Audacity Forum

Have you tried a different lead?
I know that it's unlikely, but as Sherlock Holmes said....

Yes, I tried two different leads. They both have the same problem. I thought it may be a driver issue, or that the settings for buffers or something was not set right. Still searching for the cause. Thanks.

Update:
I have found that in 8khz and 11khz sample rates it records fine. No swapping channels. But set it to record 22khz, 44.1khz, 48khz,88.1khz, 96khz, and it will exhibit the channel swapping behavior. Not sure what a codec is but maybe I am missing a codec or something?? Want to destroy computer now.

Does your sound card have its own mixer (ie a "Crystal Sound" mixer, rather than the standard Windows Mixer)?
It may be worth looking to see if there are any "effects" enabled for your sound card, particularly any "surround sound" effects, or "Environmental" effects.

Other than that, have you checked to see of there are any updated drivers available for your sound card?

Ugh, that's an odd problem.

Have you tried updating your sound card drivers?

You also haven't mentioned if you tried Windows Sound Recorder. It may not sound like much, but it's an incredibly useful diagnostic tool.

It really does sound to me like piss-poor driver software. What happens if you record in Mono mode for testing purposes?

stevethefiddle wrote: any "effects" enabled for your sound card, particularly any "surround sound" effects, or "Environmental" effects.

Other than that, have you checked to see of there are any updated drivers available for your sound card?

No, there aren't any effects that I can see in the mixer or driver properties. I have re-installed the latest drivers from IBM. Starting to think it may be a hardware defect. Only happens when using the line-input. Maybe the sound card is bad. Thanks Steve.

alatham wrote: You also haven't mentioned if you tried Windows Sound Recorder. It may not sound like much, but it's an incredibly useful diagnostic tool.

It really does sound to me like piss-poor driver software. What happens if you record in Mono mode for testing purposes?

Yeah I did try Windows Sound Recorder and also another recording app called kristal. Both showed the same random swapping going on. I even tried using the 2nd line-in jack on the port replicator. Still the same problem. However in Mono, the sound is continuous, no problems, no cut-outs, etc. May be the sound chip has a bug or is going bad. I am considering buying an external sound card. Any suggestions? Thanks alatham.

The thing about integrated circuits (including sound chips) is that they don't go bad. They either work fine or they fail outright. It is possible that there's some i/o pin on that chip that somehow controls the order of the channels and it's intermittent, but I don't think that's the case. So, I'd say your problem is most likely not hardware related, but is related to the drivers (which is why I recommended trying a different set).

In any case, an external sound card will almost certainly fix your problem. Two popular ones are the Behringer UCA202 (~$35) and the Edirol UA1-EX (~$70). You get what you pay for here, but either of these cards are going to be better than the sound chip on your motherboard. Motherboard sound cards really are the bottom of the barrel. If you want to go even higher quality check out the Recording Equipment forum, we've discussed this topic on occasion over there.

UPDATE:

I purchased a USB sound card, and it records perfectly. No swapping of channels, perfect. The line-inputs on the sound board in my IBM laptop must have gone bad. Somewhere in the circuit after the line input section, past the A-D convertors, but before the bitstream I/O, probably. The USB sound card works really good, has some more features and gives a cleaner sound than the on-board one. Plug in USB to use, unplug and the machine reverts to the on-board sound. Simple! Thanks to all who read my posts and suggested many helps! -kaputnik