Audacity recording is too quiet
Question:
I downloaded Audocity some months ago and have just started using it to convert my dozens of cassette tapes.
I am having a certain amount of trouble getting a reasonably high level of sound from it. Should I be making any setting before pressing the red circle. The Audacity recording is very quiet but I don’t seem to have any static building up.
Answer:
So you’re trying to record in Audacity, but the recording is really quiet. There may be several problems causing your Audacity to record with low-volume playback:
1) Make sure your playback volume is turned up. The player machine (in your case, a cassette player) needs to be set at a medium to high volume level. Turn it up as high as you can without experiencing static in your Audacity recording. If the playback machine sound is low, you’ll get the low volume recording problem you describe.
2) Make sure you have the cables plugged in correctly. The cable connecting your cassette player and PC needs to be plugged into the right jacks. It should plug into the audio output of your cassette player (this is often the headphones jack), and should be plugged into the microphone input jack on your PC. Make sure this is correct.
3) Your recording settings in Audacity. Depending on your Windows setup, Audacity may have a center drop-down box that allows you to select your recording source. Make sure this is set to Microphone. Not that some PCs will not see this option.
4) Your recording settings in Microsoft Windows. In your PC’s audio settings (the location of this varies from computer to computer), you should have an option for “Recording volume”, “Recording sensitivity” or something similar. Make sure this is turned up high.
5) Bad cable. If you have one, try a different cable for the recording, and see if that makes a difference. This is not common.
6) Bad soundcard. Your soundcard (the PC’s capability to make audio recordings) may be going bad. This is not common. Troubleshooting this is beyond the scope of this email.
These suggestions should help you find out why Audacity is recording with low volume.
Eline:
I had the same question! It all doesn’t work for me!
23 January 2008, 8:30 amAndy Kaiser:
…And did you try the above suggestions? What happened?
John:
I had the exact same problem, all my Audacity recordings were extremely quiet. The problem was that although the recording seemed loud through the speakers, my computer’s volume setting was very low. Clicking on the volume icon next to the time and setting it to the maximum solved my dilemma.
9 October 2008, 10:59 amTib:
If using a mic, don’t forget to check the +20db mic boost in the volume settings. This option is for Windows and Linux users.
27 March 2009, 6:26 pmJukeBox:
i have the same version of audacity at my other house and i’m using the same mic but the sound waves for my recordings aren’t as large and are much quieter
their both windows 7 computers
30 March 2010, 9:58 pmAlan:
I had just this problem – in my Audacity preferences my sample rate was default 44.1 but 48 on my presonus firepod (or fp10). Set them both to 48kHz and bingo – full volume recording at last! You guys helped me to find it – thanks!
20 May 2010, 11:37 am