I’m trying to record drum tracks from a mixer into my lap top, using the Mic. input. Everything’s fine for a min. or so and then the sound gets real distorted, and cut off sounding. The picture of the sound on the screen gets smaller also. I recorded a long jam, for about an Hr. and it would come and go. It happened around 5 times in the Hr. Also I tried recording on a Zoom Q3, then playing it into Audacity through the Mic. input on my laptop, and it did the same thing. About 3 Min. in it started distorting. Any ideas as to what I’m doing wrong?
Ensure that Windows Sound Enhancements are turned off (see: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/faq_recording_troubleshooting.html#enhancements)
Please also be aware that on laptop PCs the microphone input is frequently rubbish quality (even on many high-end laptops). In many cases it is necessary to upgrade the mic input in order to get good quality sound. Often the most economic way to do this is to use an external (USB) sound card.
Thanks Steve. I think the usb might be the answer. As I was looking on Audacity setup pages, I noticed a usb converter (from mic cable to usb). That got me to thinking. My wife got me a turn table to convert my vinyl to data, that’s where I got Audacity in the 1st place. It has an input 1/8" and out put USB. I’ve tried it a little and I think it might have stopped distorting. When I have more time I’ll record a long track and see if it is fixed. Thanks for your reply.
’