recording internally [SOLVED]

hi,
Im on a new comp desktop and want to record audio I get on my comp radio etc

Ive had this prob before on an older comp and went to read the solution on this page

https://forum.audacityteam.org/t/recording-internet-radio-solved/38677/1

I went thru the instructions… changed to windows wasap etc

then I hit … record on audacity and a window came up
… error while opening sound device … please check the recording device settings and the
project sample rate !

any ideas ?

I changed from wasap to mme and audacity began to record but no sound signal atall

at present the sound Im hearing in my comp speakers is not getting into audacity .


.

thanks for help or advice

If you mean that reading that thread led you to this page in the Manual: http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/tutorial_recording_computer_playback_on_windows.html

Then looks at the section titled: "Windows WASAPI loopback recording "
Note that you need
a) the Host to be WASAPI
b) the Recording Device to be … (loopback)

You may find you need to stretch out the Device Toolbar sto see the …(loopback)
Hover over the little vertical bar at the end of the Tools Toolbar and drag it rightwards.

Update: and I note that the 2.1.2 Manual says this is for "On Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8 only " - ignore that, it was written before Windows 10 came out. WASAPI works fine on Windows 10 (I use WASAPI/loopback all the time on my W10 laptop. I corrected the Manual for the upcoming 2.1.3 version a while back - where it now says “On Windows Vista or later …”).

WC

THANKS for advice

Ibut all 3 options…
speakers realteck hi def
toshiba tv intel
speaker digital video … all have ( loopback ) after them

and as soon as I go for wasap then hit record … that little window comes up
again… error while opening sound device … !

It is best not to use abbreviations in your posts. What is “comp radio” that you said you wanted to record?

You need to decide which device you will use to play the audio, for example computer speakers. Are you listening on computer speakers?

When you have decided what playback device you will use, the Audacity playback device must be set to that device, and the Audacity recording device must be set to (loopback) of your chosen playback device.

  1. In Audacity, ensure Transport > Software Playthrough is OFF (not ticked, not checked).
  2. Open Device Toolbar.
  3. In the first (Host) box of Device Toolbar, choose “Windows WASAPI”.
  4. In the second (Recording Device) box, choose the (loopback) input for the device you are using for playback. For example, if you are using “Speakers” for listening to playback, choose “Speakers (loopback)” in this step.
  5. In the third (Recording Channels) box, choose mono or stereo.
  6. In the fourth (Playback Device) box, choose the Speakers or Headphones that you are using for listening.
  7. Start playing the audio you want to record.
  8. Press the big red Record button in Audacity.

If you still get the error after that, you may have to change the Audacity project rate bottom left, or change the Windows sample rate of your playback device, or both.


Gale

comp radio is radio on my computor… in my case usually winamp .

Ive unticked the playthrough in transport

ive got default sample rate down to 8000 hz

default sample format at 16 bit

project rate at 8000 hz

windows wasapi

speakers realtek hi def audio

speakers realteck ( loop back )

mono recording channel

I press record and that little window comes up … error while opening sound device
check the recording device settings and the project sample rate

Why mono? Try recording in stereo.

Why 8000 Hz? That will make it sound like music played down a landline telephone. If you want that effect you should do it in the Equalization effect after recording. Better to set 44100 Hz project rate then it will have more chance of matching with the Windows Default Format Sample Rate for the speakers as set in Windows Sound.

If necessary try going into Windows Sound and looking what the Hz rate is set to for the Speakers. Then set Audacity Project Rate to the same rate, with the two Exclusive Mode boxes underneath Default Format in Windows Sound unchecked (no tick mark). Restart Audacity.

If that does not work, put the tick marks back for Exclusive Mode and restart Audacity.


Gale

HI
i DID that, changed to 44100 hz
looked at windows rate and that is very similar
I unticked those 2 boxes below

pressed record… still that window came up
went back to windows and reticked those two boxes.

went to audacity and changed to sterio …
pressed record… Bingo… a big sound signal appeared… two of them in fact

playback… good sound from winamp radio !

looks like I finally got there !

I prefer getting mono because I get a feed from the computor earphone socket into a small
music centre with one speaker plugged in
the music centre lets me record bits and pieces onto cassette tape

but maybe when I record in audacity and then save to a mp3 file it will get both sides in there !

MP3 export will give you stereo, but if you want mono you can use Tracks > Stereo Track to Mono before you export.

When 2.1.3 comes out in the near future, the MP3 export dialogue will have an option to “Force export to mono”.


Gale

THANKS I ll have to remember that … sterio tracks to mono before you export …

One last thing… I notice that the recording slider is dead and it says use the … system mixer … !

where is the … system mixer ?

Is this when recording with Windows WASAPI loopback? If so, that can happen on some systems. The “system mixer” is Windows Sound but you can’t use that to adjust the WASAPI loopback recording level because WASAPI loopback does not appear as a recording device in Windows Sound. Instead, try adjusting the playback level in Winamp or in whatever application is playing the sound.

If adjusting the output level in the application does not affect the recorded level it doesn’t really matter because WASAPI loopback should then record at a fixed, moderate level. If the level is not loud enough, you can Effect > Amplify… it after recording.


Gale

yet another thing Ill have to remem for the future

anyway, thanks for all the help… Im finally sorted !

Good, I will mark this as [SOLVED] then and lock the topic.


Gale