Dropouts followed by device/sample rate error

Audacity Help Forum macOS
1

Hello all,

First off, I’m using Audacity 2.3.2 on OSX Mojave 10.14.16 (13" MacBook Pro).

I’m trying to record from an LP player, going from USB into my laptop. Side 1 was about as easy as it gets – all of it was recorded in one go with no issues. Beginning with Side 2 everything that could go wrong has. I didn’t change anything, but found that the recording was littered with dropouts throughout the entire piece, and when I deleted the track and tried to re-record I got an error message saying to check my source and sample rate.

Logically, I’m thinking this is a software compatibility issue. I’m using a 2019 MBP which should have more than adequate disk speed and memory to handle this task (and yes, I paid great attention to the FAQ https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/faq_recording_troubleshooting.html#skips). I’ve tried a number of times, including starting a new project. Nada.

If anyone can offer some help/advice I would appreciate it.

2

Have a look at this FAQ about “clicky” recordings on Mac.
It recommends decreasing the buffer length, among other things.
– Bill

3

Thanks, @billw58. Somehow, I think just opening the MIDI utility did the trick (I literally moved the gain slider a sliver). Still not sure what the actual source of the problem is, but after this at least I was able to record with no dropouts.