Audacity Forum

Welcome and thanks for looking in

I am absolutely noob at computer stuff and sometimes even at English, so please forgive me if I don't understand something...

I downloaded and installed Audacity 1.3.13 Beta, because I had problems with the Audacity 1.2.
The problem doesn't seem to have gone away though.

My problem is that when I play an audio file on my computer, and I click on Record, it doesn't record anything (like as if there was no music going on)

I've tried almost all possible options for recording (What does MME mean?), but in none of them does it work.

I have Realtek HD Audio Manager on my computer, and ever since it was installed on my computer (or somewhere around that), Audacity doesn't seem to record what I play on my computer.

I used to record stuff with Audacity before, and it always worked.

As for Audacity 1.2

The problem was, where I could have chosen Microphone, etc., the little menu was grayed out, not white and clickable.

My problem is that when I play an audio file on my computer, and I click on Record, it doesn't record anything (like as if there was no music going on)

Windows has separate recording & playback "mixers", so you don't always record what you are hearing. You need to select "Stereo Mix" or "What-U-Hear" as your recording source. With some soundcard drivers, these options do not exist and you need to use a loop-back cable from line-out to line-in, or special-purpose software like Total Recorder or Sound Taxi. (If you use a loop-back cable, you also need a Y-adapter if you want to connect headphones/speakers while you are recording line-out.)

BTW - If you actually have an audio file on your computer, you shouldn't need to "record" it. This should only be needed for recording streaming-internet audio (or if the file is copy-protected ).

What does MME mean

It's an older Windows driver protocol (maybe from Windows 98?). I found something here.

My problem is that when I play an audio file on my computer, and I click on Record, it doesn't record anything (like as if there was no music going on)

There is a big wiki posting on how to record music playing on your computer. The problem is very common.

The stereo cable between the Headphone out and the Line-In doesn't work on many Windows laptops because they don't have Line-In. Most of them have Mic-In which is mono, not stereo, delicate, and very easily overloaded.

Recording Mix-Out (or one of the variations) is the way to go if you have the option. If not, and the hardware/cable solution doesn't work, then you can use Money-Based software like Total Recorder. I have a license for that and it works very well.

http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Recor ... e_computer
http://www.highcriteria.com/

Koz