This seems an absolutely elementary question for an absolutely elementary need in audio recording, but
I’ve spent hours poring over the documentation and experimenting with the Audacity dashboard, and still can’t find the magic control, clickpoint, or whatever to control audio levels.
“Before recording for real, try to set sound levels by playing similar material from your intended source and monitoring it in Audacity, so that the recording level will be neither too soft nor so loud as to risk clipping. … Both the output level of the audio you are recording and the level it’s being recorded at will determine the achieved input level of the recording. Thus to achieve the correct recording level you should use both the recording and playback level sliders on Mixer Toolbar …”
My problem is that I can’t find a way to adjust the input audio level on my my Mixer Toolbar. On the Playback Volume control (righthand) I can use mouse pointer to move the indicator, but not on what seems to be the input audio control (lefthand). There’s nothing that I’ve found that allows me to move any control associated with the input audio level.
Advice on this would be greatly appreciated.
Incidentally, I’ve succeeded in making several audio WAV and MP3 files that sound well (though audio volume seems depressed), but I’m concerned that excessively high input could create clipping and distortion in future recordings.
To experiment and learn, I’ve recorded 2 songs from YouTube and a snippet of FM broadcast via the Line In connection.
To record from the Internet (YouTube) Audio Host was Windows WASAPI, Recording Device was Speakers (Realtek…) loopback.
To record from Line In, Audio Host was MME, Recording Device was Line In (Realtek…)
These selections seemed to work OK, but any advice appreciated. My main goal is to record from LPs via the tuner/amp Line In.
To experiment and learn, I’ve recorded 2 songs from YouTube and a snippet of FM broadcast via the Line In connection.
You should be able to adjust the volume with analog line-in. With digital (streaming or USB) you are simply “capturing” the digital audio stream and Audacity won’t change it. (There are Windows settings and “enhancements” that can affect the signal before it gets to Audacity.)
If the digital signal is low you can use the Amplify effect after recording. If the signal is clipping it can’t be fixed and the analog signal should be reduced before it’s digitized. With digital recording it’s good to leave plenty of headroom and amplify after recording. (If you remember analog tape you wanted a hot signal to overcome tape noise but that’s not the case with digital recording.)
My main goal is to record from LPs via the tuner/amp Line In.
I assume you have a desktop/tower computer with a “regular soundcard” and line-in?
Incidentally, I’ve succeeded in making several audio WAV and MP3 files that sound well (though audio volume seems depressed)
Even after Amplifying or Normalizing (AKA “maximizing”) digitized records & tapes can be somewhat quieter than modern digital recordings. Most older recordings weren’t victims of the “loudness war” so they are more dynamic and quieter overall. Then the vinyl cutting & playback process makes some peaks higher and some lower (without affecting the sound of the dynamics) so when it’s “maximized” the overall loudness is lower.
Broadcast radio stations add their own dynamic compression & limiting so the recordings should be louder and more consistent.
The popular streaming services use linear volume matching so they don’t mess with the dynamics. Usually this is a volume reduction and in cases where it needs boosting they won’t boost into clipping.