Playback of recording results in a pulsating static sound

[Lionheart]

I have tried numerous times to record music from my cassette but after I record and convert to .WAV or MPEG3 and I play back the newly created file (using Windows Media Player or RealPlayer) , I only hear pulsating echo static sound. I have tried with both versions of Aucadity 1.2.6 and 1.3.9 and same results occur. I tried the 'Tips' section of your documentation and updated my sound card driver but this had no positive effect either. I selected 'Stereo Mix' as my source in the Mixer Toolbar (Stereo Mix and Microphone are the only choices visible in the dropdown menu; 'Line-in' does not appear as a choice). In Audacity Audio preferences, I set both the Playback & Recording device = my soundcard (i.e. Sigma Tel Audio). I connected my cassettte player to my laptop using an 1/8th" (3.5mm) audio cable. I connected one end of the cable to the headphone jack of the cassette player and the other end to the headphone jack of the laptop (note: there is also a microphone jack on my laptop but your instructions say not to use it, so I didn't). Below are my system configurations:

OS = Windows XP MCE
System = Sony Vaio laptop (VGN-FE550G), Dual Core T2300 @1.66GHz

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Lionheart

[kozikowski]

Just to nail down the symptoms a little, it doesn't sound very good when you play Audacity, either, right? The export symptom is a red herring.

<<<the other end to the headphone jack of the laptop (note: there is also a microphone jack on my laptop but your instructions say not to use it, so I didn't)>>>

We tell people not to plug into the Microphone Input because Windows laptops tend to have no places to plug your cable in. The Headphone socket is designed to send laptop sound to your headphones, not accept sound from somewhere else. The Microphone socket is designed to greatly amplify a special PC mono microphone. Most laptops have no place to inject a stereo music signal. They're business machines.

So you have the wrong computer. You need a machine with a Stereo, high level, Line-In socket. Deskside PCs have these (usually blue) and almost any Mac. Most Laptop PCs don't.

You can create a Line-In with your machine by use of an external USB soundcard.

http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=9477

Koz

[Lionheart]

Koz,

Thanks for your response. However, when you suggested that I had the 'wrong machine' or would need to buy an external USB soundcard, I did so investigating and spoke to the people at Sony (manufacturer of my Vaio laptop) and found that you indeed can use the Microphone port/jack on the laptop as an Audio Line-in. I was able to successfully record without any problems so please let everyone know that if they don't have a separate 'Line-in' port on their pc or laptop, they can use the microphone port.

Lionheart

[steve]

you indeed can use the Microphone port/jack on the laptop as an Audio Line-in.

Yes, some PC laptops have combined microphone / line input sockets, but this is often not the case. It is more common on a laptop that the input is only a microphone input, and usually a very poor quality microphone input.
If in doubt, users should consult the user manual, or, as you did, contact the manufacturer. Connecting a high level signal into a microphone only input may (but not always) cause permanent damage to the sound card, so users should check before they try it.