Audacity Forum

I just installed version 1.2.6 and am not getting any audio. Followed the instructions to make sure sofware playthrough was selected and the speaker volume was turned up. Nothing comes thru the speakers so I cant tell what (if anything) I'm recording. I'm new to this product so it's probably something pretty obvious...i just dont know what it is. HELP. tks

The first recommendation will be to upgrade to Audacity 1.3.12 (Audacity 1.2.6 is now ancient and has had no developer support for several years).

Then you will need to fill in a few holes, for example:
What version of Windows?
What are you recording from?
How are you recording?
What sort of sound card?
How are your speakers connected to the computer?
Anything else that will help paint a clear picture of what equipment you are using, how it is set up and what you are trying to do.

I have downloaded the latest version of Audacity and I am still not getting any sound while trying to record. What am I doing wrong. I push the record button on and then play on the tape converter, it's playing but no sound and no recording.

Jennifer wrote:I have downloaded the latest version of Audacity and I am still not getting any sound while trying to record. What am I doing wrong. I push the record button on and then play on the tape converter, it's playing but no sound and no recording.

If you're using the latest version of Audacity you have posted in the wrong part of the forum. This forum board is for Audacity 1.2.x and the latest version is Audacity 1.3.12.

Without a lot more information about your set-up and what you are trying to record we have no idea what you are doing wrong.

Please check your Audacity version (Help menu > About Audacity)
Please read my previous post in this topic.

I have a similar experience as Jennifer. I bought a USB Audio Convertor from JB Systems (http://www.beglec.com/manuals/223-V2,1.pdf) which is accompanied with a CD containing Audacity 1.2.6. According to the JB Systems manual, after selecting USB audio CODEC in input/output in the "edit/preferences" menu, stereo setting, software playthrough, the VU meters should move and one should hear the music play (speakers not muted) when a record player is connected and playing. I see the VU meters move but no audio. I am using Windows XP Profesional 2002 service pack 3. I spent hours looking for tips and trying some of them out without success. On this journey I observed that when selecting the Audio-tab of "Sound, Speech and Audio properties" in control panel, when USB Audio CODEC is selected in the recording entry, the volume control button is greyed out. One cannot control the volume of the audio of what one is trying to record. Could this be related to the audio problem? Is there a compatibility issue with XP Pro SP3?
The new Audacity 1.3.12 gives the same result. All tips and suggestions welcome. Thanks.

willemsg wrote:when USB Audio CODEC is selected in the recording entry, the volume control button is greyed out. One cannot control the volume of the audio of what one is trying to record.

That is normal. XP does not provide any mechanism for controlling the recording level from USB audio devices.
Vista and Windows 7 provide a mechanism for controlling the recording level from USB devices, but only by scaling the digital data after it has been converted from analogue in the USB device. In effect this is identical to using the "Amplify" effect in Audacity after making the recording.

The only way to control the recording level on USB devices prior to the analogue to digital conversion is either via a "gain" control (recording level) on the device itself (if there is one - in the case of the JBSystems device, it is item 5 on page 3/31 of the pdf manual), or by adjusting the output level of whatever is plugged into the input of the USB device.

Thank you, that explains the greyed-out volume button. I am still in the dark, however, about the reason why I can't hear the music playing allthough the VU-meters are indicating that there is an audio signal. Is that normal to? Nothing is muted, all volumes are up, the gain button on the convertor was turned up and down, no result... All help welcome. Regards. G.

willemsg wrote:about the reason why I can't hear the music playing

How are you listening? Headphones? Speakers? How are they connected to the computer?

As a first step I am just trying to have the sound coming out of the PC's internal speakers (which are operational and not disabled). Secondly, if possible, out of the analog output of the JB Systems USB convertor (no audio signal there either) to go to an analog aux input of a HIFI amplifier (a pass-through of the audio signal). I can plug-in a headphone but that just switches the sound from the PC's speakers to the headphone, doesn't it? Thanks. G

Edit menu > Preferences > Audio I/O

Select the playback device that you want to use.