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Rumble noise whether turntable is plugged in or not
Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:40 am
by eotter
I'm using audacity to listen to records. I don't care about ripping at the moment. I just want to hear them. I click "Monitor Input" and start the record. Everything was fine for weeks (or maybe I just didn't notice, but I doubt that). Now I get this obnoxious rumbling noise. It sounds like wind across a microphone, somewhere around 200 Hz. I don't hear it on Rhapsody, Windows Media Player, or YouTube, so I'm sure my on-board sound is fine. I thought there was something wrong with my turntable or wiring, but it happens whether it's plugged in to the computer or not. The Meters jump around with no actual input plugged in, and there's the noise. I recorded a few tracks just to see, and sure enough, it recorded the rumble, again, with or without input. Am I doing something wrong?
Re: Rumble noise whether turntable is plugged in or not
Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 7:38 am
by kozikowski
You probably have feedback where the sound channels are creating their own "music." This is a cousin to what happens when somebody turns the microphone up too loud at the PTA meeting. It doesn't have to scream or howl, it can rumble, too.
So, in Audacity visit Edit > Preferences > Audio I/O and unclick all the stuff at the bottom. Restart Audacity. Then visit Windows and configure the sound panels for whatever you want to do.
Windows Control Panel
http://audacityteam.org/wiki/index.php? ... trol_Panel
My guess is that Windows has too many things selected.
If you just leave everything like that, you will probably make very nice recordings, but you won't be able to hear them while you're capturing the sound. If you do make very clear, perfect recordings, then revisit the Audacity control panel and turn Software Playthrough back on. Restart Audacity.
Koz
Re: Rumble noise whether turntable is plugged in or not
Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 10:08 am
by eotter
Thanks, that worked great, except that's not really what I want to do. I want to listen to my record player, not make MP3's. I have this killer multi-media machine and want to incorporate my deck. Maybe I need a different program? Or maybe I just don't know how to listen to a line-in on Win XP. This was the first app I found that would play it through my speakers. What do I need?