Recording Audio

[Funky Guy]

Please can someone help me regarding recording audio.

My mic and audio interface is ok the problem i'm having is with Audacity.
During the recording the input monitor is in the red should this be the case ? when i play it back the output monitor is in the green ?
By the time I convert to wav or mp3 the sound is distorted any ideas what i'm doing wrong?

[kozikowski]

You should set your recording volume so the sound meters never go all the way up and the blue waves never go to 1.0 either up or down. Once you do that, you can apply filters and effects and export as any sound format file without distortion.

http://kozco.com/tech/audacity/Audacity1_record.jpg

Koz

[steve]

During the recording the input monitor is in the red should this be the case ? when i play it back the output monitor is in the green ?

The normal colour for the input meter is red and the playback meter is green.
At the highest end (the right) of the meter is a small area (the "clip indicator") that "lights up" red if you hit 0 dB. You should set your recording levels so that the clip indicator never lights up.

Ideally, aim for a maximum level of about half the track height (about -6 dB).
See here for more information: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/meter_toolbar.html