User:Billw58/Windows
Most of the following is lifted from
the wiki
12May11: Restructured with headings; added images; removed references to Mixer toolbar input selector.
Windows Vista and Windows 7
It is common on Vista and 7 that not all recording inputs are automatically enabled in the Recording tab. This means they are invisible in that tab, and also invisible to recording applications like Audacity. So you need to make them visible, then enable and make default the one you want to use.
The quickest way to access the system mixer is to right-click over the speaker icon in the . Or click (if you're using "Classic View" there's a direct link to "Sound" in the Control Panel), then click on the "Recording" tab.
- Right-click anywhere inside the Recording tab and choose "Show disabled devices" then right-click again and check "Show Disconnected Devices"
- For a device having a physical input like line-in or microphone, connect the required cable and make sure it fits tightly - a physical device not connected may show as "currently unavailable"
- Right-click specifically over the input device you want to record with (for example, line-in or "Stereo Mix"), and if visible, choose "Enable"
- Right-click once again over the input device you want to record with, and choose "Set as Default Device"
- Right-click once again over the input device you want to record with, click Properties then the Levels tab and ensure the volume slider is turned up
- Optionally, right-click again over the desired device and choose "Set as Default Communication Device" - this is desirable if you are using a microphone for Skype or other VoIP program; also it is sometimes another required step to make the "stereo mix" device work
- To prevent possible sample rate or recording channel discrepancies, right-click again and click Properties then the Advanced tab, and make sure the "Default format" matches both with the project rate bottom left of the Audacity screen, and with the number of "recording channels" in the Device Toolbar or Recording section of Devices Preferences; now click "OK"
- Click the Playback tab of Sound, right-click over the "Speakers" or "Headphones" device for your computer sound device and set it as "Default Device" or "Default Communication Device" as required; then right-click and click Properties then the Advanced tab, and set "Default Format" to match with the settings in Step 7 above
Windows XP and ealier
Right-click over the speaker icon in the . Or you can click . Please note that this Control Panel applet is called "Sounds and Multimedia" in Windows 2000 and ME, and "Multimedia" in Windows 98, so looks slightly different to the image below.
First, click on the Audio tab, and in the "Sound Recording" panel, select the correct "Default device" from the dropdown list, then click "Volume".
Select your input by putting a mark in the "Select" check box, and turn up the volume slider:
Note that input sources are sometimes available to use, but hidden. If you cannot see the input you're looking for, click "Volume" under the "Sound Recording" panel again, then Options > Properties. Select your sound device in the Mixer Device panel, and ensure all the boxes in the window below are checked:
Click OK. If the input you wanted was in the window list, it will now be available to select in the recording Volume Control.
If the input you want cannot be made available or made to work , or if you want the convenience on XP or earlier of selecting your input in Audacity's Mixer Toolbar , see the Updating Sound Device Drivers page on the Audacity wiki.
