I am recording with Audacity using an Alesis iO2 Express interface. I have everything set up and I can record. While I am playing to record I can here my instruments/vocals perfectly fine but when I go to play back what I’ve recorded the audio is so low that I have to turn up the volume all the way just to barely here it. It’s not just with the Audacity software. Even watching normal videos online the audio is almost non-existent. I’m using headphones directly plugged into the Alesis. What am I doing wrong here?
Audacity has two different ways to tell if you’re getting a good recording, and listening isn’t one of them. While you’re recording, you should get blue waves and bouncing red sound meters that should look something like this.
http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/Audacity1_record.jpg
Your red meters may be a different size.
If the red meters bounce way to the left or the blue waves don’t appear, then you’re not getting a recording.
It’s not clear what you’re recording. Are you singing into the Alesis iO2 Express? Do other applications sound OK when Audacity is closed?
Koz
I know it’s recording that isn’t the issue. I’m trying to record music; guitar and vocals. I can’t sing over music that I can’t hear. I’ve plugged both the guitar and the microphone into the interface and they are recording, but when I play it back I just can’t hear it.
Have you tried turning the Alesis output up in Windows? What version of Windows are you using?
If you are listening to applications like Audacity or a flash player, then on Windows Vista or later, such applications have their own output volume slider in the Mixer. Left-click the speaker icon by the system clock, then click “Mixer”.
Gale