I just started using Audacity. I have a Sony DAT player that is being run from the headphone jack to the mike input on the front of my Windows 7 HP computer. I am getting no sound at all. What steps do I need to take to get this system operative? I’m a real newbie at this stuff, but I really need to understand this stuff for my job.
I think my major problem is getting Audacity to communicate w/ my computer.
Any help out there?
I need to understand the basic steps to getting this thing operative…
That’s pointless. Unless there is a mic hardware or software switch to convert the input to line level stereo, the mic input will be mono or at best, low quality stereo.
Is there a blue line-in input anywhere, like at the back of the computer?
Does your computer have an S/PDIF input and the DAT player have an S/PDIF output? If so, connect between the two with an appropriate TOSLINK or optical cable. That way you’ll preserve the digital signal instead of lossily converting it to and from analogue.
If you are not recording any tall blue waves, just a flat line, open Device Toolbar and choose the input you are actually trying to record from (such as line-in).
Set the output device to the name of your computer built-in sound device.
If you want to hear what you are recording, choose Transport > Software Playthrough (on/off) and make sure it is ticked (checked).
Please see the Manual for more help: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/tutorial_copying_tapes_lps_or_minidiscs_to_cd.html .
Gale