Audacity Forum

I have the devices showing ok but now I cannot get the sound right - it is coming through very distorted

We may need a little more of a push.

What are you recording? Microphone? Are you singing? USB Turntable? Are you working on a Windows Laptop?

Koz

I have the same problem on a toshiba laptop with windows 7, trying to record from a tape deck. there is only a mic input; according to toshiba it switches to line-in automatically depending upon input. the meter on the tape deck jumps up to the peak when i connect the cable from its line out to the computer and does not fluctuate during playback. i get sound but very distorted.

You're a candidate for one of the external soundcards that we know work well on Audacity - see: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=9477

My personal recommendation would be to go for the Edirol UA-1EX / Cakewalk UA-1G as they have a gain control to manage the level of the input signal - the cheaper (but good) Behringer UCA202 does not have such a control. From the description of your problem it sounds like you need a gain control on the device.

WC

Thanks for your advice. i was hoping to get by without spending any money, but it may not be possible.