Frustrating recording problems after reformatting to XP

[squabbles]

I used a second-hand VAIO VGN-CR35 (with modified settings) which I recently reformatted from Vista to XP with all specs exactly the same and I gave that job to an acquaintance of mine because my internet sucks too much to download the proper files for drivers and programs and all that, including downloading Audacity and now the laptop is pretty much XP.

When I got it back, to this day the 2 problems I found while recording is still here regardless of what I do.

1. I know that in XP it is very easy to record input from things like YouTube videos in your browser or even recording audio from a video file by just recording. Back when I was using Vista, this was impossible as Vista did not have that option at all and could only record audio to the mic (but I used a voice-changing program to record the stream instead). Now, if I have music playing inside the laptop and I am recording a sound from outside the laptop, Audacity will record BOTH. So will Windows Recorder. How do I remove this? Very annoying when you're recording with music in the background (with headphones).

2. Microphone is too SOFT. Back when I was using Vista, I had this extra-bass mic that I used from a distance (to clear the bass off a bit) and even the laptop's default built-in mic itself was loud. Now, regardless of whatever I am using, the volume is extremely low, even after I have turned on microphone boost.

I know this is not a soundcard problem as with the same soundcard when I was using Vista, the microphones worked very very fine. As I try to record on XP, it just fails me completely. At the same time I tried recording at other computers and the microphones worked just fine.

Help anyone, I really am desperate to clear off this truly frustrating problem. I might want to buy a Windows 7 to reformat this again especially if it does not have Stereo Mix like it is in Vista. W7 users, can you confirm this? As in, try recording while playing music in the background. It should be picked up if it has stereo mix.

[whomper]

unlikely that win7 will work better easier faster cheaper than xp

1
the easy way is to play only one at a time

but if you have the right soundcard/drivers you can go into it and turn off one of them so they dont record at the same time

2
there are no "extra bass" mikes afaik
but
if you have a cardioid mike
then there is a proximity effect
where the bass does go up as you get closer to it

vista may have a mike boost feature for +20db
xp does not have that
so move closer if its not loud enough now
and then eq down the bass later
or
get an omni mike

[steve]

if I have music playing inside the laptop and I am recording a sound from outside the laptop, Audacity will record BOTH. So will Windows Recorder. How do I remove this?

Click Start > (Settings) > Control Panel > Sounds, Speech and Audio Devices > Sounds and Audio devices.

You should see something similar to this:



Click on the "Volume" button in the "Sound Recording" section. This will open the Windows Recording Mixer that loos something like this:



(Many, but not all computers have a short-cut to the Windows Mixer as a loudspeaker icon near to the time/data. Some have a mixer that looks different to this, but that does the same job.).

If you want to record from the microphone, select the microphone as the recording source.

If you want to record sounds that are playing on your computer (such as YouTube), the input source is "Stereo Mix" (may also be called "Mix" or "Sum" or "What U Hear", or something similar). Note that with "Stereo Mix" selected, ALL sounds that come through the sound card will be recorded. If your microphone is playing through the sound card, that will be recorded, if a CD is playing through the sound card, that will be recorded also. To prevent certain inputs from being recorded, you need to mute them in the "Playback" section of the mixer. To switch to the playback section, click on "Options" at the top left of the mixer.

It is in the recording section of the mixer that you adjust the recording level for all inputs, and in the playback section that you set the playback level.

Any functionality that is missing in Vista (such as Stereo Mix) is likely to also be missing in Windows 7. Microsoft seem to be making it increasing difficult for people to record.

[kozikowski]

We also need to remember that "Stereo Mix" is a joint dance between the Operating System, the Software Drivers, and the Sound Card. Miss any one step and recording will fail. If your Vista or Win7 sound card doesn't support Stereo Mix, then it will be a lot of trouble to get it to work -- if it does at all.

