Hello.
I am trying to record some vinyl records in Audacity but the recording/input volume seems to be very low.
I am using a Numark M6 mixer that’s connected to a Macbook Pro (OS X 10.9.5) with USB cable. I’ve checked all volume levels. What could be the problem?
(Sorry if this has been asked before, I searched the forum but didn’t find an answer.)
Macs as a fuzzy rule are missing the ability to affect USB volume. Look for a volume control (carefully) under the turntable.
If it’s not too bad, you can bring up the volume in Audacity. I think you can even do it automatically, but you have to do all these jobs in post production. Audacity will not do anything during the recording.
Make sure your Audacity recording slider is frozen. That’s what I’m expecting.
http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/mixer_toolbar.html
Also please note that you only judge sound volume with the Audacity tools and instruments, not just by listening. This is what a perfect recording looks like.
http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/Audacity1_record.jpg
The blue waves will change a great deal depending on your show, but that’s about what it’s supposed to look like.
It’s not recommended, but you can make a perfect recording without hearing it. Assuming nothing broken, the Audacity instruments do a very good job of telling you what’s going on.
Koz
One more. Make sure you’re recording The Turntable and not the laptop microphones. The Device Toolbar should say some words with “USB” in the title. It should not say “Built-In Microphone.”
http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/device_toolbar.html
Audacity checks for devices when it starts. If you can’t find the turntable in the listings, restart Audacity or Transport > Rescan. If you’re completely fogged about which device, Disconnect the turntable and note which device vanishes.
Koz