here is an outline based on driver 5.10.0.5408 codec alc888
yours may be slightly different but should be very close
documentation v1 appears to apply to all realtek codecs
someone else can do pix as needed for now
i will try to do them later
in general to use realtek for audio with audacity
find all places audio is diddled in windoze
UNmute all of them
turn all volume controls to maximum
enable realtek for everything
start with left click on realtek icon if in right tray at bottom else
go to start/setting/controlpanel/realtek and enable it in the tray
visit all tabs in realtek panel
flatten the eq and save it under soundeffects tab to make that default for eq
set environment to none
then
mixer tab - playback at top use wrench to turn on all sliders
unmute speakers
also
playback - max all volume sliders -
turn volume wheel to max
may have to clik on arrows at right side to find all sliders
mixer tab bottom - record
first use wrench to make them all visible
- mute all NOT used
UNmute what you want to record
turn volume wheel to max
there are no sliders here
audio io tab - info only
plug your connections as it shows
note you may hve to use connectinos on back of pc not front
be sure to pick normal stereo plug not the 5.1 type plugs
microphone tab
turn off noise cancel and echo stuff
3d demo - ignore
any others? not on mine - but if so follow the pattern given
you may have one for spdif - not on my machine - may not work anyway - but try a driver update if you need it
hit the little “i” on the bottom of any page and note your
driver - download the latest driver from pc maker or realtek !!!
directx - not sure if this info is needed
audio controller - should be hd audio
codec - you need this for driver download along with opsys info
eg codec alc888 and win xp pro sp2
and set your language to english or whatever you want
now make sure all windoze places matches your info
(it should have been set as default okay but verify it as some things were muted on my pc and volumes were too low)
first right click on realtek to find 4 places
that things are diddled
sound manager- windose main panel - should ahve been replaced by realtek if not it will be done later below
right click on realtek –
multimedia - unmute and max all
turn off win sounds
set audio to realtek
set voice to realtek - not the type of voice - see later panel
hardware - can verify workign okay
windows player - should not have any settings
sound recorder - has one >> edit/properties - set to realtek
volume control - unmute and max all
then check
start/settings/controlpanel/sounds…
should bring up panel you found earlier
verify same settings as above
start/settings/controlpanel/realtek
should be the same as from the tray
but if not do the steps above now and check box to put icon in tray
start/settings/controlpanel/speech - should be no choices
unless you have some other software for speech
my default and only option was “sam” - this is different from realtek voice above
then check
start/settings/controlpanel/system/hardware/devicemanager/sounds…
pick any audio devices and check same settings as above
realtek is key - drill down and verify enabled
others can be verified as functional - should be no settings
find ms sound recorder application
and check its options subpanel
only if you didnt find it with rightclick on realtek icon
if you have video or game stuff they may have panels that could diddle the audio so drill down in them and make sure they have not stepped on teh audio or audacity settings
then after all that you should be able to select what you want to do in audacity
and use its volume control and input selector
note it is now set to be used as volume control from 0 up not as a fader from 100% down
you need to keep an eye on realtek panel
often changes volume settings
so recheck the mixer tab before each use or if have problems
anyone who finds more windows panels that mess with audio please append info to this thread