low volume level in MP3

[Brenthard]

I use Audacity 1.2.6 for the purpose of recording what I play on my MIDI keyboard by using VST-instruments. Everything is fine as long as Audacity is used for playback of the recordings. However, when I export as MP3 and play the recordings on my mp3-device, the volume level is far too low. Are there some settings I should change?

My OS is XP SP3 and my soundcard Audiophile 24/96 PCI. I have recording set to M-Audio Delta AP Mon Mixer, sample rate at 44100, sample format at 24-bit, bitrate on 128. Adjusting the input volume when recording does not seem to affect anything.

[steve]

Recordings that you make yourself are likely to be quieter than "commercial" recordings because of the fashion for compressing the life out of recordings to make them as loud as possible (see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war )

The peak recording level in Audacity should be about half the track height (-6 dB) when you record, so as to avoid any possibility of "clipping" distortion. For highly dynamic instruments you may want to allow more headroom.

After you have recorded and mixed down the tracks, use the "Amplify" effect to increase the maximum peak level close to 0 dB (I usually go for about -1 dB)
If you require the recording to be louder than that you will need to use some of the "loudness maximising" techniques describe in that Wikipedia article.

I would highly recommend that you upgrade to Audacity 1.3.12. The old 1.2.6 version is very limited for music production. http://audacityteam.org/download/

[Brenthard]

I would highly recommend that you upgrade to Audacity 1.3.12. The old 1.2.6 version is very limited for music production. http://audacityteam.org/download/

Thank you for your suggestions. I started by uninstalling 1.2.6 and installing 1.3.12. However, I immediately got a strange problem, when I tried to record what I played on my keyboard. When I hit a key, the sound gets stuck in an endless loop ("pa-pa-pa-pa-pa"). I now this never happened for 1.2.6, so something is wrong here. Any suggestions?

[steve]

Are you sure that has anything to do with Audacity?
Try closing Audacity, checking the MIDI playback, then relaunch Audacity and test it again.

[Brenthard]

Are you sure that has anything to do with Audacity?
Try closing Audacity, checking the MIDI playback, then relaunch Audacity and test it again.

Did that, everything is allright as long as I don't record. Now I have uninstalled 1.3.12 and reinstalled 1.2.6, and the loop has disappeared (I do exactly the same in both cases). So, it seems that the beta version is not altogether redy for recording, yet.

[kozikowski]

You can put both Audacity versions on your computer, just don't try to use both at once.

Do you like to record internet audio, like YouTube? When you're in Audacity 1.3.12, make sure you're recording from the computer Line-In and not from Mix-Out. Mix-Out will create a feedback loop if you try to record live.

Koz

[steve]

If Audacity 1.2.6 is working OK for you, then you can of course continue using it, but you are missing out on many useful features that enhance music production.
I use Audacity 1.3.12 daily on Windows XP - recording should not be a problem so I'd assume that there is just some setting that needs changing. It's late here now, but if you're interested in pursuing getting Audacity 1.3.12 set up correctly you can have both versions installed at the same time.

(Audacity 1.2.x cannot open projects that have been saved by Audacity 1.3. and you cannot run both versions simultaneously).

[Brenthard]

You can put both Audacity versions on your computer, just don't try to use both at once.

Do you like to record internet audio, like YouTube? When you're in Audacity 1.3.12, make sure you're recording from the computer Line-In and not from Mix-Out. Mix-Out will create a feedback loop if you try to record live. I am not primarily interested in recording internet audio.

Koz

Thank you, I reinstalled 1.3.12 when I heard that I could have both. But the problem with the loop remains. I am not primarily interested in recording internet audio. In fact, I am doing some very amateur composing, and like to have an easy way of recording small melodies I come up with while playing on my MIDI keyboard. It was easy when I used to have a Creative sound card, since they have a simple recording software included on the installation disc. When I switched to Audiophile 24/96, much to my surprise I found that there seemed to be compatibility problems with virtually every free recording software, so Audacity really is my last hope (and also what they recommend at M-Audio forums). My problem with 1.2.6 has been the low volume level I get when converting to mp3.

Now, I would like to get 1.3.12 working. How do I change to line-in, if this is the problem? Part of my problem might be that I do not have the latest driver for my sound card installed, since I was told that an older driver still works better with XP at the Audiophile forum.

[steve]

I was told that an older driver still works better with XP at the Audiophile forum.

That is possible, so let's not change that at this stage.

M-Audio often have special control panel / mixers for their sound cards. Do you have such a thing installed?

[Brenthard]

M-Audio often have special control panel / mixers for their sound cards. Do you have such a thing installed?

Yes, I do, one that looks like the control panel at this page

http://ixbtlabs.com/articles/maudioaudiophile/

(this is quite different from the one that comes with the most recent driver.)