Recording vox always sound pitched down/distorted

[bennyhuge]

Hi. I’m using Windows 10, Audacity 2.x and I used the .exe installer.

I use the program to record demo vocals of songs with my laptop’s internal microphone. I import a backing track with no problem - it plays back perfectly. Until recently, I could just hit record, a new track would be created and I could record vocals with no problem. Now, however, when I do this, the recording sounds distorted and at a very low-pitch, even though I haven’t changed any settings. I’ve checked the tutorials and tried to act on the suggestions - I seem to be recording and playing back my vocals at the same sample rate (which I’ve set to 44100). Can anyone shed some light on this please?

[Gale_Andrews]

@bennyhuge

I’m using Windows 10, Audacity 2.x and I used the .exe installer.

Please give us all three Audacity version numbers from Help > About Audacity… . If it says “2.x” it’s bogus and may harm your computer. Audacity supplied by us is always available at http://audacityteam.org/download/windows.

@bennyhuge

I use the program to record demo vocals of songs with my laptop’s internal microphone. I import a backing track with no problem - it plays back perfectly. Until recently, I could just hit record, a new track would be created and I could record vocals with no problem. Now, however, when I do this, the recording sounds distorted and at a very low-pitch, even though I haven’t changed any settings. I’ve checked the tutorials and tried to act on the suggestions - I seem to be recording and playing back my vocals at the same sample rate (which I’ve set to 44100).

If these are professional/commercial demos you should be using something much better than a laptop internal mic.

Does this occur when launching Audacity and just recording, without overdubbing against a previous track? If so, check in Windows Sound that Echo Cancellation is off and that other enhancements for the internal mic are set appropriately: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/faq_recording_troubleshooting.html#enhancements.

If only overdubs are the problem, you may have to dig deeper into Windows Sound Default Format and Exclusive Mode and set the “Audio host” in Audacity’s Device Toolbar. I think you may have seen this but it is important you go through everything there:
http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/faq_recording_troubleshooting.html#sync.

That link shows you how to change Windows Sound settings to reduce/eliminate sample rate mismatches.

Also if you upgraded to Windows 10 from previous Windows on the same machine, make sure you have the latest audio drivers from your computer or motherboard manufacturer’s web site:
http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Windows_10_OS.


Gale