This is really frustrating. Several times I’ve recorded something, and I can hear it in my earbuds as I’m laying it down, but when I play it back, there is no sound. In order to listen to it, I have to play it back on my built-in mic.
I always double check that my 2020 mic appears in the two places in Audacity. I’ve also checked that everything is plugged in.
I used to unplug my mic at both ends and then plug it back in before I opened Audacity, but that didn’t work.
I don’t know why I can hear it as I’m recording but not in the playback.
I can hear everything while I’m recording. My earbuds are plugged in solidly to my mic. And the levels are good while I’m recording. It just goes silent when I play it back.
I’m fairly new to Audacity, so I’m not sure what you mean by the mix control.
I’d like to try as much as I can before I buy another microphone.
Yes, that’s one of the first things I do, because I’ve forgotten it in the past and learned the hard way. Sorry I didn’t indicate that in my previous post.
I’ve also found what the mix control is, and it is also at the level it’s always been.
I was going to ask about whether it’s possible to use my built-in mic for playback for an extended period of time. (I can at least hear the playback, but I shouldn’t have to do that forever.)
But now, my Audacity has frozen up. My mouse won’t move anything in Audacity. I’ve done a restart twice but it didn’t help. Is there a fix for that?
I’m starting to feel doomed. There seems to be one problem after another. with either my mic or Audacity.
One controls the headphone volume, the other (marked Monitor) controls the mix that you hear.
When it’s set all the way to the left, you will only hear yourself live as you speak into the mic (direct monitoring). It sounds like this is what’s happening.
If you set it all the way to the right, you will only hear playback from the computer.
I really wish that would have been the answer, but I still couldn’t hear the playback with the monitor control dial set in the middle.
I finally got my Audacity unfrozen (don’t know how), but it’s really annoying to have to switch back and forth between my mic and the built-in when I’m editing so that I can hear the playback.
Go to System Preferences > Sound > make sure the AT2020 is highlighted under both Input and Output
In Audacity, click Transport > Rescan Audio Devices
Ensure the dropdown fields read from left to right: Core Audio - AT2020 - 1(mono) - AT2020
On the mic, set the monitor dial to the mid point and the headphone volume dial all the way up to max.
Record a track. Do you hear yourself in headphones as you speak?
Playback the track. Do you hear it?
If the answer’s no for 5 and/or 6, try recording with the monitor dial all the way to the left (MIC), then turn it all the way to the right (COM) before playback. This is probably the ‘correct’ way to do it anyway. When playing back/editing, it’s best not to hear the live feed from the mic.
Okay, this is a reply that you can play at your Christmas party as one of the sillier Audacity users.
I was trying to check the above things without having my AT2020 mic plugged in. When I did plug in the mic, everything was as it should be.
It seems that the dials on the mic made the difference, and now, I can hear my playback.
I’m not going to dwell on this, since you helped me get things working again, but those dials are not in a position where there would be bumped into, so I don’t know why I suddenly wasn’t able to hear the playback unless I played it through the built-in mic.
I didn’t have the monitor in the middle position. I’ve had it all the way to the top for a couple of years, and I’ve been able to hear the playback in the AT2020 until a few days ago.
But I’m not going to worry about it since it’s working now.