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Can hear line-in but can't record it

V

Vince

Flightless Bird
I am having trouble recording a cassette player onto XP.

(1) I play a cassette recorder into my PC's line-in and I can hear it
clearly in the speakers.

(2) I select line-in on XP's recording control (SNDVOL32.EXE).

(3) However when I press the record button on Audacity, there is no audio
signal displayed on the graph.

I also tried XP's Sound recorder (SNDREC32.EXE) and Windows Media Player.

Can you advise?
 
S

Shenan Stanley

Flightless Bird
Vince wrote:
> I am having trouble recording a cassette player onto XP.
>
> (1) I play a cassette recorder into my PC's line-in and I can hear
> it clearly in the speakers.
>
> (2) I select line-in on XP's recording control (SNDVOL32.EXE).
>
> (3) However when I press the record button on Audacity, there is no
> audio signal displayed on the graph.
>
> I also tried XP's Sound recorder (SNDREC32.EXE) and Windows Media
> Player.
>
> Can you advise?

Plug it into the MIC instead.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
 
J

Jonno

Flightless Bird
On 21:46 30 Jan 2010, Shenan Stanley wrote:

> Vince wrote:
>> I am having trouble recording a cassette player onto XP.
>>
>> (1) I play a cassette recorder into my PC's line-in and I can hear
>> it clearly in the speakers.
>>
>> (2) I select line-in on XP's recording control (SNDVOL32.EXE).
>>
>> (3) However when I press the record button on Audacity, there is no
>> audio signal displayed on the graph.
>>
>> I also tried XP's Sound recorder (SNDREC32.EXE) and Windows Media
>> Player.
>>
>> Can you advise?
>
> Plug it into the MIC instead.

(A) I turned the cassette player right down and played into the PC's mic
input. A VU meter utility shows nicely fluctuating audio levels and the
recording is generally ok but sound qaulity is poor.

(8) Next I selected the PC's line input instead of the mic (and removed
all input/output leads). This time the recording level went to max. I
still get a max reading with the line-in sensitivity turned down to the
first "click" in XP's Recording Control but when I turn it a tiny bit
lower, the max level vanishes. Max or not, I don't hear the input audio
and nothing gets recorded.

What's happening?
 
J

Jerry Ed

Flightless Bird
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=124907

-A mic input accepts signals from microphones or other devices that output
at "mic level", which is very, very low. So those inputs include a preamp,
which boosts the mic level by roughly 4 to 10 times (depending on
impedance/operating level, as discussed below), so it can be recorded at a
suitable level.

-A line input is a signal that is already at the higher level that a mic
preamp would boost a mic to, such as a CD player, iPod (line out, not
headphone out, which is much hotter), camcorder output etc.

-A mic plugged into a line input will be almost inaudible. Something like a
CD player plugged into a mic input will distort horribly. That's why the two
level standards exist.

JE

"Jonno" <johnno@mail.invalid> wrote in message
news:Xns9D10E03DA65C7CA7D4@unknown.sj.astraweb.com...
> On 21:46 30 Jan 2010, Shenan Stanley wrote:
>
>> Vince wrote:
>>> I am having trouble recording a cassette player onto XP.
>>>
>>> (1) I play a cassette recorder into my PC's line-in and I can hear
>>> it clearly in the speakers.
>>>
>>> (2) I select line-in on XP's recording control (SNDVOL32.EXE).
>>>
>>> (3) However when I press the record button on Audacity, there is no
>>> audio signal displayed on the graph.
>>>
>>> I also tried XP's Sound recorder (SNDREC32.EXE) and Windows Media
>>> Player.
>>>
>>> Can you advise?
>>
>> Plug it into the MIC instead.
>
> (A) I turned the cassette player right down and played into the PC's mic
> input. A VU meter utility shows nicely fluctuating audio levels and the
> recording is generally ok but sound qaulity is poor.
>
> (8) Next I selected the PC's line input instead of the mic (and removed
> all input/output leads). This time the recording level went to max. I
> still get a max reading with the line-in sensitivity turned down to the
> first "click" in XP's Recording Control but when I turn it a tiny bit
> lower, the max level vanishes. Max or not, I don't hear the input audio
> and nothing gets recorded.
>
> What's happening?
 
