I have tried recording the track using microphone, line in etc, but seem to only have success with microphone. But when I come to play back on Audacity before exporting as wav file the quality is very poor. Can I improve on this.
Thanks for any advice.
Yes, rip the CD track from the CD rather than record it. There are several free ripping packagesa vailable on t’interweb.
WC
Recording CD from mic or line-in will invariably result in quality loss because there will be a digital-to-analog conversion (mic and line-in are analog signals) followed by an analog-to-digital conversion (audio files in a computer is a digital format). So best option is to avoid all this and make a digital-to-digital direct conversion using software only.
Only reason that wouldn’t be possible would be if you don’t have a cd/dvd player on your computer. Is that the case?
If so then the best option would be to connect your cd player line-out (usually 2 RCA connectors) into the computer’s line-in (blue 1/8" stereo jack connector).
Most recent laptops don’t have a line-in, only a mic-in. You shouldn’t connect a line level signal to a mic level input, that will almost certainly produce a terrible result.
If you have a cd/dvd player in your computer, then use it to “rip” the cd. What operating system do you have? There are many free alternatives for all platforms. I’m not a windows users but I remember there used to be a program called CDEx which was good. I think you can also do it using the standard windows media player that comes with windows. On Mac you can use iTunes. On Linux you have Grip, Sound Extractor and many others.
If you don’t own the copyright of the track on the CD, and you intend reproducing it on the internet in its entirety, then my advice would be get a good lawyer.