Win7/2.3.3, Digi002 Rack: trying to figure out how to record first note!

Actually I’ve used ProTools quite a bit a decade ago and fired up Adacity 2.2.2 to analyze some WAV files since then.

However, I’m now trying to record some audio and cannot figure out what I should do to record. Just to make support easier I upgraded to 2.3.3.

My Digi002 Rack is connected to my 32-bit Win7 box with firewire.

I start up Audacity. It properly detects the Digi002 and displays, on second line of the screen (below shuttle controls) a dropdown with “MME”; a microphone icon; a dropdown with “Line 3/4 (Digidesign Digi 002 R”, a dropdown with “1 (Mono) Recording”; a speaker icon and a dropdown with “Speakers (Realtek High Definiti”.

The 1394 light is blinking on the 002, but I assume there is communication or Audacity wouldn’t know this info about the the 002.

OK, I go to Tracks->Add New->Stereo Track. It creates one. BUT HOW DO I SEE WHAT THE INPUT DEVICE IS FOR THIS TRACK? Is it the dropdowns’ value when it was created? If so I’m good as I’m inputting on line 4.

At this point I want to hear my input device before I start recording, though if necessary will start recording to hear it. I’ve verified the cord outputs signal; that it’s plugged into Line 4 on the 002; the front panel has line (not mic) selected and the level is non-zero. I’ve tried selecting that stereo track. I’ve tried pushing pause then record. I’m not seeing anything on the meter nor hearing anything on the PC’s speakers. On the hope that maybe this “MME” thing on the first dropdown the issue, I’ve tried the other options of “Windows DirectSound” and “Windows WASAPI” and after selecting these, gone through every option in the following menu in turn.

You don’t need to do that with Audacity.
When you press the Record button (Shortcut: “R”), Audacity will create new tracks. The number of recording channels is set in the Device Toolbar.

After you press “Stop” (shortcut: “Space”), if you want to append the recording, press Record (R) again. To record to a new track, press “Shift + Record” (“Shift+ R”).


Audacity does not currently map input channels. If you record one channel (mono), then Audacity records channel 1. If you record stereo, Audacity records channels 1 and 2. If you record 3 channels, Audacity records channels 1 + 2 + 3, and so on.

If you need to record only channels 3 + 4, then you need to record 4 channels, and delete tracks 1 and 2 after recording.


To start monitoring, click on the recording meter where it says: “Click to start monitoring”.

Many thanks, but still, how does it know what input source to use? For instance, what if the input is on the PC’s audio input? I see that on the MME dropdown, as well as the many inputs from the 002.

Then you select the PC’s audio input as the recording input device in the Device Toolbar.
Note that typical PC sound cards report multiple inputs, but some of them may not actually be connected to any physical input sockets. Audacity populates the list of recording / playback devices by querying the computer sound system.

If you’re interested, you can see exactly what information the sound system gives to Audacity by looking in:
“Help menu > Diagnostics > Audio device info”


Windows 10 usually provides 3 “host” APIs:

MME (generally recommended as it has been around forever and is well supported by device drivers)
DirectSound (emulated - actually just MME, but provided for compatibility with some older software)
WASAPI (the latest, but some drivers can be buggy. Required for “loopback” recording. May be necessary for some modern multi-channel hardware.)

Note also that the Windows 10 sound system is complicated and not always very user friendly.

OK, thanks for your assistance on this old system! Obviously I’m due for an upgrade which is probably most of my problem.

For the moment, I found that simply inputting sound to the stereo audio in jack is doing what I need to do. So I’m moving forward now.

(BTW I develop audio software and other software myself and keep my main system at Windows 7 because software I develop on this generally works perfectly on newer OS. The reverse is often not the case. I have a nice Win10 laptop, but unfortunately it’s my Linux server, and while I’ve developed on Windows for 20 years, I’m also used to being able to use the Linux system’s command line while developing software. So I hate having to reboot that computer.)

I used a Digi003 system for while (many years ago). That’s when I learned that there’s so much to love and so much to hate about Avid products :smiley:
The main reason for having the Digi system was because it was an educational setting and we wanted to provide students with some experience of Pro Tools.

Things to love:
The Digi003 was a solid, well built and well designed bit of kit. Ergonomically pretty good, nice A/D converters, conventional “tape recorder” transport controls, and just about everything controllable from either the PC or control surface. Worked reliably once set up correctly. Classic Pro Tools (so called “Industry Standard”) experience.

Things to hate:
Expensive everything. The Digi003 itself was expensive. High system requirements. Proprietary sound system incompatible with everything else, proprietary effect API incompatible with everything else, “dongle hell”, expensive proprietary plug-ins only (even the $s “VST bridge” was forced into obsolescence). Tech support sucked. Extremely poor compatibility with 3rd party software unless licen$ed through Avid. Very slow boot / project setup. Horrendous “license registration” process for an off-line PC (send documents by Fax!)
(In an educational setting, I highly recommend fitting the dongle inside the PC case).

For convenience, I set up the Digi003 to work with Audacity, which was an absolute pain to do. I spent ages tracking down WDM drivers that actually worked, and even then it was only 2 channels i/o (though with channel mixing in the Digi003). Still, it was handy when the Digi was already set up with mics etc and you just wanted to get down a quick mono / stereo recording.

It was at this time that I became a huge fan of Audacity :smiley: (mostly using it with a conventional analog mixer via a nice quality 2 channel internal sound card). When you have a queue of 15 choreography students wanting edits to their audio tracks during lunch break, you really need something that is fast and efficient. It’s not at all like Pro Tools, which personally I found to be a good thing.

I hope you enjoy using Audacity. Give us a shout if you need any help or tips to use it more effectively. Audacity has hidden depths, and even though there’s lots of good documentation available, talking to other users can be very helpful.

Much appreciated Steve and once I finish this current project I hope to actually record some tunes so will probably have more questions!