M

ManyBeers

Flightless Bird
"Vince" wrote:

> I am having trouble recording a cassette player onto XP.
>
> (1) I play a cassette recorder into my PC's line-in and I can hear it
> clearly in the speakers.
>
> (2) I select line-in on XP's recording control (SNDVOL32.EXE).
>
> (3) However when I press the record button on Audacity, there is no audio
> signal displayed on the graph.
>
> I also tried XP's Sound recorder (SNDREC32.EXE) and Windows Media Player.
>
> Can you advise?

Off hand I would say you need to enable stereo- mix.
Control Panel/Sound and Audio Devices...click on the Audio Tab and in the
Sound Recording section select Stereo Mixer. You may have to deselect Mic..
 
M

ManyBeers

Flightless Bird
"ManyBeers" wrote:

>
>
> "Vince" wrote:
>
> > I am having trouble recording a cassette player onto XP.
> >
> > (1) I play a cassette recorder into my PC's line-in and I can hear it
> > clearly in the speakers.
> >
> > (2) I select line-in on XP's recording control (SNDVOL32.EXE).
> >
> > (3) However when I press the record button on Audacity, there is no audio
> > signal displayed on the graph.
> >
> > I also tried XP's Sound recorder (SNDREC32.EXE) and Windows Media Player.
> >
> > Can you advise?
>
> Off hand I would say you need to enable stereo- mix.
> Control Panel/Sound and Audio Devices...click on the Audio Tab and in the
> Sound Recording section select Stereo Mixer. You may have to deselect Mic..

I forgot to mention when in the Sound Recording section click Volume and
then select Stereo -Mix.
 
J

Jeffrey W. Bowen

Flightless Bird
Hello Vince,

Here is the link to the Audacity website where you can find instructions on
how to set the controls in the Audacity program to record sound:

http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Transferring_tapes_and_records_to_computer_or_CD

Go to the I/O tab of your 'preferences' area. It explains that you should
set the record and playback for the 'line-in' according to the way you have
your player and computer connected.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

--
Peace,

Jeffrey W. Bowen
Remove NO SPAM entries from email address to send personal email.

Please post replies of successes or failures so we all can benefit from each
others' experiences.

"Vince" <spamtrap@invalid.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9D10D9FAA1A1371F3M4@unknown.sj.astraweb.com...
>I am having trouble recording a cassette player onto XP.
>
> (1) I play a cassette recorder into my PC's line-in and I can hear it
> clearly in the speakers.
>
> (2) I select line-in on XP's recording control (SNDVOL32.EXE).
>
> (3) However when I press the record button on Audacity, there is no audio
> signal displayed on the graph.
>
> I also tried XP's Sound recorder (SNDREC32.EXE) and Windows Media Player.
>
> Can you advise?
 
V

Vince

Flightless Bird
On 03:50 31 Jan 2010, =?Utf-8?B?TWFueUJlZXJz?= wrote:

>
>
> "ManyBeers" wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> "Vince" wrote:
>>
>> > I am having trouble recording a cassette player onto XP.
>> >
>> > (1) I play a cassette recorder into my PC's line-in and I can hear
>> > it clearly in the speakers.
>> >
>> > (2) I select line-in on XP's recording control (SNDVOL32.EXE).
>> >
>> > (3) However when I press the record button on Audacity, there is no
>> > audio signal displayed on the graph.
>> >
>> > I also tried XP's Sound recorder (SNDREC32.EXE) and Windows Media
>> > Player.
>> >
>> > Can you advise?
>>
>> Off hand I would say you need to enable stereo- mix.
>> Control Panel/Sound and Audio Devices...click on the Audio Tab and in
>> the Sound Recording section select Stereo Mixer. You may have to
>> deselect Mic..
>
> I forgot to mention when in the Sound Recording section click Volume
> and then select Stereo -Mix.

