Poor sound quality when recording "Stereo Mix"

[cjoklo]

First off, I'm a long time Audacity user and I've never had this problem before. My old laptop had Windows XP, and when I recorded sound using the "Wave Out" option, the quality was outstanding. I could record an audio stream and the output file would sound exactly like the stream as far as audio quality is concerned.

I recently bought a new laptop that came with Windows Vista. I downloaded Audacity 1.2 and 1.3 and I have the same problem with each. I figured out how to enable the "Stereo Mix" on my sound card, even though there is no "Wave Out" option. The problem I'm having is that the quality of the recording is very poor. The sound is very muddy, and it sounds like there is a delay between the left and right channels. Sometimes there's an electronic distortion sound present as well. I've played around with the settings, in both Audacity and my Realtek HD sound control panel, and I haven't come up with a good setting that increases the quality of the recordings.

Does anyone have any advice? Any help would be appreciated. This is really frustrating because I really enjoyed the ability to record streams, and now it looks like I can't do that anymore.


Thanks

[steve]

Make sure that all recording and playback inputs/outputs that you are not using are muted (especially the microphone input and output). Make sure that all sound card effects and enhancements are turned off. Check in the audio settings of "sounds and audio devices" in the Windows Control Panel is set for "stereo desktop speakers" (no surround sound and not not headphones).

If you still have no joy you may need to upgrade your sound card.

[cjoklo]

Thanks Steve. I muted my mic and the sound quality got much better.

I'm still experiencing a slight echo, though. The recorded clip is not quite as clear as the actual clip. The singer is more in the background, and the bass is more upfront in the recording than it is in the original clip. Any ideas?

[steve]

Make sure that all sound card effects and enhancements are turned off. Check in the audio settings of "sounds and audio devices" in the Windows Control Panel is set for "stereo desktop speakers" (no surround sound and not not headphones).