"Echo-Like" distortion from cassette w/1.3 Beta

[wingsmiller]

This is my 1st posting.

I thought I had successfully recorded a cassette tape using audacity. Upon playback on my computer everything seemed normal. After a couple of minutes of playback I started to hear an echo-like distortion (this distortion was transferred to CD as well of course)... and garbled playback. It seemed to last for approx. 30 seconds then go away... and then return again.

The cassettes are old interview tapes. The cassettes were played in their entirety while I listened to them and I heard NO distortion at all... just common tape hiss. Am I missing something???

I am using Audacity 1.3 beta on a Vista system... Will it work better if I use a different computer w/ XP???

[steve]

There's a tutorial that may be useful: http://wiki.audacityteam.org/index.php? ... uter_or_CD
It's difficult to say without seeing your set-up but I suspect that you may have your sound card set to record "stereo Mix" when it should be set to record from "Line In" (this is covered here: http://wiki.audacityteam.org/index.php? ... bar_Issues

The other thing to check is that in Audacity, "Software Playthrough" should be off (not selected). If you're using a recent beta version you will find that setting near the bottom of the Transport menu.

[wingsmiller]

Thanks... I'll give it a shot and let you know what I find out.

[wingsmiller]

Software Playthrough was selected... I have turned it off. Can that cause issues?