poor recording quality w/audacity, mixer, & ext. speakers

Audacity Help Forum macOS
1

2010 Macbook Pro
Mac OS X 10.6.8
Audacity 2.0.3
Numark MixTrack Pro
Serato Dj Intro

Hello all, I am currently having a bit of trouble making a clear quality recording with my setup… I have a Numark Mixtrack Pro with the 3.5mm audio output end of the red/white RCA cables going into the female end of a female/male/female Y splitter, the male end of the audio splitter is connected to my home stereo system’s aux input, with the other female end of the splitter running a 3.5mm male/male cord into my Macbook Pro’s mic/headphone input.

From there, i open up my sound in system preferences and set up with the following options:

OUTPUT: Select a device for sound output: MixTrack Pro
Use audio port for: Sound Input

INPUT: Select a device for sound output: Line-In
Use audio port for: Sound Input

I then select Built-In Output & Built-In Input in Audacity.

Now my purpose for all this is to be able to record a live dj set im mixing, while playing through my home stereo system. The sound quality is fine while im actually playing, but when i finish mixing and listen to the recording, the playback is muffled… im not sure which options to select to acquire clear sound and im a bit frustrated considering I’ve even lowered the input volume in Audacity to make sure that the audio wasn’t clipping… I’ve also used these settings before with no problem and have even tried numerous combinations, i just cant seem to get it right or figure out what has changed to create this problem here. Im hoping I’ve painted a clear enough picture of the chaos that is ensuing on this end. I would absolutely appreciate anyones help : ) Thank you all for your time!

2

That’s kind of the way I do it. I have a MBP-15" and I have separate connections for Stereo Line-In and Stereo Headphones like this:

http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/pix/MacLineIn.jpg

Is that what you have?

Koz

3

Minus the stereo line-in. The MBP im using only uses one input for headphones and speakers… This shouldn’t be the problem though as I have used this configuration before with no complications. I know so far that the Y splitter or the speakers have nothing to do with the problem either since ive plugged the MixTrack Pro directly into the the laptop and my recordings are still giving off the same muffled sound. I want to think that maybe the RCA/3.5mm jack is screwed up, but wouldn’t that mean the sound would be distorted while im mixing live? Because that isn’t the case… so confuuuused :confused:

4

Apple (upper left) > System Preferences > Sound. Mine shows individual input and output settings. Yours should show you a switch where you can turn your one connection into a Stereo Line-In. That’s how a friend’s MBP-13" works. He has one connection and can’t do both in and out at the same time.

Koz

5

Yes, thats another thing that I didn’t realize at the time of post, which is that I only have one audio port switch for the INPUT and OUTPUT sections. I’ve been using the Sound Input setting for recording purposes.