Avoid hearing previous tracks on new track while recording

[Gale Andrews]

I meant *internal* speakers that might be sounding despite you have headphones plugged in.

You can configure sound in Windows Sounds and Audio Devices. Also look in the Windows Control Panel for a Realtek Control Panel - perhaps it has some configuration option to include background sound when recording the front pink mic.

I suggest you find out the name of the computer brand and go to their web site to check for audio drivers, or find out the make and model number of the motherboard, and go to their site to look for audio drivers. See Updating Sound Device Drivers. Doing this might unlock access to more configuration options.


Gale

Can you describe all the audio ports and their colours on this XP machine? I don't understand why "Realtek HD Front Green Jack" is described in the Audio Device Info as a recording device. Green audio ports should be for playback.

Are there any built-in speakers on this machine? There do not seem to be, according to the Audio Device Info?

Can you connect your mic to the "Back Line in/Mic, Front Line in" port and choose that as recording device in Audacity? Does that have the same problem?

Did you build this computer yourself or is it a branded model? Bad audio drivers could be something to do with it.


Gale

1) No, I disconnected all speakers
2) I have tried all possible in- and out- entrances of the PC, both for microphone as for headphone. The only ones that are working (unless I did something else wrong while changing) are the front inputs: Pink for microphone, Green for headphones.
3) It is a branded PC, but it's 15 years old, and still has XP. So I'm afraid that it will be very hard to fix if at all possible. Especially since it's all in Spanish. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with this "Get What You Hear" thing, but I have to figure out where that option can be unset (if at all).

[machiel]

(the plot thickens). I want to add some more information, not because I think there will be a solution for me (using a 15 year old XP probably just cannot be fixed), but in case someone else has similar problems and maybe this might help (or maybe not).

Yesterday I found out that when I play anything else (a bit like, - as someone earlier mentioned earlier - "recording YouTube") while recording, this does *NOT* leak into the newly recorded track. This is the point where I really throw my hands up in the air and just give up.
To clarify: I am using this website to make a drumpattern: http://webaudiodemos.appspot.com/MIDIDrums/index.html Now, if I play the resulting drum-pattern on that webpage (on Chrome but I don't see how that matters) and then open either Audacity or CuBase and record a guitar track played live in front of the mic, the drum pattern does NOT leak onto the guitar track.

To summarise:
Case 1: Play an existing "track-1" on audacity and record a guitar on "track-2". Result: sound from "track-1" leaks onto "track-2".
Case 2: The same with CuBase. Result: the same
Case 3: Play some pattern on the "Webaudiodemos" website and record a guitar on either Audacity or CuBase. Result: sound from website does NOT leak onto "guitar-track". Of course, the problem here is that now I don't have the drum track inside (on a seperate track) in either Audacity or CuBase.

By the way, I did find the "Stereo Mix" setting on my PC ("Mezclador Stereo" in "propiedades audio"->Audio->Grabar->Advanced) but it cannot be switched off (I can only put the volume bar to zero, which I did but which does not make any difference whatsoever).

It's a bit like a John Dickson Carr locked-room mystery where nothing seems to make any sense.
Anyway, again I want to thank everyone for all the help.

[kozikowski]

When I was early days into commercial and consumer sound systems, I pretty much had a handle on what the wires did and where they went. Even those system were a little on the magic side. Explain 48volt Phantom Power to somebody. I'll wait.

Then I met my first soundcard designed by the same people that assumed a computer was a generic device and you could program it it do whatever you wanted. It featured no assumptions and it was for all practical purposes incomprehensible to normal humans.

I'm glad the state of the art has advanced since then.

Koz

[Gale Andrews]

Your machine, from what you say, has broken audio ports and at least one port that should be an output but which is mapped somewhere as an input.

Is there still a web site for the manufacturer of this machine? If not, have you found out the motherboard make and model number and been to their site to look for audio drivers? See Updating Sound Device Drivers.

Merely reinstalling the correct audio drivers should reset all the audio settings. I think you may have to consider trying that.

Or, if you cannot afford a new computer, buy a USB sound card and use that instead of the built-in sound device.

Case 1: Play an existing "track-1" on audacity and record a guitar on "track-2". Result: sound from "track-1" leaks onto "track-2".
Case 2: The same with CuBase. Result: the same
Case 3: Play some pattern on the "Webaudiodemos" website and record a guitar on either Audacity or CuBase. Result: sound from website does NOT leak onto "guitar-track". Of course, the problem here is that now I don't have the drum track inside (on a seperate track) in either Audacity or CuBase.

According to your Audacity Audio Device Info, you may have chosen Windows DirectSound host in Audacity's Device Toolbar. Try choosing MME host instead.

By the way, I did find the "Stereo Mix" setting on my PC ("Mezclador Stereo" in "propiedades audio"->Audio->Grabar->Advanced) but it cannot be switched off (I can only put the volume bar to zero, which I did but which does not make any difference whatsoever).

You should be able to hide the stereo mix volume bar as per http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Mixer ... ssues#xpcp. But what you describe is more proof your sound device is broken, because Stereo Mix does not show up in Audacity's Device Toolbar.

Have you tried in Sounds and Audio Devices, Recording section (see the link in the previous paragraph), selecting your sound device, click the "Volume" button, then put a tick in the box for "Realtek HD Front Pink Jack"? This will make it the default Windows recording device. According to your Audio Device Info you had "Back Line in/Mic, Front Line in" selected as default Windows recording device, which is not the input you are using in Audacity. It should not be necessary to do this.

Also have you looked in the Realtek Control panel as was suggested?


Gale

[machiel]

Thank you all for your help. I didn't look at this forum for a while but I managed to solve it, and basically my solution confirms the post from Gale Andrews.
In the attachment, I have put some details of my investigations.
I think the solution was a number of things, but mainly, as Gale suggested: one (or more) of the I/O ports must be wrongly wired.

Now, I have the microphone in one of the front input ports (pink) and the headphone in one of the back input ports (I don't remember the colour, I tried them one by one).
Having both plugged in front OR both in back would give rise to bleeding again, but having one in front and the other back solves it...
(Having the recording in MONO instead of stereo also slightly helped but was not the main solution). Even without connecting the actual microphone (but still having its cable connected to the port) I would have bleeding as soon as this cable and the headphone cable would be in ports near to each other.

I am posting this in case it might be helpful for other people with the same problem (which ocurred both with Audacity as with Cubase, so it's not a problem of settings of those programs). Operating system: Windows XP (...yes, I know...) Soundcard: RealTek.

As I said before, there was no way I could configure the RealTek card itself (no option like "Get Waht You Hear" or "Stereo Mix").

I am guessing that as soon as I'd buy a new PC with a modern soundcard, the problem would not appear (I hope), but for the moment I am glad I can still work with my dinosaur PC.