Audacity-devel input monitoring From: Joshua Haberman - 2002-04-18 07:06:13 I would like to write a few modeless windows that would let you monitor input.
I just received a comment from voice talent Tristan Wright on my original post about the JACK audio router utility. He was trying to get JACK to work with Audacity, but wasn’t having much (any?) success, so I decided to dig into it myself. Here’s what I found…
The thing with Mac apps and audio is that they don’t all behave the same way. Some establish a constant connection to the system, while others appear to make and break that connection on an as-needed basis. In Reaper, for example, both input and output connections are inactive by default, and only activate when a track is armed for recording, or audio is being played. Audacity is similar, but even more granular. Unlike Reaper, where both input and output connections activate for either recording or playback, Audacity activates only the output connection when playing, and only the input connection when either recording or monitoring. This has some annoying repercussions, which I’ll detail later.
Setup
Open JackRouter, click “Start” on the JackPilot window, then click “Routing” to open the Connections Manager window.
In Audacity, be sure the Recording Volume slider is still all the way up and the Recording Level meter is on (verify it does NOT show 'Click to start monitoring'). You may see the green Recording Level bars moving a little bit, even if it's quiet. The Device toolbar is displayed by default in a new installation of Audacity. If the Device toolbar is not visible, click on View Toolbars. You may want to expand the width of Device Toolbar by dragging right on the drag handle Resizer. Click on the Recording Channels dropdown menu and choose whether to record in stereo or mono. Notice the two audio level indicators in the upper part of the screen. Click on the recording level meter, the left most meter. This will now start Audacity monitoring audio from the radio and you can see and adjust the audio level coming into the computer by sliding the level control in the upper right near the microphone icon. Monitor in Audacity – Now that you followed the previous steps, it’s time to face the crucial step on how to monitor audio in audacity. First, open the application and see to it that there is an “Edit” section in the upper left corner. Scan the tools and click on “Preferences.”.
Next, open Audacity. If you have the device toolbar visible in Audacity, simply change the drop-down choices for both playback and recording to “JackRouter”. If this toolbar is not visible, you can either turn it on (View –> Toolbars –> Device Toolbar), or open Audacity’s preferences and change the same options in the Devices section.
Recording
To get JACK to see Audacity’s input connection, click the down-arrow button next to the recording level meters, and choose “Start Monitoring.” In JACK’s Connections Manager window, you should now see an Audacity entry in the Receive Ports column. Click “system” under Send Ports, then double-click “Audacity” under Receive Ports, and JACK will connect them.
When you return to Audacity, you should see a signal in the recording meter (assuming that your audio interface is properly set up in JACK). Click Audacity’s record button, and you’ll be recording whatever you’ve got fed into JACK.
Now press Audacity’s stop button, and notice what happens in JACK: Audacity disappears from the Receive Ports column. At first glance, you might assume that you have to reconnect Audacity every time you want to record, which would be quite annoying to say the least. However, just hit record again in Audacity, and you’ll see that all is well. The connection is still there!
…for now.
Wait…what? What’s this “for now” business? Well, we’ll get to that in a bit.
Playback
Assuming that you’ve made a test recording by following the steps above, let’s now set things up for playback. To do this, you’ll need to start playing the sound in Audacity first. This activates the output connection, and you’ll now see Audacity in the Send Ports column of the JACK routing window. Click it, then double click “system” in the Receive Ports column, and you should hear your sound playing back through whatever audio interface you’ve set up in JACK.
What happens in JACK when the sound is finished playing? Once again Audacity disappears from the Send Ports column. However, just start playing again, and you’ll see that the connection has been maintained.
…for now.
For Now?!?
This is where Audacity’s way of handling its audio connections becomes a bit of a pain. Unfortunately you will not be able to make both recording and playback connections only once at the beginning of a session. This is because making the playback connections for Audacity in JACK breaks the recording connections, and vice versa.
As long as you keep recording — no matter how many times you start and stop recording, on one track or several tracks — the recording connection will remain. However, the moment your client wants to hear playback (assuming the original setup where you’re routing things through Skype for someone else to hear), you will have to switch to JACK to make the playback connections, sending Audacity’s audio to both your system (so you can hear it) and Skype (so your client can hear it). Once playback is done, you’ll have to re-establish the recording connections before you continue.
Yeah, it’s a pain, but it works if you’re willing to live with it. If you need to do this kind of thing a lot, I strongly suggest looking into other audio recording software. If you can’t already tell, I’m a big fan of Reaper. It’s inexpensive, it’s super powerful, and it means that you make your connections in JACK only once.
You can make a build system to Run python code in the terminal where you can give input to the program from STDIN. This is the build system I have created for sublime text 3. Go to Tools-Build System. Sublime text msys2. The terminal is so useful when you use Python or Javascript ecc. Sublime text is my favourite text editor. Wouldn’t it be great if we could use the cmd from sublime text with the click of a button, having it opened on the directory of the file we’re working on sublime? It could make our daily life a loto easier. Terminus is heavily inspired by TerminalView another Sublime Text package that adds a terminal to a view. What I love about Terminus is you can add a toggleable panel or a view.
(On a side note, I just noticed that the images in my original post are all broken — an unfortunate oversight as I was moving things from my old web site. I’ll get those fixed ASAP, but it may be a few days. As an alternative, may I recommend watching the video version?)
