I consistently have tiny clicks in my voice recording (Yeti Pro) I need to eliminate. I believe that they may be caused by the incorrect latency setting.
So I decided to do the latency test as per your manual - and got stuck plus found an inconsistency between the manual and Audacity.
In the test, I got to the point of generating a rhythm track. When I click Record (mono) a new track opens sure, and I can hear the rhythm clicks but nothing gets recorded on the new track. Flatline.
I don’t use any audio interface and my Yeti Pro is connected via USB to my desktop computer, so I didn’t do the input-output cable looping as described in the manual. My input is the mic and my output are the headphones connected to the mic.
How can I do the latency test with loop-back recording in my current setting without an audio interface?
Also, do you have any advice (other than adjusting the latency) on eliminating those tiny, tiny clicks?
Re the inconsistency: in the manual it says:
Now press Shift and click the Record new track button The Record New Track button in the Transport Toolbar - the rhythm track will be played back and recorded on a new track.
However, when I do that (R+ Shift) it actually appends the recording to the existing track. When I simply click Record (without Shift) - it opens a new track below which is what we want in this test. So this works the other way around.
I realised that my Audacity was outdated (I have not been receiving any update notifications) and was still 2.4.1. I have updated it to the current version, and also adjusted the latency as per a video I came across on YouTube. (-140 with 100 buffer ).
Then I did a test voice recording and…no clicks! In addition, my voice recording has a much better quality - clearer, richer, almost 3D (with the same mic ).
Well done Audacity team - this version is a super improvement!
I still would like to know whether I can perform a latency test with my USB mic.
ok. there are still some clicks but very tiny and only here and there.
perhaps I just need to keep adjusting the latency value until all clicks are gone.
The manual is correct when using a recent version of Audacity with default settings.
Either you are using an old version of Audacity, or “Record on a new track:” is enabled in “Edit menu > Preferences > Recording” (see: Recording Preferences - Audacity Manual)
Yes, you just need to put the mic close enough to your speakers / headphones so that it picks up the sound of the click track.
See: Latency Test - Audacity Manual
Buffer length
This is the setting that may help to prevent clicks during recording.
The default is 100 ms.
Some systems require this to be a bit larger or smaller (more often “larger” on Windows) for click free recording. You need to experiment to see what works best.
Latency compensation
This setting is used to synchronise new recordings with other tracks in the project.
It is essential to set this up before overdubbing or using “punch and roll”.
Latency compensation must be set after setting the buffer length. If you change the buffer length, then latency compensation will need to be checked and adjusted again.
But…re you reply about the manual, I wanted to double check my Audacity version and…t is back to 2.4.2 again!
How did this happen?? Last week I updated it to the CURRENT version 3.0.4…
This also explains why I was unable to open my project yesterday as Audacity was giving me an error saying that it can’t recognise the .aup3 file.
Here is what happened: The new Audacity 3.0.4 did not replace (remove) the old version- which is what I normally expect from software updates. I started working on it, saved my project as .aup3.
The next day, I opened Audacity from my taskbar icon and …it could not open my project! I had to start it from scratch (which cost be about 4 hours of work). The penny didn’t drop until I saw your point about possibly still working with the old version. Nah…of course I have updated it to the current one! To double check the version I clicked on About and…I am in the 2.4.2 !
I then checked in my programs list - and lo and behold I have two versions: old and new, and they are saved in different places on my PC.
The key issue was that the icon pinned to my taskbar didn’t update and was still linked to the old version, and so that’s what it opened which didn’t recognise the .aup3 file.
So now I opened the new version, pinned it to my task bar and removed the old icon. Should I also delete the old program from my PC? Will my older projects open in 3.0.4?
Suggestion for future updates - please make them replace the icon on the taskbar!
Normally, installing a new version of Audacity will overwrite the old version. However, the latest Windows version of Audacity is a 64-bit app*, whereas Audacity 2.4.2 is 32-bit, and Windows uses a different folder for 64-bit apps. To “replace” Audacity 2.4.2 with Audacity 3.x, you must uninstall Audacity 2.4.2 first, and then install Audacity 3.x.
(a 32-bit version is also available for 32-bit Windows users)
I don’t think it was made very obvious. Probably the best way would be to uninstall all versions of Audacity, then do a clean install of Audacity 3.0.4.
Audacity 3.0.4 can import old AUP projects.
There was a minor issue with Audacity 3.0.2, and I’m not sure if it has been fixed, so this is just in case you see this issue:
“Some” old AUP files, when imported into Audacity 3.0.2, will cause all “Nyquist” effects to fail. (Nyquist effects are listed in the bottom section of the Effect menu). If you encounter this problem:
Where are your AUP projects? Normally they would be somewhere in you “Documents” or “Music” folder.
Uninstalling a program should not affect other files.
There’s a possibility that uninstalling Audacity 2.4.2 “could” remove things required by Audacity 3.x.
Yes you can just uninstall 2.4.2, but to be on the safe side, I’d recommend running the Audacity 3.0.4 installer again after uninstalling 2.4.2.
