Wont record from mixer

[chippy92]

Hi guys,
Im trying to record a dj set using a behringer ddm4000 mixer and cant seem to get anything but a lot of fuzzle when im playing a recording. I have the rca cable plugged into the output of the mixer the the microphone (pink) port on the back of my computer. Its a pretty old computer im using running windows xp so could that be the case?

Thanks Will

[kozikowski]

Do you have a blue Line-In on the back of your computer?

http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/pix/ ... Final2.jpg

That's the one you should be using. The pink Mic-In connection is mono, not stereo and easily overloaded.

Koz

[chippy92]

thats what i was thinking haha but i got told into the pink port. cheers.
got it recording now but the quality is like really really poor. would i need to mess about with the settings?

[DVDdoug]

The line input on most soundcards is reasonably good (unlike most mic inputs)...

What's wrong with the sound? Noise? Distortion? Is "fuzzle" distortion? If you're not sure... "noise", such as hum or hiss, is generally a problem with quiet parts of the recording, and the noise is usually masked (covered up) during loud parts. "Distortion" is generally associated with loud parts.)

When you hook-up your computer speakers directly to the mixer, how does it sound?

There might be something wrong with your levels... What do the waveforms look like? Do they look "small", or do you see "red" in Audacity? If you have Show Clipping checked in the View menu, you'll see red if the waveform is "too loud" and clipped (distorted).

If you are getting distortion (clipping), you'll probably need to turn-down the mixer's analog output... If you are overdriving the analog-to-digital converter, turning down the recording volume digitally on the computer won't reduce the distortion.

Its a pretty old computer im using running windows xp so could that be the case?

That shouldn't be an issue... Your soundcard can affect quality. But once the digital data comes out of the soundcard to your databus, the recording software & operating system are simply capturing the digital data and sending it to the hard drive. As long as it's working, and as long as the computer can keep-up with the data flow, there should be no problems. (About the only time your computer can't keep-up with "regular" digital audio data is if it's multitasking in the background.)

[kozikowski]

The red recording meters in Audacity should look more or less like this and the blue waves should never fill the space top to bottom.

http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/Audacity1_record.jpg

You can make the meters larger by grabbing the right-hand edge and pull to the right. The meters are a big deal when you're recording. They will tell you if you're in trouble.

Koz