Hello all, I am but a noob. I’ve been recording various things as a hobby for many years now, but what little I have learned isn’t enough to get me over my current problem.
I’ve recently had to swap over to using Windows 11, but despite using the same settings I had on Win 8.1, recording audio does not work like it did previously. Simply put, the recording volume depends on my system volume.
On my previous computer, I could record anything at a very high volume, even if my system volume was at 0. Recording on that computer still works, but it doesn’t feel like a long-term solution to keep using that one just to record, the operating system has become mysteriously unstable after Microsoft stopped supporting it.
I was hoping to get everything to function similarly on my new machine to keep my hobby going, but I have no clue what to do. I couldn’t really find other topics either, since it’s really hard to put into words. Regardless, any advice is appreciated.
I tried looking into it further, with no luck. I’ve seen some similar posts from a few years ago that didn’t have any replies, so… getting a little worried. What is causing this?
I think that’s normal with WASAPI (loopback) because you are capturing/recording whatever is coming out of your soundcard.
If you are recording from the mic built into your laptop, or something plugged-into a regular soundcard, the recording level should be adjustable normally.
If you are recording from a USB device the recording volume is usually maxed-out and you can’t adjust it.
I see. I think. I’m not good at these things, and I think I should’ve been a bit more specific in what I’m trying to do, apologies!
I use WASAPI to record audio from internet and so on, as opposed to recording myself. (I don’t know if WASAPI’s capable of doing that, but when you mentioned the built-in laptop mic, I realized I haven’t been too specific. Apologies in advance if I understood something wrong!)
I’ve also noticed a few other things that may be of use? I always have my headphones plugged in their respective port (not USB) when I record. On my old computer, Audacity treated them as the same as my speakers, or at least referred to them as such in the program. On my current computer, they are referred to as headphones directly. Could this have something to do with my issue?
I’ve also noticed that when recording with WASAPI on my new computer, it starts recording right away even when there’s no audio being played, even though in the Audacity reference manual it says that it shouldn’t record when there’s no active signal.
Hope these few bits are of use. Sorry again if this is some novice issue, I’m slow to learn things.
Looks like this topic will close in 9 days. Should I just repost this afterwards if no one comes up with a solution by that time, or how does this work?
Yes. The Windows developers as well as those of Audacity seem to enjoy changing things around on us.
I see.
So there was this thing “Stereo Mix”. It is still present on some computers. To record what is coming out of your speakers, I use WASAPI speakers (loopback).
So this is a function of the drivers and the hardware installed on your computer and can change in the blink of a Windows update. In the hardware, these are two physical devices. Most drivers have it set so that only one device shows but when they notice headphones plugged in, they reroute the audio to the headphones.
So if you would like to chat about these issues, the best place is here: Audacity