I am using Linux Mint 17 Mate with Audacity 2.0.5 and I am stuck… I am attempting to transfer some cassette tapes from a tape player to my pc. I have a 3.5mm cord going from the tape player to the line in on the pc. There are several different line in options in the drop down menu on Audacity but so far none of them are recording what is coming off the tapes. Can anyone please give me some guidance as to the correct way I should be doing this? Thank you.
In the Audacity Help menu, select “audio device info”, then copy and paste the info into your reply.
I had to go somewhere tonight and just got back - thank you for writing back. I looked up the device info and here it is: I will have to close down for tonight but will be back to this computer tomorrow afternoon. Thanks.
==============================
Default capture device number: 15
Default playback device number: 15
==============================
Device ID: 0
Device name: HDA NVidia: ALC1200 Analog (hw:0,0)
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 2
Output channels: 8
Low Input Latency: 0.005805
Low Output Latency: 0.005805
High Input Latency: 0.034830
High Output Latency: 0.034830
Supported Rates:
44100
48000
96000
192000
==============================
Device ID: 1
Device name: HDA NVidia: ALC1200 Digital (hw:0,1)
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 0
Output channels: 2
Low Input Latency: -1.000000
Low Output Latency: 0.005805
High Input Latency: -1.000000
High Output Latency: 0.034830
Supported Rates:
44100
48000
88200
96000
192000
==============================
Device ID: 2
Device name: HDA NVidia: ALC1200 Alt Analog (hw:0,2)
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 2
Output channels: 0
Low Input Latency: 0.005805
Low Output Latency: -1.000000
High Input Latency: 0.034830
High Output Latency: -1.000000
Supported Rates:
==============================
Device ID: 3
Device name: CX18-0: Hauppauge HVR-1600 (hw:1,0)
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 2
Output channels: 0
Low Input Latency: 0.005333
Low Output Latency: -1.000000
High Input Latency: 0.032000
High Output Latency: -1.000000
Supported Rates:
==============================
Device ID: 4
Device name: sysdefault
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 128
Output channels: 128
Low Input Latency: 0.021333
Low Output Latency: 0.021333
High Input Latency: 0.021333
High Output Latency: 0.021333
Supported Rates:
8000
9600
11025
16000
22050
32000
44100
48000
88200
176400
352800
==============================
Device ID: 5
Device name: front
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 0
Output channels: 8
Low Input Latency: -1.000000
Low Output Latency: 0.005805
High Input Latency: -1.000000
High Output Latency: 0.034830
Supported Rates:
44100
48000
96000
192000
==============================
Device ID: 6
Device name: surround40
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 0
Output channels: 8
Low Input Latency: -1.000000
Low Output Latency: 0.005805
High Input Latency: -1.000000
High Output Latency: 0.034830
Supported Rates:
44100
48000
96000
192000
==============================
Device ID: 7
Device name: surround41
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 0
Output channels: 128
Low Input Latency: -1.000000
Low Output Latency: 0.005805
High Input Latency: -1.000000
High Output Latency: 0.034830
Supported Rates:
44100
48000
96000
192000
==============================
Device ID: 8
Device name: surround50
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 0
Output channels: 128
Low Input Latency: -1.000000
Low Output Latency: 0.005805
High Input Latency: -1.000000
High Output Latency: 0.034830
Supported Rates:
44100
48000
96000
192000
==============================
Device ID: 9
Device name: surround51
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 0
Output channels: 8
Low Input Latency: -1.000000
Low Output Latency: 0.005805
High Input Latency: -1.000000
High Output Latency: 0.034830
Supported Rates:
44100
48000
96000
192000
==============================
Device ID: 10
Device name: surround71
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 0
Output channels: 8
Low Input Latency: -1.000000
Low Output Latency: 0.005805
High Input Latency: -1.000000
High Output Latency: 0.034830
Supported Rates:
44100
48000
96000
192000
==============================
Device ID: 11
Device name: iec958
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 0
Output channels: 2
Low Input Latency: -1.000000
Low Output Latency: 0.005805
High Input Latency: -1.000000
High Output Latency: 0.034830
Supported Rates:
44100
48000
88200
96000
192000
==============================
Device ID: 12
Device name: spdif
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 0
Output channels: 2
Low Input Latency: -1.000000
Low Output Latency: 0.005805
High Input Latency: -1.000000
High Output Latency: 0.034830
Supported Rates:
44100
48000
88200
96000
192000
==============================
Device ID: 13
Device name: pulse
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 32
Output channels: 32
Low Input Latency: 0.008707
Low Output Latency: 0.008707
High Input Latency: 0.034830
High Output Latency: 0.034830
Supported Rates:
8000
9600
11025
12000
15000
16000
22050
24000
32000
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
==============================
Device ID: 14
Device name: dmix
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 0
Output channels: 2
Low Input Latency: -1.000000
Low Output Latency: 0.021333
High Input Latency: -1.000000
High Output Latency: 0.021333
Supported Rates:
48000
==============================
Device ID: 15
Device name: default
Host name: ALSA
Input channels: 32
Output channels: 32
Low Input Latency: 0.008707
Low Output Latency: 0.008707
High Input Latency: 0.034830
High Output Latency: 0.034830
Supported Rates:
8000
9600
11025
12000
15000
16000
22050
24000
32000
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
==============================
Selected capture device: 15 - default
Selected playback device: 15 - default
Supported Rates:
8000
9600
11025
12000
15000
16000
22050
24000
32000
44100
48000
88200
96000
176400
192000
==============================
Available mixers:
==============================
Available capture sources:
0 - Front Mic:0
1 - Rear Mic:0
2 - Line:0
3 - Front Mic:1
4 - Rear Mic:1
5 - Line:1
==============================
Available playback volumes:
0 - Master:0
1 - Headphone:0
2 - PCM:0
3 - Front:0
4 - Front Mic:0
5 - Front Mic Boost:0
6 - Surround:0
7 - Center:0
8 - LFE:0
9 - Side:0
10 - Line:0
11 - Beep:0
12 - Rear Mic:0
13 - Rear Mic Boost:0
==============================
Capture volume is native
Playback volume is native
It looks like you have 3 audio devices.
