No Soundwaves Showing..Just Solid Purple Band...

[Lolly]

Hi, all --

Is there anyone who can enlighten me please?

I have a Mac OX S 10.5.8. My current Audacity is 1.3.9.

I don't use Audacity very often, but in the past have successfully divided sound files of live performances into separate tracks
and burned CDs from them using iTunes.

But I cannot get my Audacity to work anymore...No matter what format I try to import into Audacity, including files from a Zoom H2 or tracks from iTunes, it's always the same. I no longer get the visual of sound waves to work with. All that I see are two solid blocks of purple filling up the space where both halves of the stereo sound waves visual should be showing.

Has anyone else experienced this? Can anybody suggest anything?

Thanks,
Lolly
PS Happy Thanksgiving.

[billw58]

No matter what format I try to import into Audacity, including files from a Zoom H2 or tracks from iTunes, it's always the same. I no longer get the visual of sound waves to work with. All that I see are two solid blocks of purple filling up the space where both halves of the stereo sound waves visual should be showing.

"No matter what format"? AIF, WAV, MP3, all of them import as noise? You've listened to them and they're garbage?

The files from iTunes may be encoded with AAC which Audacity does not recognize. I don't know what format the Zoom H2 uses.

Have you recently switched your default project format to 24 bits? Check Audacity > Preferences then the Quality tab and set your default project rate to 44100 and your default project format to 16 bits.

-- Bill

[Lolly]

OMG, Bill!! I did as you recommended, switched from 24 to 16 bits (whatever all that means) and the sound waves are now appearing as they should!

I have no idea how that bit thing got switched to the wrong setting in the first place , but I am ever in your debt. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Lolly