Audacity Forum

I've been recording in Audacity for close to a year now with no problems. Suddenly I've now noticed that the recording signal will not exceed +/- .5 and then clips. I've changed nothing and double checked that all the system controls for inputs are set to normal levels. Regardless of the input level (pre-amped or direct into the line-in) the signal is maxed at +/- .5 then clipped. Could this be a problem with my sound card or is there an issue in Audacity?

This is very common, but what usually causes it is somebody plugging their high-level stereo show into the Microphone Input of the sound card instead of Line-In. Mic-In overloads very easily and you can't reduce the sound level with the volume controls.

Koz

Ok, Thank you for the information. If this is the cause and result, what is the solution? Is something fried? Do I need to replace my sound card?

It's one very common cause because the entire civilized world is trying to do stereo music production on a Windows Laptop, and Windows Laptops don't lend themselves to doing this.

Did you do something seemingly divorced from audio production like get a new Skype account? Skype and possibly other "telephone" services are famous for messing up the computer's sound services.

Maybe we can get another hint. What, exactly are you doing? Describe the microphone you're singing into or the guitar amplifier you have plugged into your large Dell deskside computer featuring a full service sound card with both Line-In and Mic-In connections.

That's the kind of detail we need. More if you have it.

If you, too, are trying to use a Windows laptop computer to record audio productions, you may have been very lucky for a long time and this is normal.

Do you have Windows doing automatic updates?

Koz

Here are the details: My computer is a home built desktop with Xindows XP Professional. I use a Neumann TLM 103 mic plugged into a pre-amp, then directly to the computer. I do not use any amplifiers. I only record simple 3 to 4 track recordings (guitar,piano, and vocals). As I mentioned, nothing has changed since I've began recording on Audacity.

Since there appears to be no clear cut resolution, I guess I'll try a new sound card. And if that doesn't work it's time to go to the closet and pull out my old TEAC 2340. I hope I can still purchase 1/4" recording tape?

It wouldn't surprise me if you could still buy Scotch 808 or 809. But don't give up yet.

Is there a little light on the body of the mic if the phantom power is OK?

Does the preamplifier have a place to plug headphones, and is the sound clean at the preamp while the computer is creating damage?

You can also get a little female/female adapter and plug your interconnect cable instead of into the computer, into your headphones. If it's clean at that point, then yes, the sound card is probably fried, although you could still have software or driver problems. I'm stretching now, but if you're using one of those sound cards that switches one connection between Microphone and Line, you could get into serious trouble if you're working in the wrong mode.

This is where I push the Mac. The Stereo-In of a MacBook Pro has a world-class analog to digital converter standard. I regularly shoot movie sound with my Mac as the "reel to reel." I do shoot sound into a PC Sound Card, but you can never get away from the sound card bathed in an electrically noisy, harsh environment.

Koz

jmccleary wrote:I use a Neumann TLM 103 mic plugged into a pre-amp, then directly to the computer.

Could you fill out some detail on that last bit? What sort of pre-amp is it and exactly what is it plugged into?
Have you tried turning down the gain on the pre-amp and increasing the recording level in the computer?

It's not the pre-amp. I checked the pre-amp on another system and all works well and records fine with a full signal range and no low level clipping. I've been told that this is a very common problem and I've seen previous post of the same problem. It's funny that I've never seen any resolution posted. I'm thinking it has to be the sound card.

<<<It's funny that I've never seen any resolution posted. >>>

It's very rare for the stereo, Line-In of a sound card to do this. It's common as dirt to have a mismatch like applying powerful stereo signals to the delicate Mic-In of a laptop. That's not broken. That's pure operator error.

The solution is to buy a USB sound card like a UCA-202 that provides the computer with a high level, stereo Line-In.

http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/UCA202.aspx

That is, in almost all cases, the end of the story. You could do that, too.

Koz

One more point. Audacity 1.2 is no longer supported, patched, or updated. It frequently has troubles on modern computers. You can get Audacity 1.3.12 from here...

http://audacityteam.org/download/

You can install both versions on your computer, but only use one at a time. Audacity 1.3 Projects will not open in 1.2. WAV and other exported sound file types open (almost) anywhere.

Koz