Starting actions in Audacity is very slow

Audacity 3 Help Forum Windows
1

I have the lastest version of Audacity and use it in Windows 8.1

Starting Audacity take a few minutes, but starting recording takes a few minutes too. It was never a problem, so I reinstalled my computer. But even now it is still slow.

The log is:

11:50:17: Audacity 2.1.0
11:50:17: Trying to load FFmpeg libraries…
11:50:17: Trying to load FFmpeg libraries from system paths. File name is ‘avformat-55.dll’.
11:50:17: Looking up PATH environment variable…
11:50:17: PATH = ‘C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live;C:\Windows\system32;C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem;C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0;C:\Program Files\WIDCOMM\Bluetooth Software;C:\Program Files\Windows Live\Shared;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Acronis\SnapAPI;C:\Program Files\Skype\Phone;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Acronis\TibMounter’
11:50:17: Checking that ‘’ is in PATH…
11:50:17: FFmpeg directory is in PATH.
11:50:17: Checking for monolithic avformat from ‘avformat-55.dll’.
11:50:17: Fout: Laden van gedeelde bibliotheek ‘avformat-55.dll’ mislukt (fout 126: kan opgegeven module niet vinden.)
11:50:17: Loading avutil from ‘’.
11:50:17: Fout: Laden van gedeelde bibliotheek ‘.dll’ mislukt (fout 126: kan opgegeven module niet vinden.)
11:50:17: Loading avcodec from ‘’.
11:50:17: Fout: Laden van gedeelde bibliotheek ‘.dll’ mislukt (fout 126: kan opgegeven module niet vinden.)
11:50:17: Loading avformat from ‘avformat-55.dll’.
11:50:17: Fout: Laden van gedeelde bibliotheek ‘avformat-55.dll’ mislukt (fout 126: kan opgegeven module niet vinden.)
11:50:17: Fout: Failed to load FFmpeg libraries.
11:50:17: Fout: Kon geen compatibele FFmpeg-bibliotheken vinden.
11:50:33: Attempting to load LAME from system search paths
11:50:33: Loading LAME from lame_enc.dll
11:50:33: Fout: Laden van gedeelde bibliotheek ‘lame_enc.dll’ mislukt (fout 126: kan opgegeven module niet vinden.)
11:50:33: load failed
11:50:33: Attempting to load LAME from builtin path
11:50:33: LAME registry key does not exist.
11:50:33: Library path is:
11:50:33: Loading LAME from lame_enc.dll
11:50:33: Fout: Laden van gedeelde bibliotheek ‘lame_enc.dll’ mislukt (fout 126: kan opgegeven module niet vinden.)
11:50:33: load failed
11:50:33: (Maybe) ask user for library
11:50:33: Failed to locate LAME library
11:51:03: Attempting to load LAME from system search paths
11:51:03: Loading LAME from lame_enc.dll
11:51:03: Fout: Laden van gedeelde bibliotheek ‘lame_enc.dll’ mislukt (fout 126: kan opgegeven module niet vinden.)
11:51:03: load failed
11:51:03: Attempting to load LAME from builtin path
11:51:03: LAME registry key does not exist.
11:51:03: Library path is:
11:51:03: Loading LAME from lame_enc.dll
11:51:03: Fout: Laden van gedeelde bibliotheek ‘lame_enc.dll’ mislukt (fout 126: kan opgegeven module niet vinden.)
11:51:03: load failed
11:51:03: (Maybe) ask user for library
11:51:03: Failed to locate LAME library
11:52:35: Attempting to load LAME from system search paths
11:52:35: Loading LAME from lame_enc.dll
11:52:35: Fout: Laden van gedeelde bibliotheek ‘lame_enc.dll’ mislukt (fout 126: kan opgegeven module niet vinden.)
11:52:35: load failed
11:52:35: Attempting to load LAME from builtin path
11:52:35: LAME registry key does not exist.
11:52:35: Library path is:
11:52:35: Loading LAME from lame_enc.dll
11:52:35: Fout: Laden van gedeelde bibliotheek ‘lame_enc.dll’ mislukt (fout 126: kan opgegeven module niet vinden.)
11:52:35: load failed
11:52:35: (Maybe) ask user for library
11:52:35: Failed to locate LAME library


Starting slow is not my real problem, starting recording takes more than one minute, that’s less nice.


Anyone who know what can be the problem? Or better: the solution?

2

What exactly happens when the recording takes minutes to start? Does the red recording cursor appear immediately? Does that cursor move along the track? And what are you recording, using what equipment?

I would look at the Transport Menu at the top of Audacity and make sure Sound Activated Recording is off (no tick mark or checkmark). Make sure at Edit > Preferences… then the Recording section that Audio to buffer is the default 100 milliseconds.

To make all Audacity settings default, try reinstalling Audacity. Half way through the installation, make sure you put a tick (checkmark) in the option to “Reset Preferences”.


Gale