Windows 10, Did I stumble upon a fix?

Audacity Help Forum Windows
1

So I upgraded to Win 10 and found the latest version of Audacity didn’t work.

Getting right to the point here’s what I did: I uninstalled the latest version and installed 2.1.0.

I then went to “Edit” > “Preferences” > “Devices” > “Recording” > “Device” , clicked the dropdown box and selected "Microphone (USB Audio CODEC).

I gave it a quick try and now I am recording vinyl. FWIW, the volume control is now spread across the entire slider area making volume adjustments easier.

I will check all functions later when I have more time. Also, I am not a computer geek and I was just clicking around trying different things and apparently stumbled upon a fix, I think.

2

Check that you are recording in stereo. As a fuzzy rule, the two Audacity sound meters (left and right) should not exactly match through the course of a show. If they do, chances are good you’re really recording two copies of Left, and the Right sound is being ignored.

“USB Audio Codec” is stereo. That’s the software that the Behringer equipment uses, but “Microphone” is not.

Koz

3

I stuck an old Beatles “Full Dimensional Stereo” LP on and it is indeed recording and playing back in stereo.

I will say that after using the latest version of AUDACITY I am anxious to to get back to it as I can see the improvements there.

Thanks go out to the developers who make this great program available to us all.

4

You might wait until 2.1.2. 2.1.1 has some odd properties you may not like. I’m using 2.1.0 for daily use.

Koz

5

If 2.1.0 works for you on Windows 10, 2.1.1 probably would. In what way exactly doesn’t it work?

Remember, you have to connect external devices like USB turntables before launching Audacity, or if you connect them after launching Audacity, use Transport > Rescan Audio Devices.


Gale

6

I’ve been using the latest version of Audacity for a while now and I love it. I have one machine, a desktop tower, that I use for my audio hobby. I don’t usually disconnect anything, it’s always all in place.

When I upgraded to 10 that’s when I noticed it didn’t work. I get a strange, almost quiet feedback when I increase the input signal, only in one channel. I went through all the settings and nothing has changed. In fact, I didn’t unplug or move anything. That’s when I uninstalled it and loaded version 2.1.0.

As I said, it’s working good and even spreads the input adjustment across the entire slider. I now set it at .70 or so and get the proper level where before I would double click it and move it in .01 increments up or down.

I looked at another post and it said to make sure I have the latest audio drivers (I think). I haven’t done that but may try this weekend.

For right now, no connections to my equipment have changed, nothing unplugged and reconnected. I’m running the older version and it’s working.

Thanks for your efforts!

7

If it’s working correctly with your current drivers there is no need to update them. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.

On the other hand, I agree with Gale that if it is (now) working with Audacity 2.1.0, then it should also work with Audacity 2.1.1.

8

I am not too sure what you are saying here, but nothing relevant I can think of should have changed between 2.1.0 and 2.1.1 that would affect the input level you are getting, given the same version of Windows.

If this is a USB turntable, sometimes they can be very sensitive to the cable and cartridge being tightly connected.


Gale

9

With the latest version, and I think the one before it, the input slider only needed to be set to .06 to .08 to achieve the proper input level. Very touchy. I actually double clicked it and typed in the proper value (.06, for example) With my cassette player it was about .12 to .15 to set it. With the older version I re-installed the slider needs to be set near or past the middle, typically .7 or so. Also, I’m using a NAD PP3i analog to digital converter to interface my turntable to the usb port on my computer.

If I can, I’d like to try and re-install the latest version of AUDACITY along side the older version, if that can be done. Otherwise, I’ll make sure I have the latest drivers for the soundcard, etc., uninstall AUDACITY 2.1.0 and reinstall the latest version.

10

Yes that can be done - I have dozens of different versions of Audacity (released and alpha test versions) on my laptop.

Just install each one in a differently named folder - use a name relevant to the version so you know which is which.

WC

11

If you have multiple versions of Audacity on your computer it is generally best to make them “portable” - that is, make each version self-contained with their own preferences. This way you remove the risk of incompatible preferences in one version affecting another version. It is simple to do this.

I would recommend not “installing” more than one version on one machine at a time. The other versions can be used on the machine by using the “ZIP” download rather than the “EXE” installer.

Download the ZIP version for Windows, then unzip (extract) the contents of the Zip file somewhere convenient. Then create an empty folder in the same location as the Audacity executable (“audacity.exe” file) and name that folder “Portable Settings” (without quotes). Finally, make a Desktop link to the audacity.exe file. To run that version, double click on the Desktop link.