Audacity Setup and Configuration
From Audacity Manual
Temporary Files
Most users have only one hard disk. However, if you have multiple hard disks, you will want to make sure that Audacity uses your largest or fastest hard disk to store audio. Open the Preferences (in the Edit menu, or the Audacity menu on Mac OS X) and click on the Directories tab. Make sure that the directory listed is on your preferred hard disk.
Setting up for recording
Getting sound into your computer
Locate the three colored analog audio ports on the back of your computer - almost every PC will have these as part of its built-in sound card. The red jack is for microphone input (usually mono, not stereo), the green jack is for line output (to your amplified speakers or headphones) and the blue jack is for stereo line input (like from a cassette player).
Back of a typical PC |
Close-up of the audio ports |
If you have a Mac, your audio ports will look something more like the image below. In this picture, the left jack is for stereo line input (like from a cassette player) and the right jack is for line output (to your amplified speakers or headphones).
For better audio quality, many people use an USB audio device. If you have such a device, attach your microphone and speakers to that device, and plug the device into your computer's USB port.
USB Cable and Plug |
USB Ports |
Using your computer's sound control panel, or the custom mixer application for your specific sound card, select the input device you want to use and verify that you are getting sound into the computer from that device. Do not proceed until you can do this. There is no point opening Audacity and trying to record something if you have not yet managed to get the sound you want into your computer.
Getting sound into Audacity
Open the Preferences (in the Edit menu, or the Audacity menu on Mac OS X) and click on Devices in the list on the left of the window. Choose your preferred sound card or audio device from the lists provided. Usually you should choose the same device for recording and playback, but it is possible for them to be different. For example you may want to choose your built-in sound card for playback and a USB microphone for recording.
After you have set your preferred audio device, look at the Mixer Toolbar:
The two sliders control the volume levels on your sound card; the selector on the left controls the output volume and the selector on the right controls the input source for recording (such as "Line In" or "Mic"). Adjust these appropriately.
Start your audio source then click on the right-hand meter (the recording level meter) to start monitoring the input. If the meters start indicating an input signal but you can't hear it, click on
and make sure that option is checked.Adjust the input slider on the mixer toolbar so that the recording meter reaches to approximately the -6 dB mark on the loudest passages.
See the Meter Toolbar page for more details on adjusting and monitoring the recording level.
Setting up for playback
Once you have successfully set up Audacity for recording and can hear the input you are also set up for playback. You can use the output slider on the Mixer Toolbar to control the volume at which you listen to your Audacity project.
Note that the playback meters in the Meter Toolbar do not change as you adjust the output slider: these meters always indicate the volume of the mix of your Audacity project.
Project Sample Rate
The sampling rate, sample rate, or sampling frequency defines the number of samples per second (or per other unit) taken from a continuous signal to make a discrete signal. For time-domain signals, it can be measured in samples per second.
Now you are ready to play and record audio.