Audio Genie II with audacity.

[AmericanSlang]

I'm a sound production student with not a lot of cash, so I went into a new music store and basically summed up what I wanted/had. I wanted to record my semi acoustic that has both Jack & XLR ports on the base of it. I told the guy that I was just doing it to record some acoustic stuff I've been writing recently and he offered me this £30 piece of equipment. Due to using protools I find this really basic, but not basic enough it seems. The audio Genie II can be found easily enough on google if you need to look it up before giving me some advice btw. But the problem I'm having is I've plugged it on, phono to jack cables, plugged the audio Genie II *USB btw* into my laptop and presto, yeah I can record. But the problem is besides recording the acoustic, it's like my guitar's recording the room noise, I can even hear the clock tick. I don't know if it's because the XLR would be more balanced compared to the jack or the fact my laptop is recording at the same time? Is there a soloution to this so I can hear just my guitar without this background hiss & noise. I understand I might have to just edit it out, but it seems to creep up over my guitar playing even after I've set levels and the gain on the audio Genie II.

[steve]

It's probably a Windows set-up problem, but let's go through systematically

I've plugged it on, phono to jack cables,

Phono to jack between what and what?

or the fact my laptop is recording at the same time?

That is quite possible. Do you know where the microphone is on your laptop? If not, it's time to find out.
Set Audacity recording and start gently tapping or just rubbing your finger on parts of the laptop where you think the microphone may be. When you tap directly above the mic it will record really loud. If it's not picking up from the laptop mic, all you will get is a very distant, hardly audible sound of tapping.

Let us know how you get on and we'll take it from there. (the first question about your leads may also be important).

[AmericanSlang]

Laptop>Usb interface *Audio Genie II*> Phono to jack cable> Semi acoustic guitar.

I've been told it's because the Semi Acoustic signals can't be sent down the cable :/. It turns out I was recording via laptop microphone, but the greyed out area to choose mic/line or whatever input still remains

[steve]

Look in "Help > About Audacity" and check that you are using "Audacity 1.3.14 beta (Unicode)"
If that is not your version, update Audacity: http://audacityteam.org/download/

Ensure that the Audio Genie II is connected to the computer and recognised by Windows before you open Audacity.
There should then be a USB option in the Recording Input section of the Device Toolbar
If there isn't a USB option, check in the Windows Control Panel and check that the USB devices is listed and enabled as a recording device. (see here for how to get into the Windows recording settings: http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Mixer ... es#vistacp )
It may help if you tell us which version of Windows you are using.

The Audio Genie II is not ideal for recording an acoustic guitar. The recording level is likely to be rather low, but it may still be acceptable. Does your acoustic guitar have a battery in it? Do you know if the pick-up is piezo, magnetic, or some other type?