I have been working on a project to digitize all my music for over two years and have digitized about 700 cassettes and about 400 lp’s (I have about 3,400 remaining). Next, I plan to digitize all of my cd’s into MP3 format. All digital copies are exported and saved in MP3 format. I traveled for the past four months and everything was turned off during that time; so little/no chance that any settings, etc. were changed. I have Windows 7 and am connected to a USB Turntable (TEAC LP-R550USB) via USB cable. I bought this turntable because it handles cassettes, LP’s and CD’s. I first experienced this problem, upon my return, with Audacity Version 2.0.0, which is what I’d used since starting this project. I downloaded the latest version, 2.1.3, but the problem persists. I replaced the USB cable with a new one, but no change. Recording is simply not happening. I’ve checked all my settings, both in Audacity and on the computer, per your help forum and I think they are correct. What should I try next?
Maybe you’re not recording the USB turntable. If you plugged the turntable in after you started using Audacity, Audacity won’t see it. Restart Audacity or Transport > Rescan.
You should not be “digitizing” the CDs. Use a CD ripper program to create a perfect digital WAV image of the music. Later, if you want to reduce the quality by converting to MP3, you can do that in Audacity.
Koz
Thanks for your quick response and suggestion. I tried that and, when I clicked on Rescan Audio Devices, it doesn’t appear that anything happened. I tried unplugging the USB turntable and restarting Audacity, but all to no avail. Thanks for the tip re. the CD’s. Makes sense!
Laptop?
Koz
Oh, wait. It’s a CD Recorder. What’s the possibility you’re sending the music to the built-in CD Recorder instead of down the USB cable?
Koz
Have you tried restarting the computer?
Gale
Have you tried restarting the computer?
The computer has been out of service for an extended period. I assume it’s been off. Worth a shot.
Koz
If this is a laptop, I’m going to send you off to record the laptop built-in microphone. That’s part of the business where we divide the problem in portions and test each portion rather than repeatedly beat up the whole thing at once.
Koz
Thanks for all your help and the suggestions. It’s a desktop and not a laptop. There is a cd recorder built into the unit; but I’ve already digitized about 700 cassettes and 400 lp’s, using the same Audacity program and turntable/unit and process and never had an issue before. Yes, the desktop was turned off the entire time I was gone (almost 4 months). However, I’ve tried several times restarting the computer; to no avail. I guess maybe the TEAC USB turntable, etc. has gone bad. I sent an email to TEAC inquiring about any local service centers/businesses; as the repair shop to which I’ve taken it before no longer handles consumer equipment. I’ve not heard back from them, but I fully expect TEAC to tell me to ship it to CA and it will be difficult for me to explain the problem to them without demonstration and I don’t know if they can replicate the same variables. Maybe I should just buy another USB turntable?
Maybe I should just buy another USB turntable?
We’re all going to look really silly if you do that and the new one doesn’t work, either.
Ummmm. This unit is supposed to be able to make a Music CD from a record—stand-alone. Without the computer. Did I get that right and does that work?
Koz
Do you actually see the USB Audio CODEC for the turntable in Audacity’s Device Toolbar? If not, the USB connection isn’t detected by Windows and won’t work.
Does the Desktop have a blue Line-in separate from the microphone in? If so then you have options using the built-in computer sound card to convert to digital. You can connect either the RCA output or the headphones output of the unit to computer Line-In. RCA is preferred. Then set the Audacity recording device to Line-In.
Or record to CD and rip the CD to WAV to edit it.
Gale
Yes, I tried that and successfully recorded a cd from an lp with the same unit. Running out of variables. Suggestions for next step(s)? Thanks!
I have read that three times and have no idea what you are asking. What did you try, exactly? What variables are you referring to?
Note that you can press the QUOTE button to reply, then we can see what text you are replying to.
Gale
Yes, I tried that and successfully recorded a cd from an lp with the same unit. Running out of variables. Suggestions for next step(s)? Thanks
Someone suggested that I try to record from lp to cd, using my USB turntable. This is what I tried and successfully recorded.
Does the Desktop have a blue Line-in separate from the microphone in? If so then you have options using the built-in computer sound card to convert to digital. You can connect either the RCA output or the headphones output of the unit to computer Line-In. RCA is preferred. Then set the Audacity recording device to Line-In.
I don’t understand any of this. So, I guess that means I’m in over my head. Thanks for trying to help me. I guess I’ll just buy a new USB turntable that uses different software.
You asked for next steps, but what is the problem you are trying to resolve? If you need to get the audio off the CD, then you can use extraction software like Windows Media Player to “rip” the CD tracks to an audio file. If you want a small file and don’t mind losing some quality, rip to MP3. If you want to edit the audio in Audacity, rip to WAV. See: Tutorial - How to import CDs.
Examine the computer or look in the computer manual to see if it has an audio input with a blue ring round it. If it does, and if you can enable that input in Windows Sound, then you can record from the turntable without burning a CD. If you do this you must connect from the RCA output or the headphones output of the turntable to the blue ring input on the computer - in other words the USB cable is not involved. We are bypassing USB because it does not seem to be working.
If Windows doesn’t see the turntable as a USB device, no software will record from it by that method.
Gale