I tried it but it didn't help. I posted more info under the wrong name. To
recap, I'm using XP. The sound is from an on-board chip (VIA VT8235) with a
Via Vinyl Driver.

(MIC)
I turned the cassette player right down and played it into the PC's mic
input. A VU meter utility shows nicely fluctuating audio levels. The
recording I make is generally ok but sound quality is poor.


(LINE IN)
Next I selected the PC's line input instead of the mic (and I REMOVED
all input/output leads). This time the recording meter went to max! Is it
something wrong inside my PC? The recording is made with max vol on one
channel

I still get that max level reading with the line-in sensitivity turned down
to the first "click" in XP's Recording Control (still with no
inputs/outputs connected). When I turn it down a tiny bit lower, that max
level vanishes completely! Max or not, I still don't hear the line input
audio on my speaker as I did for the mic input. Nothing gets recorded.
 
D

dadiOH

Flightless Bird
Vince wrote:
> I am having trouble recording a cassette player onto XP.
>
> (1) I play a cassette recorder into my PC's line-in and I can hear it
> clearly in the speakers.
>
> (2) I select line-in on XP's recording control (SNDVOL32.EXE).
>
> (3) However when I press the record button on Audacity, there is no
> audio signal displayed on the graph.
>
> I also tried XP's Sound recorder (SNDREC32.EXE) and Windows Media
> Player.
>
> Can you advise?

1. What kind of sound card do you have? If Creative add on card, select
"What-U-Hear" as recording source. If Realtec on board sound, select
"Stereo mix"

2. What are you plugged into *on* the cassette player?

--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico
 
M

ManyBeers

Flightless Bird
"Vince" wrote:

> On 03:50 31 Jan 2010, =?Utf-8?B?TWFueUJlZXJz?= wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > "ManyBeers" wrote:
> >
> >>
> >>
> >> "Vince" wrote:
> >>
> >> > I am having trouble recording a cassette player onto XP.
> >> >
> >> > (1) I play a cassette recorder into my PC's line-in and I can hear
> >> > it clearly in the speakers.
> >> >
> >> > (2) I select line-in on XP's recording control (SNDVOL32.EXE).
> >> >
> >> > (3) However when I press the record button on Audacity, there is no
> >> > audio signal displayed on the graph.
> >> >
> >> > I also tried XP's Sound recorder (SNDREC32.EXE) and Windows Media
> >> > Player.
> >> >
> >> > Can you advise?
> >>
> >> Off hand I would say you need to enable stereo- mix.
> >> Control Panel/Sound and Audio Devices...click on the Audio Tab and in
> >> the Sound Recording section select Stereo Mixer. You may have to
> >> deselect Mic..
> >
> > I forgot to mention when in the Sound Recording section click Volume
> > and then select Stereo -Mix.
>
> I tried it but it didn't help. I posted more info under the wrong name. To
> recap, I'm using XP. The sound is from an on-board chip (VIA VT8235) with a
> Via Vinyl Driver.
>
> (MIC)
> I turned the cassette player right down and played it into the PC's mic
> input. A VU meter utility shows nicely fluctuating audio levels. The
> recording I make is generally ok but sound quality is poor.
>
>
> (LINE IN)
> Next I selected the PC's line input instead of the mic (and I REMOVED
> all input/output leads). This time the recording meter went to max! Is it
> something wrong inside my PC? The recording is made with max vol on one
> channel
>
> I still get that max level reading with the line-in sensitivity turned down
> to the first "click" in XP's Recording Control (still with no
> inputs/outputs connected). When I turn it down a tiny bit lower, that max
> level vanishes completely! Max or not, I still don't hear the line input
> audio on my speaker as I did for the mic input. Nothing gets recorded.


Open up Device Manager/Sound controller right-click your sound controller/
click-properties/click properties tab/click -line input
devices highlight your controller and click properties and make sure
"Use line input features on this device" is checked. Basically in device
manager muck around in there to make sure no setting on your sound device
could cause your problem.
 
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