Audacity Forum

I am recording from vinyl LP's with audacity. Music is fine, but vocals record at very low volume/fidelity level. Do I need to adjust something?

jerrydixon wrote:I am recording from vinyl LP's with audacity. Music is fine, but vocals record at very low volume/fidelity level. Do I need to adjust something?

Do you mean the recordings from vinyl are fine, but when you record your own voice from a microphone over the top of the vinyl recording, the vocals are distorted/low volume?

For any input source - mic, line-in from an amplifier or a USB turntable - you can use the Audacity input slider (by the microphone symbol) to adjust the volume. If that doesn't work, use the slider in the system mixer to control the volume (scroll down to see the control panel applet for Windows 7/Vista or XP as appropriate).

If the microphone is the problem, click the "Advanced" button for the mic on the recording side of the system mixer. It will probably have a checkbox called "boost" or "AGC" - put a check in the box and the mic input will be louder. If you still receive distortion when the mic volume is turned up, see this help for overdub problems.

For further reference here are tutorials for recording vinyl:

• Conventional turntable and amplifier
• USB turntable

Gale

No microphone. The music recorded from the vinyl is good. The vocals recorded from the vinyl is low volume/fidelity. I can hear the needle on the vinyl playing good music and good vocals, but the vocals are recorded poorly.

jerrydixon wrote:No microphone. The music recorded from the vinyl is good. The vocals recorded from the vinyl is low volume/fidelity. I can hear the needle on the vinyl playing good music and good vocals, but the vocals are recorded poorly.

Are these "vocals" and "music" mixed together on the same track, or are you complaining about a track with solo vocals a capella?

Note that If you want to record stereo, you have to set Audacity 1.2 to record in stereo. What is the make and model of the turntable and how is it connected to the computer? Is it a USB turntable and are you on Windows Vista or 7? In that case you may need to tell Windows to record the turntable in stereo. Also check the cartridge is connected properly. You will be better using Audacity Beta on Windows Vista or 7.

If none of that helps, please supply the above information and attach a short file (no more than 1 MB in size) so we can hear what you mean. The "Upload attachment" tab is underneath the Preview/Post Message buttons.



Gale