Recording what's going through sound card

[estelle-music]

I am using an iMac running OS X 5, and playing a Finale score while attempting to record it. That worked fine after adjusting some settings on my PC with XP, but this latest stable version on the iMac offers me only the Default Input options. I have set System Preferences - Sound to both Internet Microphone and Line In (the only apparent choices) and neither improves the options available for input in Audacity, and neither works as the default source.
Can Audacity 1.2.6 running on Leopard record what is played through the sound card?
I have read everything on topic on this forum, and don't see an answer that works.

[Robert1014]

If you don't want to spend money on either Audio HiJack or Wiretap Studio, you can download a couple of free bits of software that will allow you to do this: Soundflower and Soundsource.

See my post in this thread for a description: http://audacityteam.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1675

[estelle-music]

Thanks for the input. I followed your instructions and those that came with the two free patches, and am having the same result - no gain on the recording of playback from Finale.

It looks like Leopard and Audacity are a mismatch. I hope soon there will be a fix for this. I'm having a Vista experience with Leopard. I don't know why these giant companies insist on releasing Beta versions and charging big bucks for them. Apple has some huge issues to deal with, particularly in integrity in advertising. But that's another story.

[estelle-music]

Just a bit more detail. I have set Soundflower 2 ch on everything, including system preferences - sound on iMac and in Soundsource. On Audacity I have full volume on the three adjustments I can find, and am still getting no gain on the recording of playback from Finale. Finale 2008 doesn't show an output setting, other than Midithrough.

[Robert1014]

How do you have your Audacity preferences set?

I'm away from my home computer at the moment, visiting family for the holidays, but I'll be back at my home computer on New Year's Day, and I'll check my own Audacity Preference settings then. I either have the "Input Device" (or "Recording Device") set as "Soundflower 2ch" and the "Output Device" (or "Playback Device") set as "Built in Line out," or it's the reverse: "Input (or Recording) Device" set as "Built In Line In" and the "Output (or Playback) Device" set as Soundflower 2ch."

I'm not familiar with Finale, so the settings I use to record streaming audio on my Mac may not be applicable.

Anyway, unless you post in the meantime that you have solved your issue, I'll post again after I return home and check my settings.

Good Luck!

[Robert1014]

I just reread my original post on Soundflower and Soundsource, and I see there I described the proper Audacity preference settings. Assuming you have your preferences set as described, I don't know what else to suggest at the moment. If anything occurs to me I'll add a comment.

[Robert1014]

Oh, do you have "hardware playthrough" or "software playthrough" checked in Audacity audio preferences? When I first installed Audacity, I checked "hardware playthrough," which was suggested for Macs, but I couldn't hear any playback. I unchecked "hardware playthrough" and checked "software playthrough" and I could hear sound playback through Audacity.

[estelle-music]

My Audacity preferences does not show, under any of the preferences tabs, "hardware playthrough" or "software playthrough". I'm using Version 1.2.6 for OSX 5. No matter what combination of input and output I use, there is no sound recorded by Audacity, only low level noise. I am stumped.

[Robert1014]

In Audacity preferences, look under the tab labeled "Audio I/O" and you should see four checkboxes at the bottom. The middle two checkboxes should be "Hardware Playthrough (Play new track while recording it)" and "Software Playthrough (Play new track while recording it)." In this same preference tab, you should select, for Playback Device: "Built-in Line Ouput" and, for Recording Device: "Soundflower 2ch." I am on Audacity 1.2.5, so I may be incorrect in assuming your version will show the same choices. By the way, I checked "Software Playthrough" after "Hardware Playthrough" wouldn't work for me.

[kozikowski]

<<<I hope soon there will be a fix for this.>>>

Because it doesn't do precisely what you want doesn't mean it's broken. In fact, it's running exactly the way it was designed. The record and playback sides of the Mac were intentionally designed not to interact. What this gives you in a completely and totally stable and predictable audio experience, no exceptions.

You want chaos, just pay attention to the Windows section of this forum. "How come I get howling feedback when I use a microphone?" "I get muffled audio when I try to capture internet audio." Why do my performances always have a weird echo when I record them in Audacity.

And pages more. They all have nothing to do with Audacity and everything to do with the ability of Windows to establish dangerous, unstable audio pathways seemingly at random. This talent is completely missing from the Mac, and it's apparently missing from Vista as well.

I have a license for WireTap (back when it was "Pro") and I record things from the internet and other sound performances all the time and it works just fine. (You do have to be careful not to change volume during a capture, or you get the "poit" sound.)

If you insist on doing these tasks on a cost-free basis, then you're stuck with the SoundFlower solution and it's cousins. And no, Macs aren't broken.

Koz