Audacity cannot detect sound - why?

zippy75

Can anyone help me with a problem I am having recording sound on my PC (radio programmes, etc.)?

I normally use Audacity for recording missed radio progs from Listen Again, sound from videos on websites, and the like.

I had no problems until about a week ago, when I clicked record on Audacity and just got a straight blue line (i.e it wasn't recording the sound that was playing). Also there is no movement on the input and output level meters either. There is no problem with the sounds on my PC as far as I can tell; music and video plays through the speakers OK and I can hear the system's sounds fine. But Audacity is not detecting sound from any source.

I have made no changes to my PC, so I can't identify anything that I could have done that's caused the problem.

I did a search on the Audacity forum and followed a few suggestions from there, but to no avail.

Steps I have taken:

Uninstalled Audacity, and re-installed it form the website.

Checked in 'Sounds and Audio Devices' in Control Panel, what was selected for Sound Playback and Sound Recording, and checked that this was the same in Audacity's Audio I/O preferences.


There were suggestions about changing the source of the sound (?) in Audacity, but I cannot see where you can do that on the interface

Further than that, I really have no idea what other stuff to mess about with.

I am wondering whether it's something I need to change in my PC's sound settings, as I am having the same problem with the Freecorder recorder too (no sound being recorded).

I am completely flummoxed, do any of you good people have any ideas?

Thanks,

Zippy

derrick

Not sure if this will be of use, as I am not that techie, I have just tried this and did the following; -

Open Audacity > Project > New Audio Track > then from the drop down box,select either Wave, or Record Master,(both of these worked for me), then click record whilst the audio source is playing.

HTH.

zippy75

Hi derrick, thanks for the reply,:beer:

I tried what you suggested, but I'm a bit confused...

I did Open Audacity > Project > New Audio Track > ...

but I don't get a drop down box as such, just the grey panel at the left hand side of the recording pane, is this what you mean?

Then I clicked the arrow at the side of 'Audio Track' in that grey box and it had Waveform (dB), Spectrum, and Pitch (EAC) in the list... is this what you meant or am I barking up the wrong tree? I can't see 'Record Master' anywhere

None of this made a difference though; it's still not detecting sound... :cool:

Zippy

geordie_lass_2

There were suggestions about changing the source of the sound (?) in Audacity, but I cannot see where you can do that on the interface

You should find it in the dropdown selector on the Mixer Toolbar

hth

There are some exceptions, which OS are you using?

zippy75

geordie_lass wrote: »

There were suggestions about changing the source of the sound (?) in Audacity, but I cannot see where you can do that on the interface

You should find it in the dropdown selector on the Mixer Toolbar

hth

There are some exceptions, which OS are you using?

Hi geordie lass, I am using Windows XP, and the Audacity is version 1.2.6

When you say the dropdown selector on the Mixer Toolbar, do you mean to the right of the speaker and microphone sliders? There is a drop down thing there but it is 'greyed out'. How do I enable it?

Zippy

zippy75

Does anyone have any other ideas what I could do?

It's so frustrating not being able to record radio programmes!

Thanks!!

Zippy

exegnomad

I record the radio programme first, using either the method described by bat999 in http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=786167 and converting from .ra to wav or mp3

or record with freecorder from http://applian.com/sound-recorder/ which takes longer but is easier, and records straight to wav or mp3.

Then (sometimes when I have collected a few radio programmes) I open the file in Audacity to do the editing. This way I also can go back to the original recording if I make a mistake when editing.

derrick

zippy75 wrote: »

Hi geordie lass, I am using Windows XP, and the Audacity is version 1.2.6

When you say the dropdown selector on the Mixer Toolbar, do you mean to the right of the speaker and microphone sliders? There is a drop down thing there but it is 'greyed out'. How do I enable it?

Zippy

Yes. to the right of the sliders, mine is not greyed out so don't know how to enable/disable, (or even if that is an option),the drop down box has options; -

Tad-In
Auxiliary
Microphone
Line-In
CD Audio
MIDI
CD Digital
SPDIF-In
Record Master

bordercars

have a read through this thread. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1590381&highlight=mp3

if that doesnt help then read the thread suggested by bat99 which is where i started from, i 2 had audacity problems it was a pc setting.

link to batt99 thread. it explains the whole process, from installing audacity to editing and where to find all the bbc radio progs.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=786167

£$&*"($£&(

Check your soundcard options in the Control Panel, Sounds and Audio Devices. In particular check the recording options. My box is greyed out but then that's because I use an external audio interface and I select different inputs on the device itself. Some soundcards, such as those from Creative, have their own mixer where you set input options.