Audacity - Unable to record

[Tiber]

Since I have started using Windows 7 I can no longer record radio shows, etc from my PC using Audacity, (or anything else for that matter!)

Previously this was a simple matter of opening Audacity, making sure the correct input was being used and pressing the record button.

When I right click the speaker icon in the taskbar and open "Recording Devices" I see two Microphones and one CD Audio, nothing else.

I have read, elsewhere, conflicting reports about Microsoft bowing to pressure and making direct recording no longer possible. Is this the problem or is it something else?

Audacity is my application of choice for recording and editing and I would like to stick with it if I can.

Any advice/ideas/comments?

 

[nuluis]

Are you using an on-board sound card? It might be your hardware. I have an external m-audio sound card and audacity with no problems recording live or anything else.

 

[Tiber]

Are you using an on-board sound card? It might be your hardware. I have an external m-audio sound card and audacity with no problems recording live or anything else.

Thanks. That's interesting. I am using the soundcard installed on my laptop but the problem only arose with the installation of Windows 7.

At least I now know that Audacity should be able to record properly.

 

[Barman58]

I believe you may be the victim of the default Driver problem,

It is unfortunately not unknown for the out of box drivers for hardware to be without some functionality that is available with the customized drivers provided by the manufacturers.

This is often the case with sound cards, (and on-board chips), where the basic driver supplied to Microsoft for inclusion in the box or on Windows update, is without the "what you hear" type of recording input.

The only thing I can suggest is that you search for a driver from the motherboard manufacturer or chip supplier that provides this functionality. This may actually mean going to a Vista driver rather than the Windows 7 one as most manufacturers will not be issuing Windows 7 drivers directly until RTM if at all. (we all remember the Creative fiasco with Vista )

 

[nuluis]

Yeah i agree with barman. When i was testing 7 on my laptop a few weeks ago i had some major sound problems. I was lucky enough to get an update through windows 7 updates which made everything run hundreds. On top of that i also installed ASIO4ALL to get rid of latency and alot of 'clicks' and 'pops' with recording audio in cubase and midi reason. A bit off topic but yeah

 

[Tiber]

As I'm not really sure where to start looking for the relevant driver(s) and as everything worked just fine before I installed Windows 7, I may as well revert back to XP.

 

[nood]

There is a simple solution to this

Open Control Panel and click Sound
Click the Recording tab
In the white area right-click and tick Show Disabled Devices
Stereo Mix appears
Right-click and enable it
Restart Audacity

 

[jsm555]

I tried this and when I check "Show Disabled Devices," I don't see Stereo Mix (see http://stevesideas-storage.s3.amazonaws.com/Capture.JPG) - what am I doing wrong?

There is a simple solution to this

Open Control Panel and click Sound
Click the Recording tab
In the white area right-click and tick Show Disabled Devices
Stereo Mix appears
Right-click and enable it
Restart Audacity

 

[nood]

You're probably doing nothing wrong. I've since been unable to do this on another computer.
Hopefully the people who make Audacity will find a way.

 

[noyb]

If your Laptop has a Line out (headphone) and a separate Line/Mic in ...
And you can record from Line/Mike in ... (I can't tell from the HP specs ???) ..

Then you should be able to wire around ( Line out >> Line in) ....
With one of These .. and record what you're playing...
Until you can find a working driver with Stereo mix.

You will Not be able to use the internal speakers to monitor the audio ...
They will probably be shut off when you plug into Headphone out.

 

[jsm555]

That's an interesting idea - my pc has a "Line-in," as well as a "Mic-in," and it has something called SPDIF out - I don't know if SPDIF will work for the "Line-out" function or not - of course, I also have a "Speaker" output, but I suspect the level would be much too high on that connection -

I think I have one of those Y-adapters around here somewhere, guess I need to dig through the boxes - thanks for the idea, maybe it'll work!

If your Laptop has a Line out (headphone) and a separate Line/Mic in ...
And you can record from Line/Mike in ... (I can't tell from the HP specs ???) ..

Then you should be able to wire around ( Line out >> Line in) ....
With one of These .. and record what you're playing...
Until you can find a working driver with Stereo mix.