[squabbles]

Mic Volume and stereo mix are "unmoveable"

Well a better term would have to be grayed out but that is also a good enough description. My Recording Control only has Recording, Mic Volume and Stereo Mix. Thanks to my wonderfully slow internet I am not able to reply sooner or upload the picture but it's like those Windows sliders that are grayed out (whereas sliders you can modify have green edges.

Thus I cannot modify Stereo Mix or Microphone Volume, both of which are not at max.

By the way, I have AV Voice Changer and I use it to record a video's audio (i.e from youtube for example or from anything my media player plays) just by picking the name of the program and I like this much more than recording with Windows' Stereo Mix because for some reason when I mute my audio (thus no output) and record with a lower volume on Audacity. Then I increase it and mute again and Audacity records with more volume.

In AV Voice Changer no matter the volume it records at the same sound (maybe I'd call it 'pure'). So if I tried recording something with 0 volume with Audacity (on pretty much anything except input audio from the mic), I get REALLY low volume input but if I up the volume I get louder (but not by much when talking about mics).

Does Vista actually have a Db boost? So if I boost the track I am recording by the same amount it will sound the same? Never mind it got worse. I tried upping the Db to +21 and on half volume i cant hear a thing. On full volume I hear better but definitely not by much. Not the case with my Vista back then. Plus the background noise is just too much compared to Vista's.

Or is it something to do with the drivers? I have no idea since I never bother with soundcards but before I reformatted everything worked perfectly (except for the fact that my VIsta had no Stereo Mix). The sound wasn't simultaneously recorded in Audacity and the volume was much louder.

This is one of the few regrets I have to reformatting to XP

Thank you for both of your responses and your time. I sincerely thank you.

[squabbles]

bump please?

[kozikowski]

<<<By the way, I have AV Voice Changer>>>

That's not good news. Audacity is a simple program and likes running on simple computers. It confuses easily when used with other audio programs.

Why did you leave Vista?

dB Boost is also called Microphone Boost. On my machines it only affects microphone inputs and not the other sound channels. Microphones are the hardest to manage for sound level. Many sound cards are missing that tool and it makes those sound cards almost useless for microphones.

The forum elves live in all time zones and you may have to wait for a response. The Windows Elf, eight time zones to the right from me, is on Holiday.

Have you gone through any of these postings?

Windows Control Panel
http://audacityteam.org/wiki/index.php? ... trol_Panel

http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Recor ... e_computer

Koz

[kozikowski]

Just a point. Why did you go down to XP instead of up to Win7? I would have had serious second thoughts about going down because it's possible the hardware and drivers only work with Vista. As you're finding out, the performance of the sound card is terrible compared with the more advanced operating system, and the chances of decrementing the hardware drivers is probably zero.

And if none of us has hit this yet, You should probably be using Audacity 1.3.12. Audacity 1.2 is terribly old and has serious problems on the newer operating systems -- even on simple, stable systems.

http://audacityteam.org/download/

In all that, I don't think we ever got a list of what you're trying to do. Record from YouTube appeared once. Is that it?

In both Vista and Win7, we've been shipping people off to software solutions like Total Recorder to make up for the missing sound pathways. You didn't throw Skype in there, but for that we recommend either Total Recorder or Pamela Professional or Panel Business.

Koz

[waxcylinder]

Just a point. Why did you go down to XP instead of up to Win7? I would have had serious second thoughts about going down because it's possible the hardware and drivers only work with Vista. As you're finding out, the performance of the sound card is terrible compared with the more advanced operating system, and the chances of decrementing the hardware drivers is probably zero.

As Koz has pointed out frequently in other thread responses - Audacity is a total slave to the hardware and software that it runs on. So it is indeed likely to be problems with the soundcard drivers. XP works extremely well with Audacity - but you do need to make sure that you get a matched soundcard driver for XP rather than Vista. Go to the website for the manufacturer of your soundacrd and see if the have drivers available for download.

WC (windows-elf who was on holiday, but back now ... ) i'd rather be diving ...