Audacity Forum

Steve, Yes, I do have an external hard drive connected as well as a HP Officejet printer. I have been using the USB ports on the front of the computer for the turntable, I wonder if this could be the problem? I also received the following email from Innovative Technologies:

"Dear Mr. Wilhite,
Becaue of formatting issue, some Windows operating systems that are not Vista, do not allow you to adjust the input volume."

Best Regards,
Liz Pomerantz
Innovative Technology

Try disconnecting the printer and the external hard drive, then plug the turntable into the USB socket that the hard drive was using. Then reboot and see if the turntable appears in the "Safely Remove Hardware" screen.

Steve,
I disconnected the printer and the external hard drive and plugged the turntable into both the USB ports occupied by the printer and external hard drive, but no joy. I'm beginning to think that it is time to call it quits. I've been busting my ass on this for three days now with no results!

Ken

Thanks for your patience with this. I think we've final got to the root of the problem which is that the USB connection from the turntable is not working. This could be because there is a hardware fault in the turntable or the USB lead is broken. If the Turntable is still under guarantee you should probably try and get it replaced or refunded (though it may be worth trying a different USB lead if you have one).

The thing that confuses me now is how you managed to get any recording from the turntable in the first place. Do you also have the turntables "analogue" outputs (the red and white RCA connectors) plugged into your computer sound card? The analogue outputs from the turntable would normally be used for connecting to an amplifier for listening to records whether or not your computer is switched on. It may be possible to record successfully from the analogue outputs, but this is a "workaround" rather than a "fix" for the problem.

The ball's in your court now - do you want to take the turntable back or see if we can get the "analogue" recording to work? If we succeed in getting the analogue method to work there is no guarantee about how good the sound quality will be - that depends on your sound card, but it is probably be worth a try if the turntable is no longer under warranty.

Hi Steve!
I have decided to ignore the USB ports and try another method. This past evening I went out and purchased a sound card, which I installed and then I disabled the Sigma Audio Tel integrated sound. I then connected the turntable (which also came with RCA cables for left and right channels) to my DAK Mixer/Editor, and then I connected the DAK Mixer/Editor to my computer "line in" and lo and behold I had sound from the computer and I was able to adjust the waveform so it was within parameters. I then recorded one song and converted it to WAV format, but when I played it the distortion was horrific! If you provide me with your email address I can forward you a clip of what the distortion sounds like.

Ken

kurier44 wrote:I have decided to ignore the USB ports and try another method. This past evening I went out and purchased a sound card, which I installed and then I disabled the Sigma Audio Tel integrated sound. I then connected the turntable (which also came with RCA cables for left and right channels)...

This is the "analogue" method that I was suggesting.

kurier44 wrote:I then connected the turntable ... to my DAK Mixer/Editor,

What is this "DAK Mixer/Editor"?

kurier44 wrote:I then recorded one song and converted it to WAV format, but when I played it the distortion was horrific!

When you have recorded it, what does the blue squiggly waveform look like? I'm interested in the vertical height - do the loudest peaks reach the top/bottom of the track, or just half way up?

kurier44 wrote:I can forward you a clip of what the distortion sounds like.

A screen-shot will be sufficient. Can you post a screen shot of the recorded track? Audacity 1.3.11 has "screenshot tools" in the Help menu to make it easier to take a picture of Audacity. To post an image file, start a reply and you will see a "Upload Attachment" tab below the message box.

kurier44 wrote:I then connected the turntable ... to my DAK Mixer/Editor,
What is this "DAK Mixer/Editor"?

DAK
drew kaplans audio company since the 60s
sells cheap (resells freeware?) audio gadgets and software

i got a bag of connectors cables and adapters from him
his software didnt work for me though

used to have a catalog back when
now he is just onlin e
http://www.dak.com

whomper wrote:

kurier44 wrote:I then connected the turntable ... to my DAK Mixer/Editor,
What is this "DAK Mixer/Editor"?

DAK
drew kaplans audio company since the 60s
sells cheap (resells freeware?) audio gadgets and software

i got a bag of connectors cables and adapters from him
his software didnt work for me though

used to have a catalog back when
now he is just onlin e
http://www.dak.com

OK, but what's the "DAK Mixer/Editor"?

stevethefiddle wrote:

whomper wrote:

kurier44 wrote:I then connected the turntable ... to my DAK Mixer/Editor,
What is this "DAK Mixer/Editor"?

DAK

OK, but what's the "DAK Mixer/Editor"?

its whatever drew kaplan sells at http://www.dak.com
it is probably some shareware/freeware program
but maybe , and not likely, some software he had written to do DAE stuff

i would have to check teh site, but i think the mixer is hardware.

he sells a lot of audacity type/related things that sound good and for the average housewife probably seem good. i never had much luck with his software. the hardware is good value considering how cheap it is, but not good when compared to better and more expensive gear.

wav recorder editor
http://www.dak.com/Reviews/2050story.cfm

lots of them to pick from
http://www.dak.com/shop/main.cfm

lp cassette to cd
http://www.dak.com/reviews/2020storyT.cfm

whomper wrote:lots of them to pick from

That's the point - it could be anything.
I could have a few guesses myself, but unless kurier44 comes back and says exactly what it is, then that would just be conjecture.