I’m on an HP running Vista. Just got a Hype turntable with USB, and it came with an older version of Audacity. After I installed it, it seemed to work OK. Then I realized it couldn’t convert files to mp3 w/o the Lame program, so I installed that. Since then, whenever I hit the record button on Audacity, whether I’m playing something on the turntable or not, about two seconds in I get horrendous pulsing, piercing feedback that starts low volume and increases, and doesn’t stop when I hit the pause button, only when I hit the stop button.
So I uninstalled Lame, and still had the problem. So I uninstalled and reinstalled Audacity and still had it. Then I uninstalled Audacity again and installed the latest version from the website, and still had the problem.
If you mean Software Playthrough, it needs to be on if you want to hear playback through the computer while you are recording.
Unless this is a known issue with HYPE turntables, you could still check the headshell and the USB cable are tight and/or try another USB cable if you do want to listen while recording.
Also make sure you are connecting directly into a USB port on the computer, not plugging the turntable into a USB hub.
The symptom (increasing level of a “ringing” feedback as soon as I installed the LAME encoder) was exactly the same for me, using an AGPtek USB Cassette Capture USB input device. AND when I disabled the “Software Playthrough” option (also in my cassette instructions it told me to enable it) - that eliminated the feedback. Unfortunately it also eliminated any audio input. The Audacity display now shows a “flat line” for the input level.
LAME enables Audacity to write MP3 files. It does not create noise while you are recording.
MP3 is a lossy audio format. If you export your recordings as MP3 you will lose quality and may hear distortion, fluttering and other problems. You can export as WAV (larger files) for lossless quality.
You must expect some whining noise with cheap USB audio products. The whining should mostly not get into the recording, but you may have to choose between listening as you record and hearing the whine. You may be able to reduce the whine by buying a better USB cable or making sure the cable you have fits tightly both ends. Connect to a spare USB port on the computer, not to a hub that has other USB devices connected to it.
If you choose the correct USB Audio CODEC input in Audacity Device Toolbar , you can record even if you turn software playthrough off. Restart Audacity if you connected the USB device after starting Audacity.