Cassette to Audacity recording problem with heavy static
Question:I tried to convert audio cassette tape to these formats by following your instructions, using the free Audacity software and a 3.5mm male-male stereo audio cable. But when I record a song I get terrible static that is louder than the music.
Tried several cassette tapes and three different cassette players. All gave the same result – static. Tried the Noise Removal under Effect but didn’t make any difference. Also tried the volume control on player – decreased the volume.
Do I have some setting wrong?
Answer:
So you’re trying to record using Audacity, but you’re getting static in your recording. This is a problem! The tricky part is that the static during recording can be caused by a lot of things. You’re going to have to a little bit of troubleshooting to find out where the problem is. Try this advice and see if it helps you narrow down or fix your Audacity recording problem:
You say you’re getting static with the recording. I assume you mean that the thing you’re trying to record can be heard in your final recording, but is overwhelmed by the static. This means that you’re plugging into the correct recording jack on your PC, so we know you’ve cabled it up correctly.
1) The recording cable between cassette player and the PC recorder: The first thing that jumps into my head is the cable itself between your player and recorder. If you have another one laying around, try that. Or purchase a new one. An investment of just a few dollars will make sure your cable isn’t at fault.
2) The cassette player: You’ve ruled out the player being at fault, since you’ve tried multiple players. However, you didn’t mention what output jack you’re using on the players. If you’re using the “Headphone” jack, try using the “Line out” or “Aux” jack, if one is available. If you’re already using the “Aux” or “Line out” jack, then try using the “Headphone” jack instead
3) The PC recorder: On your recorder, if you’re using the “Line in” or “Aux in” jack, record using the “Microphone” jack instead (and make sure the volume is turned way down on your player before doing so). If you’re already using the “Microphone” jack to do your cassette conversion, then use the “Line in” or “Aux in” jack instead, if available. This will allow you to see if the recording device soundcard is damaged in any way.
4) Make sure that Audacity is set to record what you think it should be recording: In some systems (it depends on your Windows configuration), you’ll have a drop-down box that allows you to select what Audacity records from. It may say something like “Microphone” or “Line in”. If you have this drop-down box, make sure it’s selected to record from the same jack your recording cable is using. (You don’t want to be recording from your PC microphone if you’re actually plugged in to the “Line in” jack! That could give similar symptoms to what you’re experiencing.) If you don’t have this box available, ignore this step; I believe it means your PC has only one recording input option, and Audacity is using it.
Jed:
I’m encountering a similar problem, but it’s intermittent, so I don’t know if it’s the same thing the questioner was running into. I have a USB tape deck (Ion Tape2PC), and I’m connecting via USB cable to my Mac, with Audacity 1.2.5 (the recommended version for my Mac, according to the Audacity site). Everything works perfectly for a half-hour or so, and then suddenly there’ll be a huge wash of static almost drowning out the music, and the static won’t stop as long as I keep recording.
The weirdest part of this is that if I stop recording but continue to listen to the incoming audio via the “Monitor Input” option, the static goes away.
I kinda think the static may occur when Audacity is low on memory, or low on disk space, or something. It happens without the computer or the cables being moved, so I don’t think it’s a loose connection. It happened once when I started playing a YouTube video at the same time as importing, but that’s the only time there’s been a clear cause-and-effect.
Sometimes quitting and restarting Audacity makes the static go away; sometimes not. If I go away and leave it alone for a while and then come back to it, it usually seems to start working again. I suppose it’s possible something could be overheating, but that seems unlikely.
Anyway, this isn’t a request for support or answers; just providing you with some extra data, in case it’s useful.
30 January 2008, 12:33 amAndy Kaiser:
Interesting, Jed, and thanks for the info!
I’d be curious to know if Audacity does that to you when not using your Ion Tape2PC as the playback device. If no, the Ion may be at fault. If yes, then you may have discovered a bug in the Mac version of Audacity.
casper:
Try removing recording when your mac is running on a battery with power adapter disconnected.
1 June 2008, 6:57 amcasper:
oops, a typo – Try recording with power adapter disconnected – mac’s power adaptor is a source of this static.
1 June 2008, 6:58 amColin Middleton:
Jed,
I have just seen you comments from last January. I am experiencing exactly the same problems using a Lenco turntable with a USB connection to my computer. It records perfectly for a variable amount of time and then the “huge wash of static”arrives and completely blocks out everything else. Solution, starting and stopping, is also just as you describe. I have looked around many settings, cables etc but cannot see any obvious causes for this.
Did you ever find out what the cause, and hopefully solution, for the problem is?
Regards Colin Middleton
17 June 2008, 4:41 amDidier:
Colin and Jed,
Try restarting your computer with your slave drive as your 1st boot device. Install only the necessary software on your slave drive.
15 July 2008, 1:20 pmBruce:
I too have the problem. Stanton T.90 USB turn table. OSX 10.5.5 iMac, 4GB memory, Audacity 1.3.5d
If I hit the “pause” button, while recording, so sound continues to come out through the speakers, static stops.
Same if I use headphones. I’m with the low memory theory. I went to a web page (Gracenote) while recording that loaded a large java script and the static started. Now it starts frequently. Other days record albums w/no issue. Elsewhere a post mentioned “being dead” once the static starts. Memory leak somewhere?
No advice here, just commiseration.
Cheers all,
20 October 2008, 8:23 pm