Crackling and Popping when Recording

[mmmkile]

I am using Audacity to make a demo for my friends band. We are using a PA system hooked into the computer using a USB adapter. When we record, we get a popping noise when the bass or guitar gets to loud. Is there a way to manually fix this, or a way to get rid of it in Audacity. Any help will be much appreciated.

[Locopomo]

The input level is more than likely too high causing the signal to break up when the audio input is overloaded. Try lowering the input or if you have access to one, use a compressorlimiter to keep the volume range under control.

[mmmkile]

The help is much appreciated. But would you mind explaining that last bit of information to me. I am still getting used to this program.

[Locopomo]

Sorry, I've misled you a little - I wasn't talking about an Audacity feature, what I meant was using a hardware compressorlimiter to manage the level of the signal prior to the PC in order to avoid overloading the input.

So put that to one side and go back to my first statement - continue with your current setup but lower the level of the signal you're sending to the PC. While you can always increase the level of a track post-event, if you get distortion when you're recording it's all but impossible to remove it after the event.