Audacity records only on 0.1 DB although recording level shows 1 db! The slider is on max! I have done everything I could find on the web, but nothing happens. Also, I re installed 3 different versions, and the error stays! This is madness! The microphone is tested on the windows, and it is OK. Please, help!
Where are you reading those values? Is that showing on the recording meters?
If you are recording from the microphone, of course it depends on the loudness of the sound.
Digital recording levels can’t go over 0dB so they are normally negative. And the difference between 0.1dB and 1dB is only about 10%.
Typically we shoot for -6dB (50) to -3dB (75%) so we don’t “try” to go over 0dB and clip (distort). Pros often record much lower. The levels can be boosted after recording.
The scale on the left side of the track shows that. The amplitude shows hardly more than a line. Usually it shows up almost to 1.0 db. Funny that in one session it was OK, next time I started it is wrong. I haven’t done anything, just started Audacity. It is weird how can it change itself. And to the wrong way.
Let’s start with this - What are you recording from? The microphone built-into your laptop?
Make sure you’ve selected the correct Recording Device .
And make sure Windows “enhancements” are turned OFF. There are automatic volume control effects, and effects that try to suppress everything except spoken voice, etc., and these “enhancements” can foul-up the sound in all kinds of crazy ways.
The scale on the left side of the track shows that. The amplitude shows hardly more than a line.
OK… The scale on the left isn’t dB. It shows the linear level from -1 to +1 which represents 100% full-scale. 100% is 0dBFS. (1) (The meters show dB.)
A Like a regular wave, soundwaves go positive and negative about equally. An amplitude of negative 1.0 is also 0dB.
…A soundwave is positive and negative air pressure, relative to the atmospheric pressure. Electrical audio signals go positive and negative and digital audio levels got positive and negative,
Like a normal wave, it goes positive and negative.
(1) 0dBFS (zero decibels full-scale) is the digital dB reference and it’s (generally) the digital maximum (the highest number you can “count to” with a given number of bits.) So digital dB levels are normally negative.
dB SPL (sound pressure level) is the acoustic loudness in the air. 0dB SPL is approximately the quietest sound that humans can hear.
There is no automatic calibration between SPL and digital levels but there is a direct correlation. If the digital level goes down by -3dB (a bigger negative number), the SPL loudness also goes down by 3dB (a smaller positive number).