Audacity Forum

Help i have spent the last 24 hours trying to get my system to work. I have a Stanton T92 USB deck and an Acer Aspire with 7 i can not get Audacity to record properly the volume is to high and i get bad distortion. i have tried to follow one of the topics on here but have not managed to get a fix. can any one help or is the phone line that i could call to be led throu it. thanks in anticipation

Sorry there's no phone support - Audacity is a free, open source project that is made and supported by enthusiasts in their "spare time".

What sort of records are you playing? Some dance/DJ vinyl is made with extremely high recording levels that many USB turntables simply cannot cope with.

Some USB turntables have a knob hidden underneath the player that can reduce the output level.

It is a "feature" of Windows 7 that it often assumes that any USB audio device is a low level microphone, so when you connect a high level signal from a USB turntable it is necessary to turn down the recording level in the Windows Control Panel to a very low level (about 0.1 on a scale of 0 to 1). See here for how to access the recording settings in the Windows Control Panel http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Mixer ... trol_Panel

See also: http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/USB_turntables

Hi there is no volume control on the deck . i was using it with no problem on a Dell with XP didnt have to alter anything just plugged it in and way you went so this is very frustrating

i havew just gone through the routine laid out in the link you supplied on USB turntables and it has made no differnce think i will have to go back to the old CD recorder lol

How high/low do you have the recording level for the USB device in the Windows Control Panel? Have you found that setting?

Hi Steve
i have the recording input set at 7 out off 100 and its recording through microphone USB Audio Codec. i have just recorded a small portion and whilst its recorded at a low volume the reproduction is badly distorted have attached a small file hope you can get the idea

That sample is useful. The problem with that recording is not "clipping distortion" (it's not caused by the recording level being too high), the "distortion" is caused by "breaks" in the audio.
If you look at this close-up you can see that the waveform has a break in it around the middle of the screen.
This is a variation on the "skipping" phenomena that occurs when the audio data is not able to stream smoothly and continuously from the analogue input, through the USB interface to the hard drive.

Unfortunately there's a lot of different things that can cause this problem, but basically it's caused by a data bottleneck somewhere in the system. Usually the problem is with the USB interface though it can be due to a badly fragmented hard drive, a virus checker checking each bit of data as it is written to disk, Windows Update hogging the system looking for updates, not having DMA mode enabled for the hard drive, or any number of other things.

The first thing to try is to use a different USB socket on the computer - if it's a Desktop computer try the USB connectors on the back. Don't use a USB hub.

If all that checks out OK but the problem persists then you will need to work through the other suggestions on these pages:
http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Troub ... ings#Skips
http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Manag ... nd_Drivers

It would be useful if you could test the turntable on another computer in case it's the USB on the turntable side that is the problem.

Regarding recording level, you have it about right though you could turn it up just a little bit (not that this really matters at the moment, but aim for a peak level of about half the track height).

Hi Steve

firstly i used the deck with a Dell with XP on with no problem, i have also just tried using total recorder with similar results to Audacity. have put the usb into the back and it made it worse if anything. what is DMA mode enabled excuse my ignorance, i will try to switch of the windows updater
atb Ted

Hi Steve
as its Windows 7 i cant find the DMA tab . i have tried another usb at the back but it was worse if anything. i have used this deck on a Dell with XP and Audacity with no problem. there is a digital outlet on the deck would that be of any use

Tedsoul wrote:firstly i used the deck with a Dell with XP on with no problem,

Good, so the deck is probably OK

Tedsoul wrote: i have also just tried using total recorder with similar results to Audacity.

Good, so it does not appear to be an Audacity problem

Tedsoul wrote:have put the usb into the back and it made it worse if anything.

That's interesting and could be an indication of where the problem lies.
It may be worth checking on the Acer web site that you have the most up to date USB drivers http://support.acer-euro.com/drivers/downloads.html