Audacity Forum

Xerlome wrote:Also, I just got a notice urging me to download a new version of the K-Lite Codec Pack.

That has nothing to do with Audacity. Audacity does not use K-Lite Codec Pack.Personally I don't recommend installing "code packs" because in most cases you have no idea what is in them or whether it will mess something up.

steve wrote:

Xerlome wrote:Also, I just got a notice urging me to download a new version of the K-Lite Codec Pack.

That has nothing to do with Audacity. Audacity does not use K-Lite Codec Pack.Personally I don't recommend installing "code packs" because in most cases you have no idea what is in them or whether it will mess something up.

I agree. Installing codec packs can conflict with already installed codecs and lead to some formats not playing or playing incorrectly.

If you are missing a codec that you need, install that codec only. VLC can play most formats without messing up codecs for already available formats.


Gale

Xerlome wrote:Mostly I record internet radio streams, various forms of audio. But it makes no difference. Youtube or whatever audio is streaming shows only one track of blue graphic. It does say stereo at the left.

A stereo track is one track with two separate channels:

Xerlome wrote:Yes, the playback is set to stereo, but I'm going by what shows in Audacity.

Are you actually hearing a problem with the recorded audio, if so what is the problem exactly? Are you saying the recorded audio is the same in left and right channel? Does the audio sound like that when you play the stream without recording it?

If the problem is that you want to edit left and right channels of the stereo recording separately, click in the name of the track and choose "Split Stereo Track". See Audio Track Dropdown Menu - Audacity Manual.

Xerlome wrote:"Then audio at that point will be as good or bad quality as it is when streamed online."

I have read elsewhere that if you set the Youtbe quality to the highest available for the particular video (clicking cog wheel icon), then the stream will be one level higher than the download.

The audio stream cannot be of higher quality than in the file itself.

Download tools will show you the various qualities that are available. The highest audio qualities will be in the highest resolution videos.

Xerlome wrote:The driver is "up to date and working properly".

That does not necessarily mean that you have correct audio drivers. You would see that message if you had generic Microsoft drivers that were not properly matched to your audio device. Please see this link for explanation: http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Updat ... ce_Drivers.


Gale

I missed the fact that the thread went to a new page. I have some catching up to do...

A stereo track is one track with two separate channels

I don't understand. Does that mean it isn't real stereo I was recording before? When it recorded 2 tracks, they were slightly different, so I assume I've lost something.

Are you actually hearing a problem with the recorded audio, if so what is the problem exactly? Are you saying the recorded audio is the same in left and right channel? Does the audio sound like that when you play the stream without recording it?

The graphic shows one track being recorded and one when played back. Only one of the computer speakers plays now, whether the source or the recording.

If the problem is that you want to edit left and right channels of the stereo recording separately, click in the name of the track and choose "Split Stereo Track"

I can't do that because there is no second track.

The audio stream cannot be of higher quality than in the file itself. Download tools will show you the various qualities that are available. The highest audio qualities will be in the highest resolution videos.

The highest resolution the downloader offers is lower than the highest level setting available to stream, as shown for each video under the cog-wheel icon. That's why I wondered whether recording the highest stream would be better than downloading the lower level. But the audio may be a separate rating, and I can't necessarily know what that is.

Xerlome wrote:I missed the fact that the thread went to a new page.

Click the link "User Control Panel" at the top of any page on the Forum.

Click "Board Preferences" at the top.

Click "Edit Display Options" at the left.

Change "Display post order direction" to "Descending". Then the most recent posts in a topic will be at the top.


Gale

Xerlome wrote:

A stereo track is one track with two separate channels

I don't understand. Does that mean it isn't real stereo I was recording before? When it recorded 2 tracks, they were slightly different, so I assume I've lost something.

In what way were they "slightly different"? Do you mean they sounded slightly different?

If the internet broadcast contains audio where the left and right channels are the same, and your speakers are correct, then it will record like that and it will sound as if it is mono, even if you tell Audacity to record in stereo.

Xerlome wrote:

Are you actually hearing a problem with the recorded audio, if so what is the problem exactly? Are you saying the recorded audio is the same in left and right channel? Does the audio sound like that when you play the stream without recording it?

The graphic shows one track being recorded and one when played back. Only one of the computer speakers plays now, whether the source or the recording.

If one of your computer speakers is muted, that is what you need to fix. That is not Audacity's fault. Either the speaker connection is loose, or you can go to Windows Sound, Playback tab, and adjust the balance of the channels or unmute the channel that is silent.

