Mixer Toolbar

ToDo Needs explaining that input selector is unavailable on Vista and usually on OS X

Bill: This is so complex and so system-dependent that I'm not sure we want to touch this at all. For example on my G5 system:

• In System Preferences > Sound my only choice is "Line In: Built-in audio"
• In Audacity Preferences > Devices > Recording my only choice is "Built-in Audio"
• But in Audacity's Input Device Selector I can choose "Line In" or "Digital In".
• to find the "Digital In" option for Built-in Audio I have to open Apple's Audio Midi Setup application.

Maybe a link to the wiki for those that are having difficulty?

JC:

• +1 that we need a link to the wiki. We are likely to miss some critical case and they could be reading a snapshot of help.
• However, we need to mention at least something about how to solve it here too... possibly an alert box for (a) Vista and (b) OSX giving the most common resolution and a link to the wiki 'for more details' . We need Gale to suggest wording. Alert boxes are supposed to be short so we'd be looking for 2, max 3 sentences in each box, including the 'for more details' text.

Output Volume Slider: Sets the playback volume.

Input Volume Slider: Sets the recording volume.

Input Device Selector: Depending on your system, may allow selection of different inputs such as microphone or line-in (for devices such as record players or cassette decks).

The sliders will jump to zero (left most position), or appear to be inoperative (have no effect) if the sound card drivers do not give Audacity access to these functions. This is the case with some digital I/O cards from RME. Sound cards that have a custom mixer application rather than the standard OS volume control usually won't work with this function of Audacity.

On these cards you will not be able to control anything with these sliders. You will need to set up the recording levels and the recording source using the card's mixer program.

Output Slider

This is the left hand slider that lets you control the output level of your sound card. It actually controls the output setting of the sound card driver.

Should your output sound distorted, this is not the first place to look. You might get lucky though, so give it a quick slide. Usually however, the distortion comes from the mix of your project clipping. You actually need to reduce the level of your tracks. It is suggested you reduce every track by the same amount.

Input Slider

This is the right hand slider that lets you control the level of the input selected in the Input Selector. It controls the recording level setting of the sound card driver.

What you record is also determined in the mixer settings on your sound card. There you can switch certain sources on and off, such as the Line Input, the Microphone Input or the CD Audio.

After selecting the corresponding input source with the Input Selector, you can control the level of the recording with this slider. Use the VU Meters on the Meter Toolbar to get the correct recording level.

Should your input sound distorted, you should lower this slider until no distortion can be heard, and the VU Meters do not hit the end of their travel.

Input Selector

Pick the input source you wish to record from. The items in the list are provided by the sound card driver, so the options will vary with different sound cards. The image shows an example of the options you might see, in this case with an an ESS 1969 sound card with the Line In input selected.

Details for Mac OS X

James, is this what you had in mind? - Bill

Looks OK. Text is too long for an alert box, so yes, normal text is fine. Really Gale should approve this (and add Vista text). I'm a WinXP only person so don't know what the correct guidance is. -- James Gale: It's "OS X" according to Apple (changed).

Has this been verified with Koz? Is there no mic input? (I don't know, I'm asking). If there isn't, given some people are going from Win > Mac, that should be stated. What about the built-in mic? We also want to say there is no input for recording "computer playback". We're asked that all the time.

In early Betas, it was still very hit and miss if you got a source in the Mixer Toolbar or only "Default Source". Is getting a source now reliable?

The below confuses me. Are you saying there is no line-in in Mixer Toolbar if the jack is only analogue? But that if it supports optical but only has analogue attached, it just shows "Line In"?

On Mac OS X, the Input Selector will be available if you have chosen "Core Audio - Built-in Audio" in the Device Toolbar, or "Built-in Audio" in the Recording tab of Devices Preferences, but only if your Line Input jack supports both analog and optical digital inputs. In that case the Input Selector will offer the choices of "Line In" and "Digital In". Unless you have an optical digital cable connected to your Line Input jack, you will want to select "Line In".

If you have selected another input device, such as a USB microphone, the Input Selector will not be visible.

See this page on the Audacity Wiki for more details.