. I will once again have him search the sound enhancement feature on computer to see if there is something that go messed up there. I also uploaded a video making program that could have messed it up because having issues with playing saved video (no sound no matter what media player I use). Once again thank you so much for the quick response. I continue to still use Audacity. It is a very easy and convenient program to use to sing at church. And makes it more affordable on the budget as well! Sure there are many other things I could do with it…but just not the computer savy. Oh…I have Windows 7. And am using the latest version of Audacity.
I think Vista was the first Windows version that had tools to “enhance” sound for conferencing and Skype. It tries to figure out which sounds are evil – like fan noises, refrigerators or traffic – and tries to suppress them. Voices generally make it through OK, but music doesn’t. It destroys musical notes.
Even Macs do it now, too, but they restrict it to the laptop microphone.
I checked out a new computer on the bench for use at work and I Could Not get the sound to behave. An hour later > One of the Hardware people left “Cathedral Effects” running by accident.
New Windows machines are not generic, simple machines any more, and in spite of a lot of requests, Audacity will not apply effects or filters during recording. It’s a slave to whatever the computer is doing.
Koz