Cannot use this Software!

I have given up trying to use this software. I just wanted to record my Vinyl records on to my PC and then put on a disc. I am not stupid but I find this software too difficult to understand, to be honest. Even the instruction manual is difficult to read. I understand there will be all sorts of complex things you can do but there must be a simple option? I have used software for putting MP3 videos on to a disc to play on a DVD player. I can usually figure anything out and just use the functions that I need. This is overly complex and I cannot just find out how to record, name and save a list of my records to then save as a project to put on a disc. When I have recorded a track it doesn’t even stop at the end. I cannot then record another and save it or name it. I cannot go back a click on any track and replay it. There is a high pitched noise when I am trying to playback. It is awful! The main reason I ordered this record player was to do this and I cannot achieve what I want to because the software is too complex and there is NO support!

I think your post is a little unfair. This is the support channel for Audacity software, and you only posted 10 minutes ago, so not really fair to say “NO support”.

We don’t make or sell record players, cassette players, CD / DVD drives, CD / DVD burning software, or audio interfaces, so if you are having problems with any of those and want to complain, you need to complain to the relevant manufacturer, and / or whoever you bought them from. We make Audacity audio recording / editing software, which is free open source software, and we are happy to try and help you with that.

Let’s start from the beginning:

Which version of Audacity are you using? (look in “Help menu > About Audacity”. If it is not Audacity 2.2.2 (the current version), please get the current version via our website: https://www.audacityteam.org/download/windows/
The download that you want is the first one on that page: “Audacity 2.2.2 installer (19.31 MB, includes help files)”

What equipment are you using to record your vinyl? (make and model number would be useful).

There is a set of tutorials here: http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/tutorial_copying_tapes_lps_or_minidiscs_to_cd.html
Try following the tutorials, and if you get stuck, tell us how far you have got and what the problem is.

I have given up trying to use this software. I just wanted to record my Vinyl records on to my PC and then put on a disc.

There are [u]digitization services[/u], or you can buy CDs or MP3s, which is cheaper and you’ll get better quality (assuming the particular music is available digitally).

I find this software too difficult to understand, to be honest. Even the instruction manual is difficult to read. I understand there will be all sorts of complex things you can do but there must be a simple option?

Audacity is a general-purpose audio editor and recording program. There are no “simple instructions” because people are doing lots of different things with it and everybody has different hardware. There are new concepts to learn, new terminology to learn, and a new application to learn… For what you’re doing, there are several steps involved and it’s time consuming.

However, if you take it slowly (and with a little help from the forum) you can probably get it working and it won’t seem so difficult.

This is overly complex and I cannot just find out how to record, name and save a list of my records to then save as a project to put on a disc.

Just to make it more complex… :wink: Audacity doesn’t burn CDs. Audacity can record and create a WAV file which your CD burning software can use.

“Naming”, is probably not that important if you’re making CDs because most CDs don’t have that information on them. Usually when you play a CD (on a computer) the player software takes a “fingerprint” of the CD and finds the album/artist/title information in an online database. And of course, your homemade CD won’t be in the database. There is something called [u]CD Text[/u] but it’s not that common and not widely supported.

and there is NO support!

There is no “official support” but although we are all volunteers I doubt you’re going to find better support for any other software anywhere else.

There is no Help Desk. However, the forum covers nine time zones in semi-real time and more if you want to wait a bit.

So if you require immediate response, then maybe Audacity isn’t for you.

Please note even if you do get your job working, you may find that it’s not push-a-button simple. You still have to be there to change records and flip the disks and most people doing this stop to take out the worst of the vinyl noise and other sound errors.

Then you have to split the audio capture up into individual songs and then, as above, you have to corral an Audio CD Authoring and Burning program. Audacity won’t burn a thing.

After the first week of this, you may decide the repurchased music may be worth the trouble. I split the difference. I only transferred the records I really, really wanted and gave the others away.

Koz

On the other hand, our friend “waxcylinder” converted his entire record collection (thousands of records) to digital, and I guess he must have enjoyed doing so as he then started on his wife’s collection (several thousand more). One of the nice things about transferring your collection to digital, is that it provides an opportunity (or an “excuse”) to listen again to records that may have been gathering dust for years.