“I used Audacity to copy tapes into digital audio files before; however, the Audacity recording is not working at all now, how can I fix this problem?” Audacity is an open-source audio solution with extensive functions including recording. It is a good way to convert music tapes into digital files or download online songs. According to our survey, some users reported that the recording function is not always working. Therefore, we share the troubleshooting to help users fix this problem quickly.
Part 1: Why Audacity Not Recording?
The common causes why Audacity is not recording include:
- 1. Audacity cannot recognize your microphone.
- 2. The recording settings are incorrect.
- 3. Something is wrong on your sound card.
- 4. Audacity is outdated or bug.
Part 2: 5 Solutions to Fix Audacity Not Recording
Solution 1: Check Microphone
Firstly, check your microphone and cable no matter you use internal or external device. Then update sound card driver. When Audacity is not recording on Windows 10, upgrade to version 1803 and enable the microphone in your Privacy settings: Open Settings in Start menu, go to Privacy, and turn on Microphone.
Solution 2: Show Disabled Devices
The issue that Audacity is not recording on Windows is usually due to the sound input is disabled.
Step 1: Right-click on the audio icon in the system tray and choose Recording Devices to open the popup dialog.
Step 2: Locate the blank area and right-click you mouse. Then check both Show Disabled Devices and Show Disconnected Devices.
Step 3: Right-click on Stereo Mix and Enable it.
Solution 3: Set up Audacity Correctly
On Mac:
Step 1: Go to the Audacity menu and choose Preferences.
Step 2: Locate the Devices tab and select the desired microphone from the Devices option under Recording.
Step 3: Back to the main interface, and switch to MME in the Audio Host option at upper left side.
On Windows:
Step 1: Choose Preferences from Edit menu in Audacity when it is not recording.
Step 2: Set the microphone in Devices tab and click OK.
Step 3: Then choose MME from Audio Host in main interface.
Solution 4: Use Simpler Audio Recorder：AnyMP4 Screen Recorder
Audacity is not the only way to record audio on desktop. AnyMP4 Screen Recorder is the best alternative to record audio on Windows and Mac. Moreover, it presets options according to your hardware.
Basic Features of the Best Alternative to Audacity
- 1. Record any audio in a single click on PC and Mac.
- 2. Enhance audio quality automatically while recording.
- 3. Offer extensive bonus tools, like audio trimming.
Needless to say, it is the best option to record audio when Audacity is not working.
How to Fix Audacity Not Recording with the Best Alternative to Audacity
Step 1: Install the best audio recorder
When Audacity is not recording, install the best alternative audio recorder to your hard disk. Then launch it and pick Audio Recorder to open the main interface. Advanced users can click the Gear icon to open the Preferences dialog and set custom options. For beginner, the audio recorder will optimize them according to your system.
Step 2: Record audio
There are two audio input, System Sound and Microphone. Enable and disable each one based on your need. To record online music, for example, turn on System Sound while disable Microphone. If you intend to capture sound through microphone, toggle System Sound off and turn on Microphone. Hit the REC button to start recording audio.
Step 3: Save audio recording
When recording is done, click the Stop button to open it in Preview window. Pre-listen to the recording and remove unwanted parts with the Clip tool. Finally, click on the Save button to save the audio recording to your hard drive.
More audio recording software like Audacity are here.
Solution 5: How to Fix Audacity Not Recording Online
In addition to desktop audio recorder software, you can also try online alternative when Audacity is not recording. AnyMP4 Free Online Audio Recorder is the simplest alternative to Audacity.
Main Features of the Best Alternative to Audacity Online
- 1. Record audio from your system or microphone.
- 2. Produce the best audio quality as much as possible.
- 3. Available to all major browsers, like Safari, Chrome, etc.
How to Record Audio without Audacity
Step 1: Open your browser, put https://www.anymp4.com/free-online-audio-recorder/ into address bar and hit Enter key.
Monitoring Audacity In Headphones
Step 2: Hit the big button in the webpage and get the launcher.
Step 3: Then enable or turn off System sound and Microphone according to your situation. Click the REC button to begin recording audio.
Step 4: Wait for audio recording to complete and hit the Stop button. Then save and download the recording to your computer.
Part 3: FAQs of Audacity Not Recording
Why is my microphone not working on Audacity?
Audacity can co-work with most microphones on market. If your microphone is not working on Audacity, chances are that settings are not proper. You can correct it with our guide.
How long can Audacity record?
Generally speaking, Audacity does not have any limit on audio recording length. However, the output audio file will become very large and take up a lot of space. We suggest you to record no more than one hour.
Can you record multiple tracks on Audacity?
Audacity is able to record multiple tracks if you set it up correctly. To do it, open the Preferences dialog from Edit menu on PC or Audacity menu on Mac. Go to Recording and check Overdub: Play other tracks while recording new ones. Now, you can do it if your machine has an I/O box and is fast enough.
Mic Monitoring Audacity
Conclusion
Audacity Monitoring No Sound
This article has told you how to fix the problem that Audacity is not recording on Windows or Mac. As an open-source audio solution, Audacity is popular around the world. However, it is not a perfect audio recorder and the setup process is complicated. Therefore, we suggest you to try a simpler alternative, such as AnyMP4 Screen Recorder. It is not only easier than Audacity, but also able to produce better audio quality. If you have more questions, please write it down below.
Comments are closed.