Audacity Forum

Sorry for this terribly amateur question, but I've not been able to find an answer through googling and searching this board.

I would like to record to mic inputs at once. I have two mic inputs on my computer (one on the back and one on the front). Both work when I look at the sound properties in windows. Can I record two mics at once on two different tracks in Audacity?

I would also like to record sounds played through winamp and/or WMP. However, I can't even test that until I get a sound card that supports "Stereo Mix" or "What U Hear" with Vista -- that's another story.

My goal is to be able to record a podcast with two people and play audio effects/music as we record it to a third track, but I'll start with the two mics option.

Thanks very much for your time.

-guapo

Both microphone inputs are almost certainly the same input... just two different jacks.

If your soundcard as a "line-in", that's a stereo (2 track) input, and that could be used to record two different signals.

Most microphone signals are lower levels than line-in signals, but you probably could get a decent signal, or in necessary use a microphone preamp.

If you don't have a line-in, you'll have to get a new/better sound card, which you'll want to do if you're serious about this anyway.

Thanks for the very quick reply.

I considered that the input on the front of my PC was just the same jack. Should have known. I do have another sound card on the way, though it's probably not MUCH better than this one, so maybe I'll send it back and find what I need. I'll also try the line-in feature.

I have a TV card as well for use with Windows Media Center. Is there any way that I could have a headset hooked to that as an input?

Finally, when I get a card that can record "What U Hear" or "Stereo Mix," will I be able to use that as a third track?


Thanks again very much.

-guapo

Audacity can only grab signals from one device at a time, so using your TV tuner card could not add any additional channel capabilities.

If you go to the Recording Equipment forum on this board: http://audacityteam.org/forum/viewforum.php?f=27 You'll find plenty of opinions/advice on sound cards.

If you're serious, you should get a sound card designed to bring in multiple inputs.

I use an M-Audio Delta 1010LT which has 8 analog inputs. It can be found for under $200.

Other cards with less capability can be found for far less.

Thank you for the link -- I will definitely check it out.

I have another question that shows my ignorance. Does "What U Hear" or "Stereo Mix" sound come from that same source? In other words, can I record a mic input and a .wav file played w/ WMP at the same time on separate tracks? I as unsuccessful trying to do this on my laptop which does have the ability to record "Sound Mix," unlike my desktop.

Thanks for any clarification -- my apologies if you've answered this question already.

Many soundcards have a built in mixer, to mix various sources. "wave" files being played by some window's application, microphone, CD Player, line In, etc. If you search your soundcard/volume interface, you will probably find this mixer.

"Stereo Mix" would refer to this.

"What you hear" would often be the same, but literally is the Windows Sound Management Output... in other words...exactly what you're hearing over your computer speakers.

Each would be a stereo track, two channels only.

It wouldn't be possible to record both simultaneously.

Thank you again for your help.

Because my sound card doesn't have "Stereo Mix" -- a common problem with Vista computers, I'm discovering -- I don't have this mixer. I wonder if this is an issue that may be fixed with future Vista drivers. No matter as I will likely be rid of this card by the time any such drivers would be released.

On to my (new) question.

When you say that it wouldn't be possible to record both simultaneously, do you mean that it would be impossible to record an input and a .wav file ( from "Sound Mix") simultaneously? This is what I want to do. Actually, I want to record two inputs from separate mics and a .wav file simultaneously when I get a sound card with two inputs.


Again, sorry for the confusion, but I thought that you may have misinterpreted my question as asking if I could record a "Sound Mix" and "What U Hear," which is not what I was asking. I just gave both names as those are the common names I've seen from my research about this issue.

Assuming you have a stereo line-in, you can first import a wav file into Audacity, and while playing it record two additional tracks.

The timing/synchronization will probably be a little bit off, but this can easily be corrected as documented in this forum and in the tutorials.

You can do this again and again to ultimately include as many tracks as you want to in your Audacity project.

Sounds like I won't be able to play the sounds as I am recording. The idea was to record a podcast with two people and insert sound effects and music as we go by just clicking on a file when we want it inserted and have audacity record it on a separate track when that happens.

Since that can't be done, I guess it would be easiest to insert those sounds after completion of the podcast.

I've been reading other threads here, and it is clear that everyone here is both knowledgeable and helpful. I'm not the first one to appreciate it or say so, but again, thanks very much for your help!

<<<The idea was to record a podcast with two people and insert sound effects and music as we go by just clicking on a file when we want it inserted.>>>

You so much need a production mixer separate from the computer. Yes, you can probably force one computer to do this kicking and screaming, but your hands are so tied during production. "One of the actors is a little to loud!" Let's see. Alt-Shift window, click third slider, adjust down.......OH WAIT! it's time for the track playback! Control-Alt.......

Or worse yet, You can't change the relative volume between the microphones. "OK, Stop. Can you back away from the microphone a little bit? You're way too loud. You in the red shirt, stay where you are."

It's a very common complaint of people using totally digital capture mixers in the field. Everything happens on digital time with no controls. Drives producers nuts.

There is one place where digital production shines. Record everything in real time on separate tracks with no mixer onto a recorder with something like 96000, 24-bit audio. That will record everything no matter how loud or soft and you can mix your brains out later. That also means you need a multi-track input device plus a computer for clip playback. You might be able to get one computer to do both, but lay in a good supply of your favorite plain killer.

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The thing that kills people trying to use "What You Hear" or "Stereo Mix" is getting the same audio source twice. The microphone performance appears on the recording plus the same microphone a split second later as part of "What You Hear." It's a constant complaint on the Windows forum. "How come I get an echo when I record my piano solo?"

Koz