Audacity Forum

Close but no winner. I put a very old mac on-line as a file sharing server, but it turns out it has a very slow network card in it. So while you can transfer a sound file, it will probably take two weeks to do it. Not working...

So we'll see how far we get with your description of the recording session.

Koz

I plugged the RCA->1/4" cables into an m-audio fasttrack pro,
I took my macbook and opened audacity, and put the input device as the fasttrack.
Checked to see if the sound from my mixer was registered, started recording and there it went. No shutdowns, just straight recording.
Only thing is was after the recording was done, it sounded static like, but the sound quality from the track was good, just it sounded a bit distorted.
I have a padding option to stop clipping on my fasttrack, and I checked levels and had all my gains at 12 before recording, but I'll give it another shot.

I know you think USB devices with audacity are the devil, but I really want to make this work and so far i'm on a good path. I will try out some more stuff and get back to you.
Thanks again.

<<<I plugged the RCA->1/4" cables into an m-audio fasttrack pro, >>>

No, no. Before that.

"I'm playing a Gretsch Nashville with Ludwig Drums and Paiste Cymbal set into a pair of SP-C4 condenser microphones...."

That's an example. Fill in the holes. Keep stepping backwards in the room until you can see the whole audio chain. This is probably not a USB problem, but I won't know until I see the rest of it.

Koz

Bring on the heartbreak.

I changed my settings from system preferences on my mac for my fasttrack pro to record at 48 KHZ, Sample Rate 24, as I was advised to do so,
I than changed the settings in audacity to record at 44khz, with a default sample rate of 24-bit. As soon as I closed the screen, and hit record, I get the "The application audacity quit unexpectedly" report. When I change it back to 44/16 sample rate, I can record fine. Why is this, what can I do to record at 44/24 without having the program crash on me?

<<<Why is this>>>

That one is probably a USB problem. What happens if you force both to the same sample rate and bit depth?

You are recording live performances, right?

Koz

I don' t think its a usb problem because the same thing happens when I go directly line in from my mixer (rca out on my mixer to 1/8" mic in on my macbook).
As soon as I change the sample depth to 16, it doesn't crash. Its not a USB issue. I am recording live mixes.
What should check in my settings (both audacity and my macbook preferences) to solve the issue?

<<<I am recording live mixes.>>>

Cool. So you spin records on a couple of 1200s and analog mix them down as appropriate? Please stop weaving and dodging every time I ask you this. If I didn't want to know details, I wouldn't ask.

Set up Audacity for different digital qualities:

Restart the Mac. Open Audacity with no audio. Open Preferences and set the Quality for 48000, 16 bit, Fast Sync, High Quality, None, and Triangle. Set the Audio I/O (Input/Output) for your two analog audio services. On mine, it's Built-In Input and Built-In Output (coordinate this with the Mac System Preferences to make sure you get Headphones and Line-In). Close the preference panel, close and restart Audacity. This time when you look in Preferences, your settings should be in perfect order just as you selected them.

Close Preferences, plug in your analog cable, play a record (set the audio levels) and press record. This should give you a perfect recording at 48000/16 when you stop. Export as WAV, open in QuickTime and Apple-I for Info. It should tell you exactly the correct sound file settings.

Redo the above--in that order--to change to any other digital sound settings. You only have to restart the Mac once. That's the Get Out Of Jail Card when you dig yourself a hole. Another way to straighten yourself out is to trash the Audacity preference file. Did we get you to do that yet?

/Users/koz/Library/Preferences/audacity Preferences

Drag that file to the trash. The next time you restart Audacity, it will be at First Birthday. That will clear you up if you just spent the last two weeks randomly changing settings. Remember, First Birthday Audacity is in Mono, not Stereo. All of your custom settings will be gone.

Koz

I thought answered the questions you asked, but you didn't really answer mine this time
I cannot record at 44100 Hz with a 24 bit sample rate without the program crashing on me. I did delete the preferences file for audacity twice now, and have gone through the sound settings on my mac but everything looks like it should there. I have changed the settings to 48/16, and restarted audacity and recorded. I than set the settings to 44.1/24 and restart audacity, press record, and down it goes in all her glory. It doesn't matter that if I am using my External USB sound card, or if I am plugging directly in line in, it still crashes. Am I the only one who has had this issue? Has this problem never shown up before on this forum until I posted it? I highly doubt it.
I want to record at 44.1/24 because the conversion from 48 to 44.1 is much worse for sound quality than the 24 bit (which allows for higher headroom before clipping) to 16 bit. How can I do that?

I do appreciate your help.

Can you record at 48 kHz 24 bit? If so, use that option.
Down sampling your final mix to 44.1 / 16 will have negligible impact on the sound quality and is standard practice in the recording industry (44.1 / 16 is required for CD's, but recording and editing are usually done at higher rates).

Hey Steve
Yes I've tried that. Its the sample rate of 24bit thats causing the crash.
I've tried 48/16, 44/16, and they both work. As soon as I move the sample rate to 24, than restart the program, it will crash when I hit record.
I tried it on my PC, and it works, it does not work on my Mac. My settings on the Mac match up with the audacity settings and I don't know what would cause a crash?