samson q1u usb in audacity beta

Special Interest Groups Recording Equipment
1

I am using the windows drivers for the microphone. Running on Windows XP.

I am having trouble recording in Audacity beta, using the same control panel and Audacity preferences settings as in audacity stable where I can record fine @ mono 44100Hz 16 bit PCM

My problem is that the mic will only record up to ‘-8’ on the input level meter. There it seems to reach a wall. And clips at this point. In Audacity stable I can record normally up to ‘0’ before it clips.

I want to use features in audacity beta which aren’t in the stable version.

I can post screenshots if you don’t understand what I am saying - I feel that I haven’t explained it very well.

Can someone point out where I am going wrong, or what might be the trouble? I can answer further questions if you wish me too.

2

I have now tried changed the device (MME: Samson Q1U) channels to ‘2’.

And although it now records all of the left (it doesn’t get stuck at around -8 anymore) channel and some of the other right, I can just silence the right.

The microphone records fine in 1.2.6 with just one channel selected though.

3

This is something I’ve also noticed, and I’m not sure where the problem originates. It seems to be a subtle difference in the way audio drivers are used in the newer versions of Audacity. I have the same problem at working using an M-Audio MobilePre, it will clip at -3dB unless you record in stereo (though I think this is because both input channels are dropped by 3dB and then added together in order to record mono).

I wish I had a way to kill it, but until then your workaround is as good as it gets.

4

john_t, did you use the Softpre applet or did it work OK without it?

5

Sorry for the late reply jnak222. No, I wasn’t using the SoftPre, because when I tried to install it, my computer crashed and I had to roll back windows before it worked again.

However, I am now using a different PC on Vista-64bit and with an onboard Realtek sound thingy and the Samson Q1 mono recording problem is corrected with the latest beta version of Audacity. I don’t know whether it’s the new version of the software or the different PC, but it’s worth mentioning for anyone looking into this problem.