Audacity Forum

For all of you audacity geniuses...

I have some old songs I've written that are saved as .mp3 because I never intended to add vocals.
Now I have decided to add vocals, so I downloaded Audacity, and imported the mp3's. They play just fine. I have a headset microphone (logitech USB headset) that I'm just dicking around with for vocals until I borrow my friend's mic.

It records fine, but I should like to record with Microphone Input Volume all the way up. [My recording volume is very low]. By default it's set to 0, the lowest it can go, and when I turn the volume up it mutes my sound.

I dont want it to mute my sound when I turn up the Mic Input volume.

I went to Edit > Preferences and set "play other tracks while recording new one" and it worked for a while, but when I opened a new song, it stopped working. I also checked Software Playthrough.

halp!!


note- unmuting my sound resets the mic bar to 0

I am having the same problem.
However, when I record, even with the mic volume level at zer0, I do get a signal from the mic, only it is not a strong signal so it isn't useable without amplification. Which just makes it staticy and useless all the more.
I tried different configurations for the record and playback device under Audacity preferences... See, I am using a usb audio interface to connect the microphone (and sometimes guitar) to my computer. I usually have the device set on that interface, but I tried other settings, like my computer's native driver, but that doesn't play through or record, unless I were to change the setup of my desktop... which, anyway, this is what I am having a problem with. I have an xlr mic going into the usb interface, which is what audacity should be picking up as the 'recording device'... which should be synonymous with the mic input volume level, right? So how come it mutes my sound when I try to adjust that volume?
I am wondering if I should use certain settings in the computer control panel for sound settings, where I use the usb interface (which is a Tascam US-144, btw) for certain things, but not for others? I have been experimenting, but it works with every other program if I have the Tascam as the default device for all sound functions, from recording, to voice, to midi. Am I just missing some setting in Audacity to allow for a full volume recording?

Yeah I'm having the same problem. I turn up the input volume and it mutes everything on my pc, and I slide it back to zero it automatically unmutes everything again. I'm afraid I don't have any fix for it though, but if anyone has found a way around this I'd like to hear from them!

Pyramid Head wrote:I have a headset microphone (logitech USB headset)

theneonheart wrote:I am using a usb audio interface to connect the microphone (and sometimes guitar) to my computer.

When you connect a USB device, Audacity hands over control of the sound levels to the USB device. The only control you have over the levels is whatever control is built into the USB device, and with USB microphones that's usually none. USB mics are deliberately set at a low sensitivity so that they don't overload the input on loud sounds. You can't fix that type of distortion.

The answer is, firstly keep the mic fairly close to your mouth so that you get a decent signal level, but off to one side so you're not breathing on it.
Secondly, when you have recorded your track, use Effect > Amplify to increase the level.

This article from the wiki may help.
http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Recording_Tips

PO'L