If I open Audacity → connect USB microphone → start recording, Audacity automatically uses the added mic as the selected recording device, however it’s not adhering to the level limit as shown:
the signal is going past the limiter (it’s ignored)
However, if I first connect USB microphone → open Audacity → select USB microphone in Audio Setup (because it’s not auto-selected), then it adheres to the limiter properly and never goes past it.
Where do you see a “level limit”?
The red dot you may misinterprete as one is a volume slider.
the red button is what I call the level limit, if we call it the volume slider, the recording still ignores the set volume and goes past it.
for the record, the playback meter doesn’t have the issue, only the record one does.
The slider simply adjusts the recording (or playback) level. It doesn’t “know” how strong the incoming signal is. It’s an attenuator, not a limiter.
The analog-to-digital converter (in the USB device) can’t go over 0dB so the slider might track the maximum USB input better.
The real limit is 0dBFS. Nothing bad happens when you get close to 0dB, only if you “try” to go over. Then you get clipping (distortion). And since it’s the ADC that clips, turning down the level in Audacity after it’s digitized won’t prevent or remove clipping.
ok, I’ve figured out that in my first scenario Audacity was actually using “Line-In (SB Audigy)” as the recording input instead of the “Microphone (USB Microphone)”. Apologies for my inattention. It’s the same microphone (the only one I have), but I assume it’s somehow routed through the SB audigy sound card I have. And if it’s used, the attenuator isn’t doing anything (like shown in my first image). Your reply went a bit over my head but I think I understand what you’re saying, however I’m still not sure that it’s normal that the attenuator is ignored.
if “Microphone (USB Microphone)” is used, the attenuator successfully adjusts the recording level. The level stays below the slider. (shown above)
Another problem is that if I manually select “Line-In (SB Audigy)” in the second scenario, it isn’t even recording anything except very faint noise (I assume from the sound card electronics), clearly that’s how it should be because the USB microphone isn’t even connected to the sound card. There is probably some weird interaction going on if I plug in the microphone while Audacity is already running, it then thinks that the “Microphone (USB Microphone)” is actually “Line-In (SB Audigy)” and records fine, however the attenuator doesn’t work.
As DVDdoug and I wrote before, the red dot is not a limiter. It is just acting like the volume knob on your radio. A certain position of it does not mean that the volume does not exceed a value of x. The volume you hear is depending on how much volume is sent out by the radio station.
It just appears that your microphone delivers less volume (less energy) than what comes via your line-in
If you connect a new device while Audacity is running, you need to “rescan audio devices” from the “Transport” menu.
But, since you do not want to accept the explanations given, you have to find out the right settings for your project by yourself.
I understand it’s not a limiter, whether it’s a volume knob, a slider, attenuator, it’s just the way I figured to describe it. Everyone here calls it something different. But if it’s a volume knob, it should affect the volume or should it not? It’s not about exceeding a certain volume, it’s about the knob not doing anything. This maybe going over my head and I’m willing to drop this if this is how it’s supposed to work.
I don’t really have a project, I only reported this in case it was a bug.
btw “Rescan Audio Devices” works. It looks like something goes wrong when Audacity tries to auto choose the recording device, on my setup.
Sometimes it doesn’t work with digital audio data (USB) but it should work with the mic input (pink) or line input (blue) on your soundcard.
Well, for what it’s worth, in my case it doesn’t work only when the USB mic is auto-detected as Line-in (but there’s nothing connected there). I’m gonna mark your reply as the solution to avoid people saying I’m ignoring the solutions.
Basically, what caused the confusion was that, even though the recording itself was working fine, I needed to “Rescan Audio Devices” to make the volume slider work.