Audacity Recording Wierd

[Hamish Grant]

Hi There, 

Got a Problem with the Software Audacity,

I'm trying to make a simple recording with my guitar, and I got my Amp fixed up to an old digital 8 Track and then hooked up to my Computer. Now when I record something and then play it back, the volume of the recording always goes up and down. Quieter then louder then quieter and then louder again and it goes on and on like this. Why is that ? Can someone help me please ? 

 

Thanks,

Hamish

 

[Mahesh]

That's weird. See if the connections are loose. If so, fix it. It's always good to isolate the problem. Can you connect a microphone directly onto the computer and see if Audacity records it perfectly? If so, it's either the amp or the 8 track giving you the problem.

[john]

Check your sound chain to see if at any point a compressor is inserted. It is not uncommon for PC sound cards to have compression enabled for the inputs by default.

 

In this scenario at some point the input volume would be too high, triggering the compressor to reduce the aamplitude of the input signal to avoid distortion. After triggering this would then take some time to fade back to the uncompressed volume, where in all likelihood it would be retriggered. This would most likely be characterised by a sudden drop in volume and a slow return to original volume.

 

Solution, disable the compression, or adjust the threshold and type of compression

 

or

 

turn down the input signal so that it isn't triggering the compressor/limiter

 

[Hamish Grant]

Thanks for the help John,

It worked, I don't have that problem any more,

But there is one thing that's anoying me know and is that When I start recording through Audacity

and I listen to it over my Headphones the sound is delayed by half a second or so, 

do someone have any fix for that ?

 

Thanks

Hamish

[Kel]

That is pretty common with Audacity. Funny as it may sound, with a shorter cord connecting your guitar to the computer (via whatever) you may reduce this lag. Or conversely, record everything the same way and it will sound the same.

 

Audacity, being free comes with limitations, and this is one of them.

 

There are some much better products out there, Mixcraft and Reaper for example for around $75 and $60 respectively without paying big bucks for the next level. I haven't used Reaper much, but I read a lot of reviews saying it's the ants pants. I use Audacity too though, I've learned how to use it now and I don't like learning curves in anything!

 

I just had another thought, do you get the delay if you playback without the headphones?

 

Test it!

 

Cheers,

Kel