Hello everyone, thank you for your replies. I really didn’t mean to sound so angry but I do not have a lot of patience with technology at all. I have lost hours and days trying to do ‘stuff’ in the past. I don’t really enjoy the doing, I just like the results! I have hundreds of vinyl records and I have gone through them to see which are still in good condition, enough to put on to a CD. I bought the record player which has the ability to record and transfer them to PC. I enjoyed going through the records but I would not want to record all of them. I dare say I could find a lot of them on Spotify to play on the PC for free but I really wanted to record my favourites and ones that I don’t think I will be able to find elsewhere. I am quite old-fashioned in some ways and like the idea of having the tracks on a disc so that I have something physical. I have made up CD’s from music I have from iTunes. The quality probably won’t be as good as if I streamed the track from the internet but I don’t really want to pay for them again and I don’t think I will be able to get them all. I remember having playlists on YOUTube and saving them but you cannot do anything with them and then some of the songs started disappearing because of copywriting. I have the idea of selling my vinyl records although my daughter wants me to keep them as she thinks they will be worth more down the line. I am not sure as vinyl seems to be very collectable at the moment. I have some that would really be collector’s items. I just look at them really as a reminder of days gone by and actually makes me sad to look at them really.

I will either figure this out eventually or just give up. All I wanted to do was record each track, save it as I go along record the next one etc. I thought I would build up a list which would save and then I would have a file that I could convert to MP3 and burn on to a CD. I have burning software which I used to convert MP3 phone videos to a format that I could play on DVD player. That was a headache also but I did it eventually. |I have an idea of what I wanted to do and thought this software would enable me to do it. I didn’t really want to spend ages on each track editing and so on. Even if I did I could not figure out how to get rid of the ‘noise’ or any distortion. I looked at all of it and none of it made any sense, to be honest. :unamused: :angry:

First thing to do is a test recording to get everything working - that’s the hard part, and then it should all be plain sailing.

Do you have Audacity 2.2.2 installed? (you can check the version number in “Help menu > About Audacity”)

Please give us the make and model number so we can look up exactly what you’ve got.

Better to export them from Audacity as WAV files rather than MP3. Audacity supports WAV export by default, and the quality is better than MP3. Your CD burning software will almost certainly support WAV format.

Hi Steve,

This is the spec for my record player: It is Reka Vintage Turntable model no. 82714

Contents
1 x Turntable
1 x USB cable
1 x RCA cable
1 x 3.5mm Jack cable
1 x Software CD
1 x Power adaptor
1 x 45 RPM adaptor
1 x User guide

Features
Vinyl record player
MP3 Converter
3 speed turntable: 33, 45, 78 RPM
3.5mm Aux in for connecting other audio devices
Line output sockets to connect to another amplifier or hi-fi
Compatible with 7",8", 10" & 12” records
USB to connect to PC
Belt drive system
Dynamic built-in stereo speakers
Auto stop switch
45 RPM spindle adaptor
Large rotary power off/on
Power LED indicator light
Stylish briefcase with handle for easy portability
Ceramic cartridge with protector cap included

Guarantee/Warranty
3 Years

Suitable Use
Play vinyl records, convert vinyl records into MP3

I was told not to use the Software CD as it was for Mac? When I emailed support they told me to download Adacity and gave me the link.
I have the most up to date version. Seems it has a built in MP3 converter?

I am rapidly going off the idea of recording them now lol

USB turntables are usually straightforward. Plug the USB into the computer before starting Audacity. (You shouldn’t need to use any of the analog connections.)

Then start Audacity, select the USB device (It might say “USB CODEC” or something) as your [u]Recording Device[/u] and select your regular soundcard/speakers as your Playback Device. (You may have selected the “wrong” recording device before, and ended-up with a nasty feedback loop.)

Click Record and you should be recording! (You should see the “meters” moving and a blue wave appearing.)

Then after stopping, File → Export → Export As WAV to create a WAV file. (You can save-as an Audacity Project but if you do, I recommend saving a WAV as a back-up.)

You’ll need to install the optional LAME MP3 encoder if you want to make MP3s, but WAVs (or Audacity project files) are better for editing, so you can save that for later.

…After you get recording figured-out we can talk about editing to make individual song files and maybe “fixing-up” the sound a bit, etc.

I see that DVDdoug has given the short version of the instructions. If that’s not enough, here’s the detailed “long” version.

Well let’s give it a go anyway :wink:

  1. Plug the USB connection from the turntable into your computer.
  2. Turn on the turntable (if it has an on/off switch)
  3. Boot up the computer and wait for it to fully load up.

It’s important that 1, 2 and 3 are done before step 4.
The next steps should only need doing once, and Windows should remember this setting even after a restart.

  1. Open the Windows Sound Control Panel and look in the Recording tab. You should see a “USB device” which corresponds to the turntable - it probably won’t be called a turntable, but it will be marked as “USB” (it could show up a a microphone, or “line”, but what you are looking for is “USB”).

  2. Right Click on the USB device and then select “Properties”.
    This will open the device properties, and is where you check, and if necessary update the settings.

  3. In the “Properties” dialog, select the “Levels” tab and ensure that the level is turned up. IF there is a “boost” setting, turn that off.

