Record level way too low

I have used Audacity for years with great success. I have recorded stuff from old LP’s, cassette tapes, interviews, etc. In earlier versions of Audacity I never had a problem with audio level of input (amplitude, I think it’s called.) Sometimes I set it a bit high and got some distortion, but I could handle whatever happened. Now I have the latest Audacity 3.2.5. The input level is way too low and I can not seem to adjust it higher. What’s going on?

I sometimes run the phone jack out of my stereo and into the microphone jack on my desktop. Sometimes I play a CD on the desktop. I have also used a microphone plugged into a USB port. All methods have the same result: record level is way too low. In Audacity I have the record level run up to 93% and still the same result, record level is too low. I’m getting no jump in the stereo lines running across the screen. They are almost flat. On playback, I can barely hear what I have recorded.

I’m I explaining this clearly? What am I missing folks? This used to be so easy. I’m a bit panicked because I have a sound project due that many people are depending on. I’m no electrical engineer or sound genius, but Audacity never asked me to be. Thanks in advance for your response.

Solved my own problem folks, though I’m not sure anyone even read my post. I had more than one input plugged in and there was no clear way to know which input Audacity was using. So, I slowly unplugged possible inputs then plugged back in the one I wanted, the one from the stereo phone jack to the desktop microphone input. All of a sudden, Audacity was recording at an adequate volume.

Hmm!

I’ll have to try this.

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