Need help with Audacity and SoundFlower

[Kimbersan]

Hi! I am a new Mac user, and I do not know anything about music editing, etc. The terminology that I am reading throughout this forum and the SoundFlower site is very confusing to me...my eyes glaze over quickly. I am trying to edit together three different video recordings of my wedding, all of which have different sound qualities (soft, loud, etc). I downloaded Audacity to try and stitch together the best of all recordings to overlay my iMovie.

I have attempted to download SoundFlower because I came to understand that my iMac will not record it's own output...but I cannot figure out how to make it work! Would someone please tell me in very simplified terms how to set up these two programs to work together? I cannot afford to buy software (such as the WireTap that I read is very user friendly) so I need to work with what I can get.

I would really appreciate any possible assistance!!!!!!!

[kozikowski]

<<<I came to understand that my iMac will not record it's own output.>>>

Perfectly true. Most Macs will not record their own output without significant software help.

<<<I have attempted to download SoundFlower>>>

And, we assume, you succeeded?

I stopped recommending SoundFlower after I pulled my license of WireTap and tried to use SoundFlower instead. If you don't have WireTap's presets and user interface, it's extraordinarily difficult and awkward to make a recording. I eventually forced to work, but it's a good thing I didn't have a critically timed recording I needed to do.

Unless somebody else jumps in, you need to wait until I go back to that machine and figure out what I did. I will be going back to WireTap as soon as possible.

You know there's a non-Pro version of WireTap that's not nearly as expensive. They hide it well, but it used to be if you rooted around enough you could find it. That was my first purchase and I upgraded to Pro later. I'm not sure why because the original worked for me.

Oh, wait. I remember now. They upgraded from Pro to Studio. $70 is a little stiff. Pro was like $40.

Koz

[kozikowski]

http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/25421

I'm actually still using 1.2.0.

Koz

[kozikowski]

I don't have the whole thing, but here are the pieces.

If you installed SoundFlower successfully, it should be one of the sound devices in...

Apple > Preferences > Hardware > Sound

...Input or Output. This is where it gets fuzzy and I didn't entirely understand the install myself. Pick SoundFlower for either the input or the output. Launch Audacity and select Default Input Source. Make sure the volume sliders are up in the Apple Preferences Panels and Audacity.

Click once inside the Audacity red record meters and launch the music. The meters will come alive if you did everything right. Set the volume sliders so the sound peaks around -6 to -3, but no higher. Press Stop and then Record to capture the show.

Koz

[Kimbersan]

Thanks so much!! That was a big help.

While under the System Preferences > Sound, I chose the Soundflower (2ch) option as Input and the Built-In Speakers as the Output. Then all I had to figure out was to turn the Microphone volume at the top up high. Worked like a charm!

Thanks again!

[bridgesmj]

Hi - I'm trying to do the same here, but not having much luck. I've installed soundflower and changed my I/O settings, but still when I hit record there is only a straight line. I made sure that the volumes were up too. I had iTunes playing at the time, hoping that it would record what was playing.

Does anyone know why it's not feeding through, and how to fix it? Cheers. Mark.

[Robert1014]

http://audacityteam.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=6700

bridgesmj: check the link above to a previous thread where I posted my own long description of using Soundflower. Let me know if it helps!

[wonderpancake]

Okay. For the life of me, I cannot get Soundflower to work. Here's what I've done so far:

1. I set my Macbook's sound settings to Input > Soundflower (2ch), and Output > Built-in Output.
2. I clicked the flower at the top right of the screen, and set the Soundflower (2ch) to Built-in Output (the only other option is "None (OFF)").
3. I opened Audio MIDI Setup and couldn't really change any settings.
4. I opened Audacity and went to Preferences > Devices and set the Input to Soundflower (2ch) and the Output to Built-in Output.
5. Music is playing on iTunes. I click "record" in Audacity. Nothing.

WHAT THE SCHMUCKLEFORKSPOONKNIFEASDFIOJQEF AM I DOING WRONG??????

[billw58]

Your mistake was in step 1, and it trips up a lot of people ...

1) In System Preferences > Sound set Soundflower as the output device. It doesn't matter what you set the Input Device to.
What you're doing is routing your system sound output to Soundflower instead of the speakers. Now that you've done that, Audacity can use Soundflower as its input.

2a) You probably set Soundflower to "Built-in Audio" not "Built-in Output". You want to set it to OFF, or you will hear a weird echo when recording with Audacity, although the echo will not be recorded. Setting Soundflower to "Built-in Audio" allows you to continue to hear audio through the system speakers after making the setting in Step 1. Note that you will not be able to hear the audio until you begin monitoring or recording in Audacity. This assumes that Audacity Preferences > Recording has "Software Playthrough" checked.
2b) Alternatively, you can set Soundflower to Built-in Audio, then in Audacity Preferences > Recording uncheck "Software Playthrough".

3) No need to use Audio Midi Setup

4) This is correct.

5a) With Soundlower set to OFF and Audacity Preferences > Recording : Software Playthrough checked, when you click on the record meters to begin "monitoring" and/or click the "Record" button you will hear the audio playing on your computer.
5b) With Soundflower set to Built-in Audio and Audacity Preferences > Recording : Software Playthrough unchecked, you will always hear the audio playing through your computer, and won't hear the echo when you begin recording in Audacity.

-- Bill

[wonderpancake]

Bill, my friend, you are a life saver. It works now. Thank you so much!