You will Not be able to use the internal speakers to monitor the audio ...
They will probably be shut off when you plug into Headphone out.

 

[Caslon]

Installing windows 7 probably overwrote or added some codecs that causes issues with Audacity. Try uninstalling your sound card drivers and reinstalling them. I've had to do this with other apps after installing Windows 7. Uninstall and re-install Audacity too

 

[SirSellig]

There is a simple solution to this

Open Control Panel and click Sound
Click the Recording tab
In the white area right-click and tick Show Disabled Devices
Stereo Mix appears
Right-click and enable it
Restart Audacity

Thanks Nood! This was the solution on my computer!

 

[pops1944]

its not windows 7 fault

I have a Gateway NV 52 Laptop Vista / upgraded to windows 7 Conexant HD Stereo Driver. I also would like to use Audacity to record thur the on-board sound chip. There is no stereo mixer or multimedia controller.

I have tried using the speaker out and mic. That won't work. The solution I found was to download Freecorder

Freecorder 5 - Free Video Downloader

 

[scarab91]

Are you using an on-board sound card? It might be your hardware. I have an external m-audio sound card and audacity with no problems recording live or anything else.

well i am using my m-audio synchroscience conectiv card, however when i try to record any mix i make i just hear straigh feedback or static. i dont know what is going on. everyone tells me to set the sample rates but i still have no idea on how to do that and its been going on to 4 days trying to figure this out. can you explain to me what you did?

 

[trndyteky]

I used to use Audacity on my older Win XP Pro laptop all the time to record radio shows but on my new Win 7 64 bit machine I was having all kinds of trouble (really low audio when played back, hissing, etc) when trying to record the same shows, until a few minutes ago. This is what I tried and it worked for me. I uninstalled it and when reinstalling I right clicked and selected the "Run as administrator" option. The playback volume still isn't perfect because I have to amplify it, but this setup is pretty close to what I was used to on my Win XP laptop. Hope it works for you guyss too.

 

[BHOLLOMAN2]

I've got the Audacity SE and have tried the "show disabled" solution but "stereo mix" never appers as a choice. Help if anyone has an idea. Win 7 64

 

[flemur13013]

I had the same problem (missing "Stereo Mix" for recording w/Win 7, on-board RealTek sound) and fixed it, after much fiddling, by trying various driver versions until it showed up. Apparently the absence of "Stereo Mix" is purposeful and done as part of the DMCA fiasco.

On the off chance that you've got a RealTek setup, here's the driver version that shows "Stereo Mix" for recording (from Device Mangler):
Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
Date: 8/30/2011
Version: 6.0.1.6449

 

[4wd]

Hello, my 1st post on this great forum (have been reading a lot). Had to register just to tell the tale about my quest for w7 stereomix recording (never had any problems with xp recording).

This pc is a HP laptop, amd + ADI soundmax. All sound worked well, with either Soundmax or MS driver. First, figured out quickly that the stock MS driver had no stereomix, hidden or not. The Soundmax driver had it hidden, & no problem in getting it active and setting it to default. But still no recording luck, neither Audacity or any other recording programs got any signal, & the stereomix barmeter in control panel > sound > recording was there, but showing no signal.

After some mad reinstallation of drivers and all kinds of experiments and 150 reboots with no luck, when on the verge of reinstalling w7 I found the solution for this particular case: the modem (yes, telephone line) was disabled in bios, and had influence on parts of the audio system. Got a clue when I looked at the 'communications' in sound control ("When windows detects communication activity" > mute all > reduce volume etc). Enabling the modem and restart: Stereo mix alive and well ! Jez.

This may not be of help to anyone with different systems, but it shows how frustrating the setup of stereo recording can be in w7, and it seems like different pc's may need their own special solution. But, at least I can safely say that whatyouhear recording in w7 is possible and works, just a matter of solving riddles.

 

[flemur13013]

...I found the solution for this particular case: the modem (yes, telephone line) was disabled in bios, ...

I have no sound when the "Power" service isn't running. Does that make any sense?