Audacity 1.2.6

mcmac74 · Post by **mcmac74** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 11:14 am

Hi

I got a tape to digital converter for christmas and just got round to installing. All is well(?) apart from the fact that i can get no volume in the recordings! The file records and saves but there is no actual audio on the recording. I've checked the following:

There is something on the tape
It plays fine through headphones plugged into the tape player
PC volume on speakers is up.
Volume on tape is up
Volume in software is up
It records something
The graphic indicates sound waves are being recorded
mute is not on
The play through box in preferences is ticked as is the USB option for record and playback device

What am i missing??

thanks
mark

Post by **waxcylinder** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 12:09 pm

Start off with a read of this set of Tutorials: http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Tuto ... iscs_to_CD

Especially this one: http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Reco ... turntables

And I would strongly recommend updating to Audacity 1.3.12 - you can get it from here: http://audacityteam.org/download/

WC

mcmac74 · Post by **mcmac74** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 2:15 pm

Thanks for the reply

I've checked the various settings in control panel and can see no reason why i can't get sound to come out of the Laptop. The driver is up to date, the software came with the tape player so is compatible. The usb connection is recognized and becomes the default sound source when plugged in. I'm totally at a loss...

mark

mcmac74 · Post by **mcmac74** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 2:31 pm

Update....

The recordings i made play fine. I've now found out that nothing will play out through my usual speakers whilst the usb transfer lead is plugged in...so i guess the question is how do i fix this so that i can hear playback whilst recording?

Cheers
Mark

Post by **waxcylinder** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 2:45 pm

When you plug in a USB device like this your computer hands over control of all sound services to the USB device - both input and output. Since your USB device doesn't have a set of speakers, you then don't get any sound from the computer (not even the normal computer sounds).

All you need to do is to get your O/S and Audacity to retarget the sound output onto your computer's on-board soundcard. In Windows use Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Audio > Sound Playback - in Audacity use Edit > Preferences > Audio I/O > Playback Device - you may need to close and restart Audacity for the change to take effect.

WC

mcmac74 · Post by **mcmac74** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 4:04 pm

Thanks, sound coming through now.

Post by **waxcylinder** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 4:17 pm

Glad you've got that sorted - it fools a lot of folk, including me when I first started out with Audacity

WC

mcmac74 · Post by **mcmac74** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 6:28 pm

Just wondering....... the tape player that came with the software seems to be speeding up and slowing down a lot when playing back some old tapes that don't do this on my regular tape deck, pretty much making them useless. On others it is a bit wobbly but generally fine. Is this likely to be anything to do with the transfer process or just low quality tape unit?

If its a problem with the unit, does anyone know what leads are available that would go from the stereo outs on a midi stereo and into the usb slot ready for transfer?

Mark

Post by **waxcylinder** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 7:01 pm

The tutorials that I sent you the links for should show you which cables connectors you need. My Nakamichi deck is connnected to my (external) soundcard with RCA-to-RCA cables. If you are using an onboard soundcard (you will need line-in not mic-in) the you will likely need an RCA pair to 3.5mm stero mni-jack.

What you are hearing on the cheapo deck sounds loike wow&flutter (actually the wow part) - cheap kit including turntables has a tendency to do this.

If your old tape deck is a cassette deck than you should get a good signal out of that at the right level - if it is a Reel-to-Rell then then you may find the signal level a little low and my need an amp. And if the tapes were recorded on your "regular tape deck" then you are probably better oof using that anyway.

WC

mcmac74 · Post by **mcmac74** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 4:25 pm

Thanks WC

I've read through the links and there's nothing that fits my set up as far as i can tell.....

I've a good quality tape deck but with no line outs other than an optical one for CD. I guess i'd be ok using the headphone socket but my laptop only has a mic line in and usb. I'm definitely gonna have to take back the cassette player i bought with the software as the wow/flutter is pretty consistent across all recordings.

I've seen the 3.5mm to usb jacks on sale, would this give me suitable audio to use in Audacity?

Cheers
Mark

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