Alright, so. I’ve been trying to find information on this and all of it seems to be either outdated or else not exactly what I’m looking for- so I’ve come here for help. My sincerest apologies if this is an issue already addressed elsewhere, but I have had absolutely no luck in finding any relevant data.
To put it simply, I’m trying to use Audacity to record a podcast of sorts between myself and others, guests and the like. From what I have found so far, the options I have are thus;
Record incoming audio through my speakers back into my headset (which I fear would have horrible results, and be rather inconvenient anyways)
Have everyone record simultaneously and send data to one person for editing (the optimal choice of what I’ve found)
Use onboard sound devices to record simultaneously from multiple outlets; namely Mic and headset speakers simultaneously.
The issue with No. 3 is that I’m using onboard audio from a Vista computer that’s been downgraded to XP. I don’t have the resources to upgrade at the moment, so I’m stuck as far as that is concerned.
I have however found that I can record incoming audio from what I’m hearing on my speakers, OR I can record audio of what’s going into my mic- but not both at the same time, since I can only choose one input.
So, my question is, is it possible to record from both my mic, AND what’s coming through on my headset speakers? If not in the method I’ve described, then how can I achieve this?
Many soundcards are hardware limited to “one input at the same time only”, so this question can only be answered by the user’s manual of your soundcard, or if it’s an onboard soundcard, then this should be described in the user’s manual of your computer. Audacity has no influence on this.
If the soundcard has the capability of recording from several inputs at the same time, then you could try to mix the audio signals from the soundcard inputs in the Windows_XP “Recording” mixer from the Windows system audio settings, and then choose the Windows recording mixer as audio input device in Audacity. The Windows recording mixer is often named “Microsoft Sound Mapper” or similar in the Audacity input settings (Audacity: Edit > Preferences > Devices).
Unfortunately that method is likely to be foiled if Aderas is using Skype. One of the reasons that Skype is so successful is that it forcefully imposes its will on the sound card settings so that it works with minimal user interaction. Even if the sound card is configured right for recording it is likely that Skype will change the settings. Alternatively if the user successfully changes the settings and gets them to stick then Skype will probably stop working. Even if Aderas is able to configure the system so that both Skype and the recording work then it is likely that one voice will be a lot louder than the others and that is very tedious to correct.
One of the main advantages of “method 2” is that all voices are recorded at the “local” sound quality and so do not suffer sound quality loss through heavy compression and bandwidth limitations of the network.
Right on. I’ll give some of those other programs Koz suggested a try, and if nothing else, I’ll just default to No.2. Much obliged on the quick response folks!
The data transfer method is the only way to produce a completely undamaged “Broadcast Radio” production without the Skype delays, bubbling, gargling and honking. That one step is the difference between “for real” and kids fooling around. Koz