For example, are you saying your recording looks like this, with the top or bottom of the stereo track a flat line?

Xerlome wrote:

If the problem is that you want to edit left and right channels of the stereo recording separately, click in the name of the track and choose "Split Stereo Track"

I can't do that because there is no second track.

You said the track said "Stereo" to left of the blue waves. If so, as I said, you can click in the name of the track and choose "Split Stereo Track". Look at this picture:

Xerlome wrote:

The audio stream cannot be of higher quality than in the file itself. Download tools will show you the various qualities that are available. The highest audio qualities will be in the highest resolution videos.

The highest resolution the downloader offers is lower than the highest level setting available to stream

Then I suggest you are not using the best possible downloader tool.


Gale

My explanations must not have been clear.

For example, are you saying your recording looks like this, with the top or bottom of the stereo track a flat line?"

Yes, that is what is happening: Blank bottom track, when recording and playing back the recording.

Yes, it says "stereo" at the left, but there is no track to split if I wanted to, but all I want is both tracks like it was. All my settings are stereo.

If one of your computer speakers is muted, that is what you need to fix. That is not Audacity's fault. Either the speaker connection is loose, or you can go to Windows Sound, Playback tab, and adjust the balance of the channels or unmute the channel that is silent.

Nothing is muted. My problem is that only one track is recording and only one is playing back. One speaker, I presume, is not playing for that reason. Or maybe both Audacity and the speaker are missing the track for the same reason, whatever that may be.

In what way were they "slightly different"? Do you mean they sounded slightly different?

Before I lost the bottom track, the graphics were different to one degree or other, sometimes a lot. I frankly never inspected the sound of each speaker closely enough to determine how different they may be.

If the internet broadcast contains audio where the left and right channels are the same, and your speakers are correct, then it will record like that and it will sound as if it is mono, even if you tell Audacity to record in stereo.

I just want both tracks like I had before, regardless of whether they may sometimes be the same.

The highest resolution the downloader offers is lower than the highest level setting available to stream

Then I suggest you are not using the best possible downloader tool.

I use "Download Youtube Videos As MP4" Firefox addon. It offers MP4 resolutions 360p and 720p if both are available. If 720 is available, then 1080 is also available to view (via cog-wheel icon), but not offered for download. What downloader will do 1080?

I read somewhere that generally Youtube used to correlate higher video resolution to higher audio, but now it is usually separate, so it may make no difference what the video resolutoin is. There is a site that analyzes videos for audio levels, but I'm not sure how to interpret it. I tried to post a link to the web page, but apparently that's not allowed. The page is called "Youtube Info". There, you can paste a Youtube address and hit enter. After the www, it reads h3xed (dot) com (slash) blogmedia (slash) youtube-info. followed by php

Please use the Quote button when quoting text, otherwise it makes long posts very hard to read.

Gale

Xerlome wrote:

For example, are you saying your recording looks like this, with the top or bottom of the stereo track a flat line?"

Yes, that is what is happening: Blank bottom track, when recording and playing back the recording.
[...]

If one of your computer speakers is muted, that is what you need to fix. That is not Audacity's fault. Either the speaker connection is loose, or you can go to Windows Sound, Playback tab, and adjust the balance of the channels or unmute the channel that is silent.

Nothing is muted. My problem is that only one track is recording and only one is playing back. One speaker, I presume, is not playing for that reason. Or maybe both Audacity and the speaker are missing the track for the same reason, whatever that may be.

Yes that is what you have to fix. It is not an Audacity problem but a problem on your computer.

To troubleshoot the problem I suggest you listen to the broadcast before you record it (if that is possible) then listen while you record it.

It could be an audio driver problem or it could be to do with some software or codec pack you added just before the problem started.

You can use the Audio Track Dropdown Menu to Split Stereo to Mono then click the [X] top left of the silent track to close it. This will be a mono track but when you play it, you will hear it through both speakers (if both speakers are working and not muted or unbalanced). This is the best solution for recordings you have already made where one channel is silenced.

If you want such a mono track to be stereo, Edit > Duplicate it, then click in the name of the upper track and choose "Make Stereo Track". It will sound the same as the mono track.

Xerlome wrote:There is a site that analyzes videos for audio levels, but I'm not sure how to interpret it. I tried to post a link to the web page, but apparently that's not allowed. The page is called "Youtube Info". There, you can paste a Youtube address and hit enter. After the www, it reads h3xed (dot) com (slash) blogmedia (slash) youtube-info. followed by php

You can post a link if it is to do with audio and not blatantly selling something where the sales or click-through will benefit you.


Gale