Audacity Forum

Hi everyone,

Using a new Dell Vostro with windows vista business and audacity.

I have had 2 ION turntables (usb) and got my money back before using this to buy a project 3 debut usb because I thought the turntables were at fault.

When I monitor the sound in audacity (and for that matter sony sound forge) with the turntable arm at rest and the platter at rest I still get visible background noise in the level meters . I am concerned as sound will obv carry through to the final recording. This happens on all decks. I have even tried on a different (xp laptop) and get the same result

The meters hover up and down to about -55 DB peak. This is the same for all decks

However when I change the properties of the usb adudio codec (via control pannel) to something lower than "44100 CD quality" then this sound dissapears and I can still record ok.

Has anyone else noticed this ?

If i drop the level for the audio codec in control pannel does the quality going to audacity drop (there are tickboxes in control panel about exclusive access) ?

I have plugged the phono out into a 3mm jack from the deck, and then into the mic input on the dell. when I plug it it i get the option to select
"line in". Is it the sound qaulity better this way ?

<<<because I thought the turntables were at fault.>>>

The combination of USB Audio, Vista, and Audacity may cause an unstable condition. It doesn't cause failures most of the time, it just sits there in the shadows waiting for you to relax and then, Blammo! it will refuse to work any further. You lucked out. It failed immediately.

Yes, the recommended work-around is to cable the analog outputs of the turntable into the Line-In of your computer and capture that way.

Mac Line-In connections are very well behaved, but you can run into noise and distortion problems on a PC. Cheap PC sound cards tend to not be shielded very well to save money. The other PC problem is that PC Laptops tend to have only Mic-In connections and not Line-In. If that's what you have, then there is no workaround. If you plug your line level signal into a Mic-In connection, it will overload immediately and you may damage something. Plus it's mono and not stereo.


Some people have found that they can put a powered USB hub between the turntable and the computer and that helps. The Hub must get its power from a little brick in the wall socket to make this work. They can't be "USB Powered." Other people have found better results with version 1.3 Audacity.

Some found they could get clean recordings by changing to a lower sample frequency--which then damaged the show.

Some found they could only record Glenn Miller on Thursday. This is the problem with having an Unstable Condition instead of an outright failure. The symptoms are different for each person and the only common thread is nobody can transfer their vinyl.

Koz

Thanks for the comprehensive reply Koz,

I'm gonna go via the "line in" connection. As I say its a laptop (dell vostro) and when I plug the jack into the mic socket, it comes up with a number of selection options, one of which is "line in".

I am I being to simplistic to trust this as a true stereo line in - or could be a dell "lets call it a line in even though its not" ?

<<<"lets call it a line in even though its not" >>>

I have seen people trying to "hit it in the middle" and design a terrible microphone amplifier that only overloads a little bit at line level. The problem is that without the computer industry's constant effort to frame problems in things they can do as opposed to what's really there, a conventional microphone has a delivered audio level something like 1000 times lower than line level. That's rough to fudge, especially considering that people expect microphone noise and distortion to be 1000 times lower than that. These things tend to be custom designed for the job--although I have seen sound cards try to switch between the two services. That can work done properly.

<<<true stereo line in>>>

Most stereo performances have an obvious difference between the two record meters during capture. Mono shows have the signature of both meters doing exactly the same thing at the same time.

Koz

Okay Dude, here's the break down. First of all, yes use a lower level audio feed going in if you can, that in itself is best about set at 0db is always best using digital then be sure to not use any sort of mic preamps or phantom power on your mics when using your pc at least until you've gotten the whole process down pack okay... now first of all your line noise, tell me you checked your ac outlets first for ground loops right, surely you did , if not, check them, that is most often the place where the bugerman lives, so get that settles first always, then next ste3p won't be wasted... also did you say you were using an audio interface? If not you must, you just cannot do this without one using pc based audio / digital formats, period, it just isn't workable. Never direct in or out period, unless you happen to own a really high end digital in/out setup...
Okay, no ground loop, everything plugged in and working, wires good, plugs good, line level set correctly. lowest is best, to start, mic plugged into your audio gear / audio interface / pc, test and your ready dude! Hope this helps, forgive me if I missed something, wasn't sure of your setup or experience level, later good luck! Keep Making Music ...it's all good! Try out a USB based (Tascam 122) audio interface, I love mine! Last but not least, always use a powered usb hub save your power for your cpu and save your usbs from damage, motherboards are a little expensive and suck when they need to be changed out. System down …. No music!