Audacity Forum

I was going to try running my setup through my iMac, but after reading this thread, it sounds like a waste of time. In this thread, we have the same problem showing for 10.2, 10.4, with the Ion, I'm using the Numark, Power PC Macs, Intel Macs, laptops, desktops, etc. And now that we have a user who switched to a different app (Audio Hijack) and does NOT have the distortion problem anymore, it looks like an Audacity bug...

I'm going to switch from 1.2.5 to 1.3.3 just for giggles...

Alas, dear friends. I spoke too soon. The devilish problem has resurfaced in my Audio Hijack vinyl recordings. Back to the drawing board. I am going to try a cassette player played through the ION topside input into Audio Hijack. I have made long recordings using that method in the past. Let's see how it works today. Later....

For giggles, I did try 1.3.3 beta. Got through a 40 minute recording to have the app unexpectedly quit upon trying to save the project . For further giggles, I switched the USB cable from the right USB port to the left USB port on the laptop. So far, with 1.2.5, I have gotten through several full length LPs without the distortion issue. Looks like things are pointing toward streaming through USB. I'm no Mac expert, but isn't streaming data through USB 1 just asking for trouble? Should these USB turntables be at least USB 2 or Firewire? Just a thought...

I've got this same problem, using Tiger not Leopard. I then tried Adobe Soundbooth, and the same problem develops after a variable time.

So it is not just the version of the operating system, and it is not just a bug in Audacity. Nor is it the fault of a laptop. My computer is a Mac Pro, with 6GB RAM, and vast amounts of drive space free on multiple drives. (However, I don't yet have a dedicated sound card.)

I'm using an ION USB turntable, archiving some very old African field recordings of traditional music. This stuff can have weird dynamics, and some of it is mono. Some of it is mono reprocessed to work on stereo. Not all of them are labelled as to whether they are mono or stereo. The stereo recordings usually did not distort. When I recorded a mono LP as stereo it distorted really wildly. (I solved that one). Currently an LP that is probably mono reprocessed to stereo is driving me nuts.

Most times I have solved the distortion problem. Things that help are closing every other application, reducing the input levels, and not having any playthrough at all (which of course means I can't check for distortion as it is happening).

What concerns me most are the crashes I get in amongst all this. Audacity has twice taken my computer down, and on restart the monitor is black. To get my screen back I have to restart with the monitor unplugged from the computer, then plug it in. I'm using the stable release, version 1.2.5.

Given the problems this turntable has caused, I would recommend transferring albums analog.

Close Audacity. Shut down your Mac. Unplug the USB cable and leave it disconnected. Restart your Mac.

The ION turntable has the ability to push RIAA corrected analog audio from its RCA connectors. Select, I think it's Line Out on the switch underneath (somebody will correct me). Then drop by your local Radio Shack and pick up one of these cables...

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... age=search

...to go from the ION to your Mac Line In (the tight circle with the two black arrows pointing in). Switch the Mac preferences to Sound > Input > Line In. Play a record and the Mac audio panel should flash at you. Open audacity and tap once inside the Red record meters and they should flash as well. Set recording levels as appropriate.

Restart the record, press record, watch the successful recordings accumulate. This process uses the Mac internal analog to digital converter which I have found to be excellent.

Koz

Thanks Koz I've done what you said and am already listening to a distortion-free recording of the one that was driving me nuts. Got it right first time, no hassle.

Just unpacked my ion Christmas present and have the same problem. I've sent an email to Audacity. Has anyone else contacted them and what have been the results?

My problem is very variable, sometimes after as short as 1 minute, sometimes can get through 3 entire songs .

Koz, How do you do the song splitting with your analog technique. There is also some "easy" software available from ion called "Easy Audio Converer" that has worked for some of the songs I couldn't get to work. But I really want the song splitting, noise reduction capability of Audacity.

Has anyone else contacted them and what have been the results?

The result was I got invited to help write the instruction book for Audacity version 1.4 which they are trying really hard to push out the door to replace versions 1.2 and 1.3. In general, if we can't help you here in the forum, that's the ball game until 1.4 comes out.

<<<How do you do the song splitting with your analog technique.>>>

I'm personally not, but I understand there is a tool for this and it doesn't matter at all how you captured the audio. Once the show is on the timeline, everything is the same.

http://audacityteam.org/wiki/index.php? ... n_silences

The analog technique is a complete slave to the capture settings in Preferences. No juggling to make sure all the various settings match each other or something will crash. There is the faction that says everything should be in 44100/16 bit since that's the format used on a music CD. There is another faction that says you need to capture higher than that if you plan on doing any post production. 44100 falls apart pretty quickly when you do effects. iTunes doesn't care how you do it, generally the higher quality the better.

Also remember that iTunes can't use a "Project." To push something into iTunes, it needs to be a WAV or MP3 and takes the exporting tools from Audacity. I favor WAV since I use iTunes's built-in AAC converter and format. If I fed it an MP3, it would have to convert the music twice--damaging it each time.

Koz

If anyone else is using the ION USB turntable and wants to do it using Apple's internal analog to digital conversion this info might be useful: my turntable came with a stereo RCA cable permanently (I think) plugged into the back. All I needed to get was a "3.5mm Stereo Plug to 2 x RCA Sockets" adapter, AU$4.00, then followed Koz's instructions above.

kozikowski wrote:Given the problems this turntable has caused, I would recommend transferring albums analog.

So, did I waste my money on the Numark TTUSB? Seems I could have gone the analog route with a good turntable and preamp, but chose this route (and paid a premium) and it's not working. Should I return my Numark?