Audacity Forum

I just recently got a new computer, so I had to reinstall Audacity, I previously had 1.3, but for some reason, it wasn't working when I installed it, so I reverted back to version 1.2. I notice there is a bit of latency in my recording, which as you know, throws it off a bit, and I looked in the preferences and tools, and I couldn't find any way to adjust latency. Please help

Audacity 1.2.x does not have latency adjustment. That's one of the features that was introduced in the 1.3 series.
I'd recommend that you install Audacity 1.3.13 (the latest 1.3.x version). If you still have trouble with it, let us know and we'll try to get you up and running.

Ok, I downloaded version 1.3.13... and it has the same problem i had at first with 1.3, it doesn't record or playback right, like it lags in the process or something, I'm not sure what the problem is, 1.2 doesn't do it, but I need to fix the latency issue

I'm guessing that the problem is that you are recording with a USB microphone and monitoring the recording input through headphones and you are noticing that there is a substantial delay before the sound comes out through the headphones. Is that the problem? If not, could you try to describe the issue in more detail.

Well, I do have a usb mic, but i didn't think that was an issue. I had a much older computer when I first had 1.3, and it worked just fine, but since I've gotten this brand new PC, it hasn't worked. It's hard to explain the problem, but it's like I'll record something, and when I play it back, it's distorted

"distortion" is a totally different issue to "latency".
You will need to describe the problem more clearly, or perhaps post a short sample, or add some screen shots to illustrate the problem, but if we don't know what the problem is then we can't help.

I understand, my apologies... The latency issue is in version 1.2, the distortion in the playback is in 1.3. I'm really not good at explaining things like this. I don't know how to make screenshots either, honestly. I heard something about Audacity(I believe the newer versions) isn't compatible with Windows 7, could that be the case?

earthquake wrote:I heard something about Audacity(I believe the newer versions) isn't compatible with Windows 7, could that be the case?

The compatibility issue is between Audacity 1.2.6 and any modern operating system. For any new(ish) computer the recommended version is Audacity 1.3.13.

Windows 7 will often set the recording input level very much higher than required.
To solve this issue you need to access the Windows Recording settings and reduce the recording level.

Right-click over the speaker icon in the System Tray and select "Recording Devices"
This should bring up a window similar to this:



Right click on the icon that corresponds to the recording device that you are using - if you're recording from a USB microphone then the device will have "USB" in the name.
Set this device as the default recording device.
Go to the "Advanced Properties" and you should be able to find the recording level. Set this quite low.
Click "OK" as necessary.

Now start Audacity.
Near the bottom of the "Transport" menu, ensure that "Overdub" is enabled (ticked) and "Software Playthrough" is disabled (not ticked).

You may (depending on your sound card) be able to adjust the recording level with the recording level slider (near the top of the main Audacity window - the slider with a microphone icon next to it). Ideally the recording level should be up to about half of the track height.
If the Audacity recording level slider is greyed out, then your sound card does not support it and you will have to use the Windows recording level slider as described above in this post.

Ok, that helped a bit, I believe. How do you make a screenshot? Because the window shown in your pic looks slightly different than mine, and some of the devices are different: the "CD Audio" icon isn't there, nor is the "Aux" or "Mono Mix" icons. It worked a bit better, but not much improvement.

The exact appearance depends on your sound card(s).

See here for taking screenshots: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/wind ... pping-tool