Hello,
My problem is quite simple: impossible to record anything from the web with Audacity (software that I often used in the past)…
I have tried the 3 Hotes possible, all possibilities in the Audio Config: no result. I have Audacity 3.7.5. on Windows 11.
Any idea please?
I have tried the 3 Hotes possible,
Select WASAPI as the host and the “(loopback)” device where the sound is coming out (usually your regular soundcard or speakers).
Thank you DVDdoug: IT WORKS! I really think I tried that before but I did not see the loopback as recording devices.
Just one thing: the recording level is very low: how can I turn it up?
Make sure the recording and playback sliders are turned-up. There are variations (with different versions of Windows or drivers?) so sometimes the sliders don’t have any effect, but try to turn them both up.
If it’s too loud coming out of laptop speakers you may have to switch to external speakers with a volume knob or plug-in headphones and don’t put them on your head, or you you can get an inline headphone volume control.
All of the popular streaming services use loudness normalization so that one song/program isn’t louder than another and that ends-up lowering the volume of most tracks so they won’t go to 0dB (100%).
I am using 3.7.4 and have had no problems…until last Sunday. I recorded a Zoom music session on Saturday night and when I opened Audacity Sunday I had problems with Volume. Track meter looks fine, but ‘no sound’. I cranked the volume on my speakers and the individual audacity track and discovered it is very very low. Same track as .wav file in Media player is fine. The Zoom session may have tweaked a setting but I have same situation this morning recording directly into Audacity. Wave form looks good but sound is not audible.
I dont want to assume it was Zoom or my config or pilot error. But there was a clear moment when symptoms appeared.
That’s a common problem! 
Audacity doesn’t mess with the system settings but other applications sometimes do.
Make sure Windows “enhancements” are turned OFF. Sometimes Zoom and other applications change these settings and they can foul-up normal recordings in all kinds of weird ways.
Wave form looks good but sound is not audible.
Check your Playback Device (and check Audacity’s playback volume again).
Thanks, Doug. Progress is good!
I think I have Windows back to normal. also had Voicemeeter installed to engage soundcard in Zoom calls. I uninstalled the program, deleted the folders for Voicemeeter and VBCable. And re-booted.
My device list is back to where I started. All of the virtual Inputs and Outputs are gone. Just familiar hardware mics and speakers. Windows device tests sound ok. Performance on internet and saved files seem normal.
It MAY have helped.
Now when I record a test track it still sounds blank, initially. I boost the external speakers from usual 26% to 90%. Then boost the track slider in Audacity. At about +15 db I can start to hear something. When I get to about 28db boost I hear something close to my normal working levels.
Just for fun, there is an M-Audio Fast Track interface in the mix. It has been a workhorse with Audacity. The track volumes do respond to the Mic Gain and Output dials. Currently mic gain is at about 75% and Output 85%. Track Slider in Audacity is at +23db. Speakers at 90%.
I just did a test track using Windows Sound recorder. Recording and playback both good and normal.
If I hadnt seen some threads claiming recording did not work I would still be cleaning up my zoom and voicemeeter configs. I suspect that their recording DOES work - but somehow the playback is really low. And something happened recently. I have had success with 3.7.4 and did not install 3.7.5 so I dont know of anything changing other than my Zoom and Voicemeeter experiments.
And a “Duh” moment for me. Did this situation appear on first or last day of Month where a driver date etc could have rolled? (Coming from a veteran of Y2K and Comet Kahoutek!)
Even if you uninstall Voicemeeter using the Windows Uninstaller program, remnants of the driver remain.
Windows Update kept telling me it would not run because of this, and I had to find a web page with instructions on how to manually remove everything Voicemeeter related.
Thanks for this. The timing of my audacity issues dont match voicemeeter antics but I would like to clean it up - even if I want to attempt to re-install.
Solution? A comment on a thread made me check the Playback Level slider. It was very low. I adjusted it and now it appears that my problem has been solved. I didn’t intentionally move it down, but it is possible that something in Zoom or Voicemeeter changed it? Or possibly I did it to myself without thinking. It appears to solve my instance of 'failure to record/playback’.
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