First time user - LP recording

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bobby3838
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First time user - LP recording

Post by bobby3838 » Mon Mar 29, 2010 5:07 pm

Set up Audacity as per instructions on my Win 7 64 bit laptop. I cleaned my LP before recording and on it's own the LP sounds great. After recording, the playback version sounds horrible. Like a train running in the background, song sounds distant. Before I need to research and learn how to clean the recording up, I want to set my own expectations first. At the very least, should the initally recorded LP sound close to the same as it would if played on it's own? Is it normal for the recorded version to sound grossly inferior? I guess what I'm hoping for is that I need to change some configurations for the recording to sound as clean as possible before I play with Audacity's editing capabilities.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

Irish
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Re: First time user - LP recording

Post by Irish » Mon Mar 29, 2010 8:43 pm

bobby3838 wrote:should the initally recorded LP sound close to the same as it would if played on it's own?
Absolutely.

But for us to help you, we would need a little more information: what type of turntable do you have, and how is it connected to the laptop?
Model numbers are good. More detail is better.

PO'L
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bobby3838
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Re: First time user - LP recording

Post by bobby3838 » Tue Mar 30, 2010 1:19 am

Thanks. The turntable is an Innovative Technology ITUT-201 USB Turntable. Yes, it is connected to the laptop via USB. If you need any of the config specs in Audacity, I will be happy to provide them.

Irish
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Re: First time user - LP recording

Post by Irish » Tue Mar 30, 2010 3:05 am

It sounds as though you might be recording from the laptop microphone instead of the turntable.

You need to have the turntable powered up and plugged in to the computer before starting Audacity.
Then in Edit > Preferences > Devices, you should have the recording device set to USB Audio Codec.

PO'L
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bobby3838
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Re: First time user - LP recording

Post by bobby3838 » Thu Apr 08, 2010 3:10 pm

Well, I tried all the suggestions and the audio quality is still the same. I decided to try and hook up the turntable to my HP desktop (about 2 years old) instead, which is running Windows Vista and not Windows 7. Same configuration, the quality is 100% better. Maybe it has to do with the sound card in the laptop. Don't have it in front of me right now. It is very current. Only a month old.

Thank you for all your help. It was much appreciated.

Irish
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Re: First time user - LP recording

Post by Irish » Thu Apr 08, 2010 5:47 pm

bobby3838 wrote:Maybe it has to do with the sound card in the laptop.
It could. Are you sure you have the latest drivers for your sound card for Windows 7? Some of the manufacturers are only now catching up with Windows 7. and the drivers that came with the laptop may not be the most up-to-date. You should be able to get the latest version from the sound card manufacturer's website.

PO'L
________________________________________FOR INSTANT HELP: (Click on Link below)
* * * * Tips * * * * Tutorials * * * * 1.3 Quick Start Guide * * * * Audacity 1.3 Manual * * * * Audacity wiki * * * *

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