For some reason audacity wants to record at 48khz even when I have it set at 44khz in both the software and my audio card. Even when I set it to record at 48khz it still sounds fine as I’m recording but when I export it still sounds bit crushed. Even when it’s exported at 48khz.
It was recording fine until I accidentally left another audio program (sample librarian) open when I wanted to record. Now I get bit crushing artifacts but the pitch and speed is correct. It’s not the first time this has happened.
In the lower-left corner I see Audacity set to 48kHz. Go to Edit → Preferences → Quality and select 44,100 Hz.
For the stuff you’ve already recorded at 48kHz, click the little drop-down arrow and change to 44,100. When you export it will resample and export at that sample rate. (It will do a proper resampling so the speed & pitch won’t change.)
How/what are you recording? i.e. Are you using a microphone? Are you recording sounds generated inside the computer using Stereo Mix, or WASAPI loopback? Do you have some kind of analog connection?
Even when I set it to record at 48khz it still sounds fine as I’m recording but when I export it still sounds bit crushed. Even when it’s exported at 48khz.
You shouldn’t hear any difference. Resampling is normally transparent as long as you stay above 44.1kHz.
it still sounds fine as I’m recording but when I export it still sounds bit crushed.
how does it sound when you play it back from within Audacity before exporting?
Are you clipping? (I believe View → Show Clipping is enabled by default and potential clipping will show red.) Audacity itself won’t clip, so it’s possible that you won’t hear the clipping until you export to WAV.
That image is when everything is set to 48khz… I still get the issues… no clipping at all… I know how to set levels properly. It isn’t clipping. The peaks don’t even reach anywhere near -0db.
I’ve noticed that when I have my audio card set to 44khz it switches to 48 by itself. Even when Audacity is set to 44. I tried locking it but I still get the strange bit crushing effect. Maybe it’s a bit depth issue and not sample rate?
I’ve noticed that when I have my audio card set to 44khz it switches to 48 by itself.
I don’t know how you’re “setting” or “locking” your card, but the Windows drivers will automatically make any necessary conversions without telling you so you’ll get whatever Audacity is set to.
For example, if you have a regular-cheap soundcard that works at 16-bits/44.1kHz the drivers will make it compatible with any standard format so you can play a 24-bit/192kHz file, etc. The same thing happens during recording and you usually don’t really know what the hardware is actually doing.
If you have ASIO compatible hardware & software you can use ASIO drivers and capture bit-perfect data from the ADC (without any sneaky resampling). Audacity does not support ASIO as-supplied.
I tried locking it but I still get the strange bit crushing effect. Maybe it’s a bit depth issue and not sample rate?
No… maybe if you were exporting at 8-bits. 16-bits is better than human hearing.
You didn’t tell us how/what you are recording. Most problems are on the analog side.
What do you mean by bit crushed? As DVDdoug asked, does it sound OK before you export? Can you attach a small sample WAV file of the problem? See How to post an audio sample.
Note that Audacity project rate determines the export sample rate. If project rate is 48000 Hz, the exported WAV file will have that rate.
You’re using MME host in Audacity’s Device Toolbar. That host will always use whatever the Windows Default Format is set to in Windows Sound, and Audacity will have to resample if the project rate is set differently. See the link above about sample rates.
To avoid what DVDdoug called “sneaky resampling” you must choose Windows DirectSound or Windows WASAPI host in Audacity, and ensure both Exclusive Mode boxes for your playback and recording devices are checked in Windows Sound.
You can still presumably remove the checkmarks from the two Exclusive Mode boxes (which “might” help if you choose MME host in Audacity’s Device Toolbar), or leave them checked and change host to Windows DirectSound or Windows WASAPI. Have you tried that?
It should not be necessary to disable the built-in audio device, if the drivers for the onboard audio and the Mia device are correct.
You haven’t answer Doug’s questions or attached a sample, so I doubt we can help you further with this. Perhaps you could use some other software to record, and Audacity just to edit.
