Mixer Toolbar
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).
- If the sound card/USB interface/OS does not give Audacity control of its input level, then the Audacity input level slider will have no effect on the recording level meters, but will affect the level recorded to the track. In order for the recorded level to match the indicated level the input slider must be set to maximum. The recording level meters are pre-fader in this case.
- Update Nov 22/09 Recent changes to the code now cause the input volume slider to be pinned to maximum when it does not have control of the system input volume. At this time it is still enabled and the user can attempt to adjust it, but it always jumps back to maximum. See the discussion on -devel.
- If the sound card/USB interface/OS does give Audacity control of it's input level then the recorded level does match the indicated level and the meters appear to be "post-fader", but this is an illusion. In fact the meters are still "pre-fader" but input slider does not scale the volume between the input (as indicated on the meters) and the track since it is already controller the level sent to Audacity by the OS or sound card driver.
- If the sound card/USB interface/OS does not give Audacity control of its output level then the output level meters are "post-fader". Turning down the output slider will cause the meters to fail to detect clipping.
- If the sound card/USB interface/OS does give Audacity control of its output level then the output level meters are "pre-fader". This has the advantage that the output meters will always show clipping, and the disadvantage that Audacity affects the global system output level.
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
Details for Mac OS X
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?
Bill:
- No current Mac has a mic input jack. Some early Minis didn't even have a line input jack.
- Let's not confuse the Device Toolbar with the Mixer Toolbar's "Input Source" menu
- The Device Toolbar is where you will see "Core Audio: Built-in Audio" and any other capabilities you may have added to your machine.
- On my G5 I also see my USB mic, "Soundflower" (a system extension that allows internal audio routing), and an "aggregate" input source I created using Audio Midi Setup.
- On my Powerbook my only choice is "Core Audio: Built-in Audio"
- The Mixer Toolbar's "Input Source" will vary according to what is selected in the Device Toolbar input menu.
- For all choices other than "Core Audio: Built-in Audio" the Input Source menu disappears.
- When "Core Audio: Built-in Audio" is selected in the Devices toolbar:
- On my G5 I get "Line Input" and "Digital Input"
- On my PowerBook I get "Line Input" and "Internal Microphone"
- On an iMac I would speculate that one would get all three. (I can check, but not right now)
- The Device Toolbar is where you will see "Core Audio: Built-in Audio" and any other capabilities you may have added to your machine.
- For recording "computer playback" one solution is "Soundflower". It's free and GPL'd. The documentation is sparse but it can be made to direct computer playback to Audacity. I could document the specific steps if we want to.
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"?
Bill: Sorry, that could have been clearer. The Mixer Toolbar's Input Selector menu shows the input capabilities of the built-in audio of your computer. I've re-written that section. My original point was that there was no use selecting "Digital Input" if you didn't have an optical digital cable connected to the Line Input jack.
On Mac OS X, the Input Selector will be available only if you have chosen "Core Audio: Built-in Audio" in the Device Toolbar, or "Built-in Audio" in the Recording tab of Devices Preferences. These may include: Line Input, Digital Input, and/or Internal Microphone, depending on the capabilities of your computer. Macs do not have microphone input jacks.
If you have selected another input device (in the Devices Toolbar or Devices Preferences), such as a USB microphone or external USB audio interface, the Input Selector will not be visible.
Macs cannot record "computer playback" without the addition of third-party add-ons such as Soundflower.
See this page on the Audacity Wiki for more details.
Details for Linux
If you are recording through a sound server like JACK or PulseAudio the input selector will not be available. You can use a program specific to your sound server to control input selection and audio routing.