HDA NVidia: ALC1200
I’m guessing that this is your on-board sound card
Hauppauge HVR-1600
Probably a TV card?
One or more digital audio outputs. May not have a physical socket, but we’re not interested in outputs.
If my guess is right and you are trying to record from the HDA NVidia: ALC1200, try setting the recording input to either:
HDA NVidia: ALC1200 Analog (hw:0,0)
or
HDA NVidia: ALC1200 Alt Analog (hw:0,2)
Ensure that there are no other audio applications running.
Finally had a chance to mess around with the settings. Am I supposed to be using the blue line in on my computer or the green microphone line in? Also, I am wondering if there are some compatibility issues with this version and linux mint 17 mate. I was trying out different input settings on Audacity and after clicking on a few, my computer completely froze up and I had to do a hard reboot. I am using the Audacity version that is in the package manager but this is not the first time that this version has frozen my computer. Do you know if there is a different stable version that I can use instead? Thank you.
For a tape player you should be using “line in”.
Have a look in “Help > About Audacity” on the “Build” tab and look for the “wxWidgets” version number (in the “Core Libraries”. What version is it?
Well, this is a pickle. Every time I try to open Audacity, it starts to come up and then my computer freezes and I have to push the power button and reboot. At this point, I cannot get into the Help>About Audacity because it will not launch. Tonight, I did reboot and performed a MEMTEST. It went through one pass with no errors. I have had some issues with my Nvidia video card but am not sure that would be causing problems. If you have any other suggestions I would appreciate it. Thank you.
You could try resetting Audacity.
To do that, find the file “audacity.cfg” which is located in ~/.audacity-data/
(note that “.audacity-data” is a hidden folder).
Delete the file “audacity.cfg” to reset Audacity.
Thank you for your help but it has been a long day and I need to call it quits for the night. I found the audacity-data folder but the audacity.cfg file is not there. Just for giggles, I found a ppa page that is supposed to have an older stable version of Audacity but instead, it put version 2.0.6 in my package manager. Please bear with me - I am using linux because I don’t like all of the background programs running in Windows (anti virus, spyware) but I am not a programmer and am not very well versed with the command line or with compiling programs from ppa sites. I am attaching a screenshot of what is in my audacity-data folder. Thanks again.
No, that is “audacity-data” not “.audacity-data”
The dot at the start of the file/folder name makes it a hidden file/folder.
To make hidden files/folders visible, select the relevant option from the View menu of your file browser.
Only install programs from trusted sources.
If you enter the root password, then you have given permission for the program to do anything. Be very cautious about entering the root password.
If it says 2.0.6+svn or “plus” something else that may be much more unstable than 2.0.5 release even when you have fixed the issues on your computer.
If you want instructions to remove the PPA, please tell us the exact PPA and what exactly you did. Did you use the command line “sudo add-apt-repository” ?
If you want a stable more modern PPA of Audacity this is the best one: Install Audacity Audio Editor 2.1.0 in Ubuntu From PPA | UbuntuHandbook but you should uninstall the 2.0.5 packaged version first.
It easily could be. If you installed open source Nvidia drivers these can be more problematic than proprietary drivers.
Gale
We are back. I had to google the location of the hidden .cfg file and was able to delete it. The wxWidgets is 2.8.12. Thanks.
I think I got it going. I had to click on the drop down menu to the left of the microphone and choose HDA NVidia: ALC1200 Analog (hw:0,0). It still sounds a little fuzzy - it might be my speakers. I will keep you informed of my progress. Thank you for your help.
I transferred one of my tapes to the pc but it is too loud and distorted. I have been trying to find more info but am stuck - how do I set the input levels so that the recording is not too loud through the line in? Thanks
Which Audacity version are you using now?
Are you sure you connected to the computer line-in (blue) and selected the line-in as input device in ALSAmixer? You will receive distortion if you record from the mic port (pink).
You can control the input level using the slider by the mic symbol in Mixer Toolbar:
(the mic slider may be on the right in your version of Audacity).
Or control the input level in ALSAmixer.
Alternatively, install pavucontol (PulseAudioVolumeControl). Choose the line-in as recording device in pavucontrol and choose pulse as the recording device in Audacity’s Device Toolbar.
Gale
daddyo, did you edit the title of your first post to say “solved”? Is everything fixed now?
Gale
Hi daddyo,
Am I supposed to be using the blue line in on my computer or the green microphone line in?
GREEN = line Out
BLUE = line In
In order to capture your audio cassettes, you’d need BLUE.
Coincidentally, I have been doing that, the other day, with part of my four-track audio cassette archive not yet in my system. Without a hitch.
Further questions:
- Do not even the default settings (in those tiny drop-down boxes right below the coloured control buttons) work?
- Have you checked ALSA? Easily done through the command line.
The command to use is
alsamixer
.
If Master, Speakers, Headphones and/or Line sections happen to be blank, simply adjust levels:
Good luck.
tnob