Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Tip: To find your answer more easily, try using CTRL + F ( COMMAND + F on Mac ) to search this page.
22Sep09: (Peter) FAQs in manual updated to be in line with those on the main Audacity site (which had themselves been updated).
24Sep09: (Peter) FAQ page broken into one page per section - based on the pre-existing section headers in the FAQ. This page probably needs its layout changing now - maybe to just be a simple index with pointers to the relevant FAQ pages?
Gale 25 Sep09: I do want this page to link to both the index page for each FAQ section and to the individual questions in that section. But having the headings in this page as links to the pages for the FAQ sections is very non-standard. That means if we have headings on this page they need a link to the FAQ section index underneath (as per the "Recording" section here now). In that case we keep the Table of Contents (__TOC__) . Or, we use (__NOTOC__) to hide the Wiki-generated table of contents and mimic the Wiki TOC by having no headings, so it looks like "Opening and Saving Files" and "Editing" here now. I prefer mimicking the TOC.
- 3 Why does the computer reboot or show a blue screen stop message when I play or record in Audacity?
Ideas for new FAQs
Outstanding suggestions
- Steve 26Jul11: Perhaps there could be a section for using Audacity with other applications, such as Skype, YouTube, DAWs and Games
- How do I avoid the echo when using my USB microphone? (software playthrough)
- First track is being recorded onto the next track (Windows sound card set to record Stereo Mix).
- Why is there a very low level hiss on Exported files? (dither)
- How can I import WAV files from portable players?
- How can I make my recording so it plays back in both speakers?
- I recorded my tapes/LPs in stereo so why do I get only the left in both speakers?
- Why does my recording keep pausing automatically, or pressing Pause has no effect?
- Peter 4May12: I have produced a draft of a generalised "Stalled Recording" FAQ as Gale suggested - it's temporarily on my user page awaiting publication: User:PeterSampson/FAQ - Why does my recording keep pausing automatically or why is my recording cursor stuck?
- Most likely you have enabled Sound Activated Recording by mistake and the recording input is below the threshold level at which recording is set to start (you will notice that the blue Pause button is depressed after you press Record). The "latency correction" message will only appear when you stop a recording that you were trying to start from time zero.
You can uncheck Sound Activated Recording either in the Recording Preferences as above (click OK to save the change) or in the Transport Menu.
May be better to generalise this as a "stalled recording" FAQ drawing from http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Troubleshooting_Recordings#stuck and http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/USB_turntables#freeze and also mentioning the Linux stall when recording from pulse with Software Playthrough.
- When I try to record I get only a flat line and no sound. Why?
- Can I use parts of Audacity source code in my school project?
- Can I include screenshots of Audacity in my book, or link to Audacity on my web site?
- How do I record Skype or other VoIP programs with Audacity?
- It's hard to capture both sides of a Skype call with Audacity - Koz always recommends Pamela
- Why does Audacity hang when I launch it?
- Why do my longer projects always crash but not the short ones?
- Do I have to uninstall the stable version of Audacity to use the Beta? How do I upgrade Audacity to a newer version? (or Do I have to delete the old version first before upgrading?)
- Or now: Do I have to un-install the legacy 1.2 version in orfer to install and use Version 2?
- Gale 18 Oct11 pasting verbatim answer just given on [email protected]:
By default, 1.3.13 http://audacity.googlecode.com/files/audacity-win-unicode-1.3.13.exe will install into a different "Audacity 1.3 Beta (Unicode)" directory in Program Files. This gives you the option to either retain 1.2.6 or uninstall it from the "Audacity" directory in Program Files.
As 1.2.6 no longer supports Windows 7, it is recommended to uninstall 1.2.6 and install 1.3.13 to its default "Audacity 1.3 Beta (Unicode)" directory. However the two versions have different groups of settings so in principle if you install them to different directories you can run one version or the other.
We do not recommend installing 1.3.13 over the top of (in the same directory as) 1.2.6 because it will leave three duplicate plug-ins and two different uninstallers (unins000.exe for 1.2 and unins001.exe for 1.3) but it is not harmful if you really want to do it.
- Peter 23Apr12: Do we need this one - or rather do we need a 1.2.x=>2.0.0 (or current Audacity)
- Gale 18 Oct11 pasting verbatim answer just given on [email protected]:
