DJ in need of help.

[Uffer]

I am a dj and trying to record my mixes to the computer through Audacity to put them on cd.

I am experiencing a couple of problems.

1st. When ever i record a mix, when i play it back the sound is always distorted. Through the help menu I have discovered it is because I am recording to loud but if i turn the gain down on my mixer i can't hear the music i am mixing. I have tried adjusting the the input volume in Audacity but with no success, it still gets distorted. How can i record the sound so it doesn't distort(trimed) and still be able to hear the music i am mixing? (The mixer and computer are connected via a usb interface).

2nd. I don't seem to be able to play the mix back throught the computer unless I unplug the usb interface. Is there any way around this? All though not the end of the world.

I would appreciate any help or advise you can give me I have been throught the help menus and the online tutorials.

Thanks

[waxcylinder]

Uffer,

1) basically you want to try to get your recordings to peak at about -6db. With the meters in their defaut mode it is difficult to control the level accurately. You can enlarge the meters by dragging them off the toolbar so that they "float" and then drag them to expand them (I have mine across the whole width of the Audacity window).

2) This is because the USB device has hijacked the entire audio on your PC, both input and out (they mostly all do that) - and as your USB device does not have speakers you won't hear anything. What you need to do to fix this is go to Control Panel>Sounds and Audio device properties>Audio and reset the output device to be your PC/s soundcard. It may also help to rest the output device in Audacity Edit>Preferences>Audio I/O - and set this output device too to your PC soundcard.

WC

[Uffer]

Thanks for the help WAXCYLINDER but I still have the same problem. Even with the meters as large as they go when I record, (even with the input level as low as it will go) if i have any music coming from the speakers of my system, the music instantly goes out of range and gets trimmed causing it to distort on playback. I have to be able to hear what I am mixing and still record what is happening. How do i set the levels so that when the music is inputted to the computer it records it at a certain volume but i can still turn up the volume on my mixer to hear what I am doing? As I said I have the input level as low as it will go.
I have had a little joy by turning the gain up as far as it will go for each channel on the mixer and having the faders right down low but still not enough joy to be able to record a mix.

Thanks.

And sorted the other problem thanks to your help.

[waxcylinder]

It sounds as though you may be getting feedback. Can you try monitoring your recording on headphones and see what the result is?

WC

[comcon]

In "Preferences" (Ctl-P or Menu, Edit, Preferences) on the "Audio I/O" tab, what Device is selected under "Recording"?

[kozikowski]

<<<(I have mine across the whole width of the Audacity window).>>>

I never knew it did that. Then I figured out why.

If you try that on an Intel Mac, you get an adorable little mushroom cloud and Audacity self-destructs. I wonder what happens on the other platforms.

Koz