At my church we are trying to record from a Peavey PV14USB mixer to audacity 2.05 on a windows 7 laptop. I’ve plugged a red & white phono lead into the tape out and plugged the mini jack into the mic input on the laptop. However, the recording sounds like it is recording from the mikes in the room rather than direct from the desk, so consequently, it sounds like it’s down a well! Also, if someone is typing on the laptop, which is next to the desk, or coughs it seems to pick up the sounds quite clearly although the mikes are probably 30-40 feet away, as if there’s a mic on the desk itself. What am I doing wrong? Also, I’ve just discovered that the mixer has a usb (B) socket on the back, so I’m wondering if it might work better using that rather than the tape out phono sockets?
The recording will only work with the USB cable. It’s not optional. The Mic-In on the computer will not accept the show from the mixer without damaging it. You are currently recording the microphones on the laptop.
Plug in the USB cable and let Windows chew on it and establish the connection. Then restart Audacity. Click on the Device Toolbar and select something that says USB. The connection name doesn’t have to say Peavey. It can say anything, but it will be the connection that didn’t used to be there a minute ago.
If you disconnect the USB with everything running, Audacity may forget how to get it back. Restart Audacity or Transport > Rescan…
This can be a serious problem if you have a loose or ratty USB cable. Probably OK if you have a new one.
FWIW we use a similar setup, we’ve got an Allen and Heath Zed420 desk and we plug the laptop (Win 7) into it via USB. As Koz says you just have to make sure the USB input option is selected (caught us out once or twice) and it should be OK. The other thing that occasionally trips us up is whether you’re sending a pre or post fade signal down the USB, as this could affect the levels.
Best to avoid audio coupling, as we had all sorts of issues with mains hum and the like - USB is nice and clean.
The sound quality/pickup you’re describing does sound like there’s a mic built into the laptop/desk picking everything up…! Just looked up your desk and can’t see anything like that, you’ve not got a hearing aid loop or boundary mic somewhere catching the coughing? Or a REALLY sensitive mic
I have recently gotten v. 2.4.2 and have installed it on my Windows 10 laptop. Everything is awesome except there is a latency in audio through my computer which makes overdubbing impossible. I decided to switch to the mixer for audio and changed audio output to USB Audio CODEC, bit I can’t seem to figure out how to get playback through the mixer into monitors or the mixer headphones. Any help would be much appreciated!
Do you know you are responding to a thread over six years old? It is almost always better to start a new topic. Do you have a Peavey PV14USB or an Allen and Heath Zed420?
I am trying to divine what your question is. Why are you using a mixer and just what are you mixing? Do you have multiple input sources ? And why do you need headphones AND monitors? And what you are hoping to accomplish with Audacity.
It would really help if you could draw us a picture of your setup and what you are trying to accomplish. Perhaps even on a new thread.
