Weird, loud 'buzz' when trying to record an LP?

[andyr]

Using Audacity 3.3.2 on a W10 PC.

Yesterday, I had happily recorded a few LP sides but then clicking the red ‘Record’ button … instead of the customary signal trace appearing on the screen, for L & R channels - I heard a loud ‘hissing’ sound and each signal trace was maxxed out.

Shutting down Audacity - then starting it up, a few times - didn’t fix the issue. Neither did rebooting the PC.

So I was wondering what I needed to do to stop this hissing sound … so I can get back to recording my LPs?

But this morning … trying to record again … it all worked smoothly!

So what was the cause of the horrible hiss, yesterday?

[DVDdoug]

You may have changed your Recording Device to “loopback” or “stereo mix”. That records what’s coming out of the soundcard/interface instead of what’s coming in. If you have also selected Audible Input Monitoring, that can create a feedback loop that makes the volume go out-of-control with noise.

You should select the actual analog or USB input as your Recording Device.

[andyr]

Thank you, DVDdoug.

I’ll check those settings.