compatible soundcards

I’ve got Sigma Tel and I’ve read that it is not compatible with Audacity p probably explains why I can’t record properly! What soundcards are compatible? I am using a usb turntable and a windows XP machine

It’s not that the Sigma Tel is not compatible, it’s that on (some) motherboards that have the Sigma Tel on-board, the drivers offer limited functionality - namely that recording “Stereo Mix” is often disabled.
If you are using a USB turntable, this does not use the sound card for recording - you are inputting digital data directly from the turntable into your computer via USB. You need to set Audacity to record from the USB device and play back through your Sigma Tel soundcard. This is set in “Edit > Preferences > Audio I/O”

Connect your USB turntable before starting Audacity.

Thanks. Why am I getting very low volume levels on recording? I’ve set all the volumes high in the control panel of the PC (the slider bar is greyed out in Audacity). I get some sound but it is very, very low - I have to turn the speakers on the monitor up to max to hear it at a reasonable level.

Some USB tuntables have gain controls to manage the signal level - does yours.

The IION ITTUSB , for example, has a little knurled knob underneath at the back.

WC

No. It doesn’t seem to have that. It is a soundlab turntable.

That’s not unusual, and it should not be a problem. It is just a shortcut to your sound system controls, but only works if the sound system drivers support it (which many newer device drivers do not).

There is probably just one control that you are overlooking, the one that you need. There will be settings for recording using the Sigma Tel, but these are not relevant. You need to be looking for recording (input) settings for the USB device. It may be possible to access this by clicking on a speaker icon near the clock in the sys tray, or you may need to go into the Windows control panel.

It is possible that it is a hardware fault, but I think that it is a lot more likely that the USB recording level is set low somewhere and that the adjustment is hidden somewhere and you’ve just not found it yet.

Thanks,
Have found audio settings I never knew I had! Have got some sound at last!

Excellent :smiley: Where were they?

In ‘advanced’ volume controls. Only two or three were showns initially but when i went into advanced loads more came up. I’ve done a bit of recording now and have a different question. On recordinhg some standard rock music from vinyl, the vocals are drowned out by guitar/drums etc and there is also a bit of echo. are there settings in Audacity that i can play around with to get the balance right - a bit like a graphic equaliser?

Yup 1.3 Beat vn. (latest is 1.3.5) has an equalizer built in - available from the Effects menu.

I can be set to work from equalization curves (with some already built-in) - or to work like a hardware equalizer with sliders.

UPDATE: I just checked in 1.2 - I forgot that there is also equalization there too - but only the curves and not the sliders. The GUI is altogether much nicer in 1.3

WC

BTW: the next time you have a fresh question - please open a new thread for it (with a meaningful title) - stuff tends to get a bit hidden this way