How to record sound thro mic in windows 7

[jrajuu]

Hi, I have upgraded to windows 7 from windows xp where i do not have any problem in recording thro the mike. But in windows 7, i do not have any sound while recording, recording status bar not moving, and nothing happens, when replaying there is no sound at all. But all the other musics are playing. i did go thorough the tutorial, but i do not get any solution. I have downloaded realtek driver from file sharing sites, and it is shoing in the tray as any other icon, and it shows stereo mix, which first i had not. Meddling with the software finally ended in all the sounds to not play. I found this audacity as a best recorder and sincerely microsoft does not provide stereo mix, but downloading Realtek drivers and having all the things , i do not know how to set the recording. Please help, i even downloaded lame encoder. Why so many confusing ideas in windows 7, In windows xp, i did not find any problem. Pl advise

[kozikowski]

Windows XP did not try to carefully manage all the sound services like Win7 does. We need to wait for one of the Windows people. I'm on a Mac.
Koz

[jrajuu]

Hey, Would somebody give correct instructions on how to record your own voice in audacity in windows 7. What are the settings that i make before i could record. Please

[steve]

What are the settings that i make before i could record.

It depends on what equipment you are using.

The basic set-up is:

1. Ensure that the microphone that you want to record from is connected to the computer.
2. Ensure that the microphone is recognised by Windows and enabled in the Windows Sound Control Panel
3. Set a reasonable recording level in the Windows Sound Control Panel
4. Set the number of recording channels to "1 (mono)"
5. The recording sample rate should normally be set to 44100 (there are a few exceptions, but go with this for now)
6. Open Audacity (note that the previous steps should be completed before you open Audacity)
7. In the Device Toolbar set the recording input to the microphone that you are using
8. In the Device Toolbar set the number of recording channels to "1 (mono)"

More detailed information is provided in the manual: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/tu ... rding.html

[jrajuu]

Hi, Thank you very much for the detailed reply.
One more clue is to download the latest audio drivers from realtek. This is the major one, which solved my problem of recording in windows 7. The default audio drivers from microsoft updates, is not enough for realtek sound card holders of the system. yesterday, i went to the realtek.com to download their audio drivers for win7 and vista and then connecting the device to the system automatically gets the correct device settings when you open the audacity.
1. Why recording through mono instead of stereo Pl let me know.
2. I am using audacity 2.0.0, can i update it automatically from their site to 2.0.3 upgrade. Or should i have to overwrite the audacity with the new version.
3. How to record with out the surrounding noise with audacity. Is there any settings with this ?
Thanks . My recording went smooth. Thanks steve for the reply .
Nowadays intel does not support some of their old model motherboards . They could extend , so that any body need of mother board drivers, including audio, would be able to download from the original site. Expecting reply from Steve

[steve]

Why recording through mono instead of stereo

Because a microphone is a mono device.

A stereo device (such as a CD player) produces two signals, one for the left and one for the right.
A stereo track has one left channel that plays through the left speaker, and one right channel that plays through the right speaker.

A mono device (such as a microphone or an electric guitar) produces one signal that needs to be played through the left and the right speakers.
A mono track has one (mono) channel that plays through both the left and the right speakers.

I am using audacity 2.0.0, can i update it automatically from their site to 2.0.3 upgrade.

Download the "Audacity 2.0.3 installer" from here http://audacityteam.org/download/windows and double click to run it. It will overwrite your 2.0 version with the current 2.0.3 version. If you are logged in with a limited account you may be prompted to enter an administrator password.

3. How to record with out the surrounding noise

What surrounding noise?

[jrajuu]

Hi, Thank you very much Steve for the clarification.

1. Surrounding noise means the noises from the surrounding places, like noise of fans, coolers, and other disturbances. I am using audacity free.2. Could it be updated with installer in your reply. What is limited account and what is administrative password. Pl clarify.

[steve]

1. Surrounding noise means the noises from the surrounding places, like noise of fans, coolers, and other disturbances

Avoiding noise when recording is much more effective than trying to remove unwanted noise afterwards.

• Find as quiet a location as possible,
• The recording location should ideally be carpeted with plenty of soft furnishings to help absorb sound reflections - bedrooms are often good -bathrooms and hallways are usually terrible - a recording studio "sound booth" is ideal.
• Place the microphone close to the thing that you are recording. If recording a voice, take care not to blow on the microphone - a "pop shield" will help a lot.
• Use a microphone that is appropriate for the task (don't expect good results from a laptop built-in microphone or a cheap headset mic)

I am using audacity free.2

Audacity is free - there is no paid version (though donations are always welcome http://audacityteam.org/donate/)

Could it be updated with installer in your reply.

As in my previous post - just install the new version and that will overwrite (update) your current version.

What is limited account and what is administrative password.

See here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2663817

[jrajuu]

Hi, Thank you very much Steve for all the replies. I some where heard that there is a setting in audacity to listen to this device long back . But i could not remember, it for audacity or some other software. So, there is no settings for mike in audacity. I will install the latest version as per suggestion. Thank you once again

[kozikowski]

People would kill for a software product that would allow recording a theatrically perfect performance in a noisy room. It's one of the reasons we still do this:

microphoneNewsCluster.jpg (51.69 KiB) Viewed 1955 times

You still need to get the top-quality microphone and the performer together and hope there are no dogs barking outside the window.

Koz