Audacity Forum

Hi all

I am new to Audacity (as of about 5 minutes ago) - previously I have used WavePAD, but I saw on the web that Audacity was recommended on a number of sites.

I have a slight problem, I am a DJ and I would like to digitise several old cassette tapes that I recorded about ten years ago. The problem I have is that the recording levels are too low. I am using a cassette walkman currently, plugged into the line in of my Echo Indigo PCMCIA sound card. Is there a way of increasing the input levels, aside from the slider on the top right of the screen, which is already at maximum? Or can the levels be boosted after recording?

The alternative I have is to run the tape from a cassette deck, through my mixer and then into the sound card, would that be the preferred option or is it merely introducing further complexity? I tried this method using WavePAD, but I noticed there were additional pops and noises once the recordings were complete, which I want to avoid if at all possible!

By the way I am using version 1.2.6 if that helps at all?

Thanks in advance for your help

DY

I'd plug that tape player through the mixer, it'll be able to amplify the signal well enough (I hope).

You can also amplify the track after it's recorded. Highlight the whole thing* and click Effects -> Amplify and use the default value to amplify to max.

* - Click anywhere that isn't a slider on the track control panel to highlight an entire signal:
http://www.guidesandtutorials.com/audacity-tracks.html

thanks - I did it off the walkman in the end and used the amplify tool, it seemed to do the trick. Far too much feedback and distortion when using the mixer/amp combination, possibly because the audio in & out from my Echo Indigo were both routed through the mixer?

dannyyoung wrote:Far too much feedback and distortion when using the mixer/amp combination, possibly because the audio in & out from my Echo Indigo were both routed through the mixer?

The problem might be that you have Audacity set to record the sound coming out of the speakers while also monitoring the sound going into the Line In. That is a big cause of feedback.

Which Recording device is selected in Audacity's Edit -> Preferences -> Audio I/O menu?