laptop problems

[mcmental]

hi there just downloaded stable version for my laptop running vista, prob i have is that its only recording whats coming from the mic so its pickin up sound from speakers but also any other sounds in the room ie kids talking or tv and if mic is turned off it wont record anything? why cant it just record whats going through the soundcard.
cheers
chris

[steve]

why cant it just record whats going through the soundcard.

Because your sound system is configured to record from the microphone.
To record sounds that are playing on your computer you must configure Vista to record from "Stereo Mix".

Unfortunately not all sound cards are able to do this (it largely depends on whether the Vista drivers enable this option), but assuming that the option is available, instructions to how to set this up correctly are here:
http://wiki.audacityteam.org/index.php? ... e_computer

The actual "configuration" part is here:
http://wiki.audacityteam.org/index.php? ... trol_Panel

By the way, most users find Audacity 1.3.7 to be a lot better than the old 1.2 version.
Audacity 1.3.8 is due to be released very soon and I would strongly recommend updating as soon as it becomes available.

[mcmental]

it would appear that my soundcard wont let me do it!!!!! doh i will have to get the pc out when i want to use this facility
cheers

[steve]

The other option is to get an inexpensive USB soundcard (such as the Behringer UCA 202) and use a loopback connector (an audio lead to connect the output to the input). The USB device can also be used to give you excellent sound when played through a hi-fi system, or recording from cassette tape etc.

[mcmental]

ah right then, ive actually got a kam usbh100 thing that connects to my decks and mixer wonder if that will do the same thing???

[steve]

Looks like it would.
Make sure that it is switched to "Line" and not "Phono".