Very distorted recording of computer playback...help!!

[coxjamir]

i have been trying to record computer playback onto audacity. i used to do it all the time til i got a new gateway computer with windows 7. now when i try it is completely distorted. there will be periods of loud sound then periods of silence. kinda like if you are listening to music and quickly plug and unplug your ears over and over. i have searched the forums, set my audio in audacity, tried to adjust mic levels through the windows sound system menu. i just don't know what to do!

i am using the cord with the headphone jack on both sides, with one end plugged in to the mic spot, and one side plugged into the headphone jack. i've also tried just playing it out loud and recording what the computer is playing without cords. same results.

i'm not a computer techie (as you can see from the amount of technical language i am NOT using) so I would just love some simplified help.

Thanks

[whomper]

two issues
first headphone out is BIG voltage
mike in wants tiny voltage

your pc may have software set for special biz use that is causing the other problems

win7 causes many problems with audio
some pcs have many settings so you can fix it
some try to keep you from using audio for some reason

if you search the forum for win7 andor windows7 or windows 7
you will find many suggestions about settings to adjust


else stand by for a day
and one of the win7 weenies will come by and spell it out for you

[steve]

i have been trying to record computer playback onto audacity. i used to do it all the time til i got a new gateway computer with windows 7. now when i try it is completely distorted.

That could be good news. On many Windows 7 PCs it is not possible to record computer playback, but all we need to do for you is to get the volume lower.

The first thing is that you should be using Audacity 1.3.12 for Windows 7 - you've posted in the 1.2 part of the forum, so I assume that you will need to upgrade. You can download version 1.3.12 from here: http://audacityteam.org/download/beta_windows

To set the recording level you will probably need to go into the Windows Control Panel (Start button > Control Panel)
There are some instructions here http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Mixer ... es#vistacp about how to adjust the recording level - unfortunately Windows 7 is a bit complicated in this respect, so read through this section carefully before you change anything, and make a note (on paper) of anything that you change so that you can change it back again if necessary. It sounds like you are close to having it working, so if you get stuck, put everything back as it is now and say which bit you got stuck with.

It is common on Windows 7 to have to turn down the recording level really low.

[coxjamir]

when i click show disabled devices nothing else pops up, just the same mic.

[steve]

And the same when you select "Show Disconnected Devices"?