Volume Slider has no effect

Audacity Help Forum Windows
1

On my Windows XP machine(s) the volume slider has no effect on the incoming data stream. It is not greyed out. I am transcribing LPs on an AR turntable through a preamp with no volume control, into the USB port on either of 2 the laptops I’ve tried. The resulting recordings in Audacity (version 2.0.4) are fine but lower in volume than I would like.

Earlier sessions on desktop computer worked as expected: I could adjust the db levels with the volume slider with no problem. Now a channel has apparently die on the Windows 10 PC’s sound card, thus the switch to laptops.

Thanks in advance from this Newbie.

2

That has something to do with the drivers.

But, without an analog volume/gain control you’d be boosting the volume digitally anyway so it’s no different from boosting the volume after recording and you can do that easily in Audacity. Since there is no analog control, the level has to be low enough to allow headroom so that loud records don’t clip (distort) the ADC in your USB audio interface.

The resulting recordings in Audacity (version 2.0.4) are fine but lower in volume than I would like.

What kind of peak levels are you getting? Digital recording is not like analog tape where you need a hot signal to overcome the tape noise. Pros typically record at -12 to -18dB (at 24-bits). There is something called quantization noise but its not an issue because at 16-bits is something like -93dB down, and even lower at 24-bits, so it’s below audibility and way-way below the noise on an analog record.

Now a channel has apparently die on the Windows 10 PC’s sound card, thus the switch to laptops.

If you use the same USB interface you’re using on the laptops, you’re not using your soundcard with the desktop computer (at least for recording).

3

What is the make and model number of the USB preamp? Does it need special drivers?

Does the volume slider for the USB device in Windows Sounds and Audio Devices have any effect? It probably doesn’t, because the Audacity slider “should” operate the Windows slider directly, and be greyed out if it cannot do so.


Gale