  4. Now go the the “Advanced” tab of “Properties” and ensure that the device is set to “2 channels (stereo)” and all “enhancements” (if any) are disabled (not selected / off).
    IF there is a choice of “sample rates”, select 44100.

Now click “OK” to close the Properties dialog.

That’s the hard part done.
The only thing that you MAY need to change in those settings, is the recording level. We’ll come back to that if necessary, but it should be easy now that you have done it once - it’s just:
“Sounds Control Panel → Recording Tab → Right Click on the device → Levels tab”


Now on to Audacity.

  1. Launch Audacity.
  2. In the device toolbar, select the USB option as the recording device.
  3. Select your normal sound card as the Playback device (this may be labelled as “speakers” or “Front”. This should NOT be set to the USB turntable.
  4. Near the bottom of the “Transport” menu, select “Software Playthrough”.

That’s Audacity set up.

Now put on a record, Click the record button, and see what happens.

We’ve not set the recording levels properly yet, but we’ll do that next if this all goes to plan :slight_smile:

Thanks,

I will try it tomorrow and let you know :slight_smile:

Hi,

I have decided that I am not going to bother to record the vinyl records…life really is too short for all this messing around. I seem to get stuck on this PC trying to do the most simple thing that turns out to be incredibly complex and time-consuming, and I really don’t have the patience. I have Spotify on my PC and I have found all the tracks I want on there. I have made two playlists and obviously, the quality is superior to that of the vinyl and the recordings are not good. I am currently looking into how I can download the playlists to my PC and then put them on a disc. I do have some software to record them as they are playing but it is a trial and only allows 3mins at a time so have to sit there with the on/off button. Not sure if I want to pay for the full version but it is an option as the other way is time-consuming. I have seen various youtube videos on how to get the playlists and download them but none of them seems to work. If all else fails at least I can just listen to them on the PC. I would like to be able to put them on CD so I could listen to them elsewhere but not going to spend days trying to do it. Thanks for your help anyway.

The process is only valid if you have hard to find vinyl or something about the work has sentimental value—and you have a lot of time.

iTunes allows me to purchase music, download it right then, create a custom playlist and burn the playlist to CD, or copy it to a portable device. Windows Media might allow something similar.

Koz

Hi Koz…

I do have some vinyl records that are not on Spotify but I can find them elsewhere…YouTube to listen to them. I have sent the record player back. To be honest, it seemed like a good idea, but although most of my vinyl records are ok to play ie not damaged the quality is still not as good as digital. I remember the old turntables when you could stack them and each one would drop to play in turn so that you didn’t have to play them one at a time! My records do have great sentimental value, the physical vinyl records maybe I will sell or my daughter will. I know it is in great demand at the moment, maybe more in the future or less. It is hard to anticipate if they will be worth anything in years to come. I do have some that are rare and I could sell now (Beatles) for example but think I will hold on to them for now. I have found most of them on Spotify and it is great to listen to them in digital quality. I have downloaded a FREE Sound Recorder (without any limitations or cost or malware) just have to decline the offer or participating in some sort of data collection LOL…very current! I thought when I declined I would not be able to download it, but it worked ok. It does not individualise the tracks and name them etc. It will just record the music as it plays one track after the other. Each time I stop record and start it will save as another file. I am getting through my playlist which is over 5 hours long! It is saving to my computer MP3 files and then I can play it in iTunes. I am then saving it in iTunes as Playlist that I can burn to CDs. I just wanted them on CD so that I can listen to them elsewhere other than on the PC and also when I am in the garden…if we ever have a summer: x It is the best workaround I can find and the quickest solution. Before I had no option to listen to them at all but now I have then on Spotify and can now put them on CDs with this software. It may not be the most technically perfect option but it is good enough for me, and it has cost me nothing and it won’t mean spending hours in front of the PC. I like the results of Tech but I don’t like the time it takes to do stuff and usually find a way to do what I want in the end. Thanks for all the help… :slight_smile:

I skip the disk step and move the playlists to my Personal Music Device for hiking or gardening.

There is a fuzzy recommendation to not immediately trash your music collection just because you digitized it. Nobody pays attention to the digital archive rules and you could open up your sound files and find them damaged—or refuse to open at all.

First Level:

-Save the works in WAV (Microsoft) and not MP3. MP3 is lovely and efficient but comes with compression distortion and it’s hard to edit, correct, or turn into anything else.

Be able to point to two different places that store your work. This might be a good place for Cloud Storage in addition to your local hard drive(s). One place is obviously risky and nobody keeps up three.

Koz

There’s nothing wrong with MP3 if used as intended. As an end product in your personal music device. Full stop.

Koz