Audacity Forum

Hello,

Why can't I record stuff from my new USB turntable, please?

My Seal USB turntable came supplied with Audacity, but I decided to download Audacity directly from the website instead. I'm not very tech savvy, so I might make a complete mess of asking this question, but i'm trying my best...

I downloaded Audacity, plugged in the turntable and pressed 'record'. That's all I did; I didn't adjust any levels or preferences or select a source or line input or anything, but it recorded just fine, although there was only one track indicator thing, which I suppose means it was recording automatically in mono. I could play everything back, before and after I'd exported it as an MP3.

However, when I tried to record something the following day, after, of course, my computer had been turned off, I couldn't. When I clicked record, the track indicator came up, but it was forming a straight line, rather than the soundwave effecty thing of the previous day, and it was recording silence not sound.

After looking through the help stuff in wiki, I checked out my 'preferences', but it looks like my turntable isn't recognised: on the input bit I have a choice between the "realtek audio" (which was on the computer anyway) and soundmapper.

I uninstalled Audacity, then re-installed it, this time using the CD that came with the turntable. Everything worked OK again (only this time I knew to choose two channel input rather than one, so I presume I was recording in stereo rather than mono) and I noticed that it said 'stereo mix' in the little input box thing. But today the whole not-recording thing has happened again.

Short of keeping my computer switched on for the several months it will take me to transfer my vinyl collection to MP3, what can I do??? Or what have I been doing wrong?

My computer is a four-year-old Acer laptop with Windows XP.

I'd be soooo grateful for any help anyone can give!
Thanks!

Start out with this article on the Wiki on using USB TTs: http://audacityteam.org/wiki/index.php? ... turntables

If you still can't make it work after that then do post back again.

It is extremely unlikely that un-installing Audacity will help you - for a start the Preferences settings are stored in the Windows registry and these do not get removed. And furthermore it is likely that the supplier will have given you an older version of Audacity - the Audacity site should have 1.2.6 which is the latest "stable" release.

WC

Thanks for the reply, waxcylinder. I have tried to negotiate my way through the wiki page you sent me a link to, and although it's a lot more helpful than the instruction book that came with the turntable I still can't get the wretched thing to work... Any other suggestions gratefully received...

When you had it working the first time did you have the PC running and then plug the USB to the PC? And then the next day was it already connected when you booted up?

If so try disconnecting and re-booting - then if that doesn't work try leaving it conneected and then reboot.

Another thing you might try is a different USB port on your PC - sometimes these can be more than a bit iffy.

WC

WC, if you;re there, i'm sorry I didn;t give you feedback earlier, but I was so fed up with this recording business that i didn't have the heart to try to sort this recording business out until now. Yes, I've tried various combinations of connecting and rebotting and nothing has worked, not has trying a different USB port on my laptop. Any ideas, please (WC or anyone else who may be able to help) on whether the problem could be with my computer (it's just been serviced or whatever you do to maintain a computer, and had a professional scan it for viruses etc), Windows, the turntable itself, or the USB cable that came with the turntable?
Thanks for any help anyone can give!

Try booting up the computer with the turntable not connected to the computer.
When your computer is fully booted, connect the turntable to the computer - you should see some indication that your computer has recognised the turntable. If nothing pops up, look in the system tray for the USB icon - if you go to "Safely remove USB device, (don't disconnect it, just have a look) you should see that your turntable is connected.

If the turntable is not recognised by Windows, then Audacity does not stand a chance of working with it. (see the "troubleshooting" section here: http://audacityteam.org/wiki/index.php? ... turntables

Thanks for that. My turntable (Seal) isn't listed in the drop-down menu, as far as i can tell (I'm not tech-savvy at all), but what i cannot understand is why I have managed to record from it a couple of times (I've played back the tracks recorded when it did work and I can hear them and have converted them to MP3 and played them again) but can't now. Why did it record then not record, then (after I'd re-installed Audacity) record again, then, after i'd turned my laptop and turntable off (I can't remember which order I did this) it wouldn't record again when i tried to use it again?
I'm not near the turntable now, but when i am, i'll try rebooting as you suggest. Wish I'd not been so cheap and bought a more expensive turntable now!