Wave out recording sounding bad

[msd]

I am trying to record an mp3 playing in Winamp using "Wave Out Mix" in Audacity, but it gives the sound a kind of echo-y, "live" quality that I don't want. I used to do this and it would sound the same as what I was playing in the original mp3, so I'm not sure why it's not working now. I tried reinstalling Audacity, but the same distortion is present when using this recording method. Any help?

I have microphone muted in the volume settings. I'm using Windows XP, Audacity version 1.2.6, Stereo 32-bit float, 44100Hz. I think the default settings (unless it keeps a profile I didn't see after I uninstalled it).

[kozikowski]

<<<it gives the sound a kind of echo-y, "live" quality that I don't want.>>>

Unless you got everything set exactly right, you're also recording Audacity output which will be late and give the odd sound. This isn't as easy as you think.

Windows Control Panel
http://audacityteam.org/wiki/index.php? ... trol_Panel

In Audacity, you can also experiment with Software Playthrough and Hardware Playthrough. Those will cause problems, too.

Do you have Skype or Vonage?

Koz

[steve]

I am trying to record an mp3 playing in Winamp using "Wave Out Mix" in Audacity,

WinAmp is able to output directly to disk. This is by far the best way to "record" from WinAmp. You need to go into the WinAmp plug-in configuration and set the output to "Diskwriter" (may be called "Wavewriter" or something lik that - I can't remember exactly off the top of my head).

[msd]

I don't have Skype or Vonage. I'll just forget this project because I don't understand. (Don't want to use Winamp to output music, because I wanted to skip tracks on the fly while recording). Thanks for the help though.

[msd]

Actually I'll try what stevethefiddle suggested. It won't be as spontaneous, but I'll make it work.

[kozikowski]

<<<It won't be as spontaneous>>>

Audacity is a post-production tool. It doesn't do anything in real time.

Koz