Audacity Forum

Sorry, I am back again. I at least have some idea now about splitting tracks so will work on that my real problem is at the very start of the process. How the heck to I stop external sounds from recording? I have to sit in complete silence, hoping that the phone won't ring or the dog bark as it is picking up EVERYTHING. Also, before you direct me to the manual, I find every time I try to access the manual except through links provided on this site, my computer freezes and just won't recognize the address. I am told this is a wonderful tool but it really is not user friendly for beginners. Perhaps it is when you have the whole manual, but, as I said, I cannot access it.
Regards to all,
Joan

joanh wrote:Sorry, I am back again. I at least have some idea now about splitting tracks so will work on that my real problem is at the very start of the process. How the heck to I stop external sounds from recording? I have to sit in complete silence, hoping that the phone won't ring or the dog bark as it is picking up EVERYTHING.

Please tell us how this turntable and cassette player connects to the computer, and what version of Windows you are on.

Does the player connect to the computer with a USB cable? Then it is simple, set the Audacity input Device in Device Toolbar to record from USB Audio CODEC then it cannot record the dog barking. Here is the page http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/de ... olbar.html .

joanh wrote: Also, before you direct me to the manual, I find every time I try to access the manual except through links provided on this site, my computer freezes and just won't recognize the address. I am told this is a wonderful tool but it really is not user friendly for beginners. Perhaps it is when you have the whole manual, but, as I said, I cannot access it.

How are you accessing the Manual? From Help > Manual (in web browser) in Audacity?


Gale

Thanks Gale, this is turning into some kind of epic, isn't it? I am starting to agree with Audino's unkind comments about my computer literacy
I am using Windows XP, the player connects through a USB device so will have a look at that.
I have tried accessing the manual through the Help tab and also by entering the site in my search engine but it just doesn't accept it anywhere. For some reason I can only access the manual through links supplied on this list. A nuisance to everyone really although I imagine this never ending topic has caused some amusement to the 100+ who are following it
Regards,
Joan

joanh wrote: For some reason I can only access the manual through links supplied on this list.

If there was no Manual on your computer (this will be the case if you obtained the zip of Audacity instead of the .exe installer) then Audacity should not freeze but open a window telling you how to obtain the Manual.

If you click this link http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/ and save it as bookmark in your web browser then you can open the bookmark and go wherever you want in the Manual.



Gale

Well I am afraid I am giving up on Audacity. Thank you for your help everyone but it really isn't for me.
Firstly, Gale, there is no USB Audio CODEC in my toolbar, I have it set on USB Audio and have had from the start. Now, when I try to record (after touching nothing), I get an awful piercing noise, which fills the recording area in purple. Now, I think I have managed to pick up some kind of virus as the desktop computer will no longer open attachments or links to anywhere on the internet, hopefully I haven't infected anyone else. I have always found freeware software to be a problem and this experience has just confirmed that opinion. It goes to show that you get what you pay for, I guess.
Good luck to all the users and a big congratulations to those of you who can actually get the result you want from it.
Regards,

Just so that there is no confusion regarding the last comment - here is the virus report from 41 ant-virus scans of the current, recommended Audacity installer, downloaded from the Audacity web site:

SHA256: 1a15cbc8ce2a93cec9b6cfbd403fcadac8821707b93d757c0b7c7339f4b61aac
File name: audacity-win-2.0.1.exe
Detection ratio: 0 / 41
Analysis date: 2012-07-27 11:46:31 UTC

https://www.virustotal.com/file/1a15cbc ... 343389591/

That means that 41 foremost antivirus scanners found Audacity to be virus free.
Of course we cannot comment on the safety of other software, free or otherwise.

joanh wrote:there is no USB Audio CODEC in my toolbar, I have it set on USB Audio and have had from the start. Now, when I try to record (after touching nothing), I get an awful piercing noise, which fills the recording area in purple.

This is common with USB playback devices:
http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/USB_t ... hite_Noise .

joanh wrote:It goes to show that you get what you pay for, I guess.

Did you pay enough for the player? There is a lot of rubbish USB hardware out there. Audacity only records piercing noise if your player device or its cable sends that.

Either way, Audacity cannot record barking dogs if you were really selecting the USB player as input device.

joanh wrote:Good luck to all the users and a big congratulations to those of you who can actually get the result you want from it.

Good Luck to you, too.


Gale

Thanks Gale, I wish I could show you my screen when I try to record. Certainly have USB Device selected, we thought we had sorted the external noises and squealing but it still does it.
Don't know how much is 'enough' to pay for anything but it proves to me that shopping on line isn't always the way to go. Buying in person from a reputable store at least guarantees some backup.
Not to worry, I now have a good turntable to listen to my records on, something I haven't done for some years.
Regards,
Joan