Delay in output sound

[JGodfrey]

As a novice DJ I am using audacity to record mixes. I am attempting to have it so there is ouput to my speakers and then an input into the computer so I can record. This is being done using two RCA to 3mm jack cables, one being connected from the master output of my mixer to the mic input on the computer and another being run from the speakers, into the headphone jack on the computer. Got it all working so i can record and the sound comes out the speakers, but one problem there is a delay in the output to the speakers! This makes it near impossible to beatmatch! Can this set up be simplified or the program be adjusted to compensate for the delay? there is only one output from the mixer which is the master. Help needed!!

[kozikowski]

You may have two problems. The Mic-In on most Windows laptops is mono, not stereo, so you're probably listening to two Lefts, not Left and Right. Fade your mic back and forth or see if this plays through the mixer. It's short and pretty obvious.

http://www.kozco.com/tech/LRMonoPhaset4.wav

That and the Mic-In on most laptops is very sensitive and prone to overloading, clipping and gritty distortion. Some laptops have an actual Stereo Line-In connection and that does work.

Scroll down to connections..

http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/wind ... rding.html

As a rule, you're stuck with the delay. The time it takes the computer to think about the sound and send it back out is a real number. The headphone jack will always be "one computer late" compared to the input. That usually requires the mixer to be split, one split going to the computer for recording and the other going to the sound system.

You can do production overdubbing and sound-on-sound with Audacity by following the instructions here...

http://manual.audacityteam.org/help/man ... rdubs.html

But you still can't hear yourself in real time (correct, theatrical mix) without the special hardware we tested at the top of the page.

Computers are not Digital Audio Workstations -- at least not without adding some very fancy software and sometimes hardware.

Koz

[kozikowski]

You can use "Y" cables for the 2-way split. As long as you don't go nuts and need fifteen splits, that's perfectly valid.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Kicker+-+X- ... Id=9925453

Koz