Audacity Forum

I'm really frustrated by this point cause I can't get it right Please help!

My Problem: I am not able to record my vocals while simultaneously playing the first track. Lets take a look at what I did first.

http://www.guidesandtutorials.com/image ... ences4.jpg

*Note* the picture is not a capture of my actual screen.

In the playback device dropdown I got two options (Realtek and Mircosoft Sound mapper)
In the recording device I got three options (Realtek, Microsoft Sound mapper, and Line in/mic in)

I have chosen the soundmapper for both the playback and recording device dropdown and also tried using "line in/mic in" in the recording dropdown. And I have already ticked the "play other tracks while recording new one" box.

(*Note* I can record normally when I'm recording only one thing at a time, both my voice and streaming audio using microsoft sound mapper for both the playback and recording dropdowns.)

I have my mic plugged-in and press the record button. The first track then starts to play(fine ), but the horrible thing is that my second track records the sound from the first track in addition to my voice! It's supposed to record only my voice, but it doesnt!

I already read the wiki page and did accordingly, but their was one thing I couldn't do (although it shouldn't be the problem). Lets take a look at the lower image anyway.

http://www.tv-handbook.com/images/Windo ... ontrol.bmp

Here, the Line-in and Microphone section is visible and not muted. But the problem is, I am not able to do anything with those two sections. There're both grayed out! The first section is not CD player by the way, it's "recording" in my computer. I don't know if this has anything to do with my problem, but just in case.

Now lets take a look at the next image.

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/6280 ... xer0wi.jpg

In the playback dropdown bar I got two options. (Realtek HD Audio rear output and Realtek HD Audio front output) ---I've chosen rearoutput. In the record dropdown bar I got two options. (Line in/mic in and Realtek HD) --- I've chosen line in/ mic in

And yes, I already ticked the "enable streaming" box as wiki suggested.

So what am I doing wrong? I'm really confused here and am about to go insane

Zarumaan wrote:Lets take a look at the lower image anyway.http://www.tv-handbook.com/images/Windo ... ol.bmpHere, the Line-in and Microphone section is visible and not muted. But the problem is, I am not able to do anything with those two sections. There're both grayed out!

(Picture of Windows mixer - record settings).
What you want, is to selct the microphone input, but the Realtec driver overrides the Windows Mixer.

If you have Audacity set to record from the "Microsoft Sound Mapper", then what should happen is that your Realtec device driver controls the physical audio hardware, and the Microsoft Sound Mapper acts as a go-between for the audio driver and the audio applications that want to use it.

If you select the Realtek options in "Edit -> Preferences -> Audio I/O" for both playback and recording, then Audacity will use the Realtek device driver directly, rather than going via the Microsoft Sound Mapper.

You then need to tell the Realtec driver to use the correct inputs and outputs and to set appropriate levels for recording and playback. This is all done through the device driver controi panel / mixer (this picture: http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/6280 ... xer0wi.jpg ).

Note that there are several tabs, sliders knobs and switches, and they all have to be set correctly.
The knobs and sliders are set by clicking on them and dragging. If they don't move it is because they are not enabled, in which case you may need to find a button that enables it. Note that some buttons are pressed to activate, and unpressed to deactivate, while other buttons are pressed to mute and unpressed to un-mute.

To record from the microphone, you need the microphone input activated, and not muted, and the level slider should be above half way. There may also be a button for "microphone boost" if the record level is way too low.

In Audacity, you can click on the "recording meter" to activate it - this may help you see when your microphone becomes "live".