Audacity in LL 5.0

[Jacob Pertou]

I haven't been able to record in Audacity, after the update to 5.0. It's not that important for me, I'm just interested to know, if the application works for you.

[Şerban S.]

I haven't been able to record in Audacity, after the update to 5.0. It's not that important for me, I'm just interested to know, if the application works for you.

Hi!
I already edited some short tracks for my videos.
Since the installation is pretty new (LL 5.0 is a 01 June release), I assume it is the latest version available.
It says it is v 2.3.3.

Recording test: OK.

Still, I doubt if this is relevant. My configuratiuon is powerful enough and I also have 3 audio interfaces, as the system says. I have a  a Behringer XM8500 mike on a Lexicon Lambda, as the main interface and the system looks like has audio from the Intel chipsets and from the NVidia GK107 board. Never used them though...

Maybe you should check the settings for the inputs. My settings are inherited from the previous installs, since I use a /home partition.

Hope this helps you a little.
At least you know it works on some machine (Dell Precision T1700).

Best regards!

[Jacob Pertou]

Thanks for the reply, Şerban! :-)
I can edit sound files and also record with the internal microphone. What I can't do anymore, is record a sound stream (equivalent to the "Stereomix" in Windows) or use the line-in function of the jackstick input, to record cassette tapes. It's not a big problem, it works in Windows, but I think it all has to do with new sound card settings in LL 5.0.

[Şerban S.]

[...] What I can't do anymore, is record a sound stream (equivalent to the "Stereomix" in Windows) or use the line-in function of the jackstick input, to record cassette tapes. [...] I think it all has to do with new sound card settings in LL 5.0.

Hi!

Settings might be a problem.
As far as I know...
In order to record complex input, Audacity requires a RT (Real Time) Kernel and also some other software, such as JACK.
While in Windows installing the ASIO driver (Asio4All) solves the problem (more or less), in Linux it's a little more complicated, since you need to learn how to deal with JACK.
JACK is used to get the best latency available on the system and Audacity, is very sensitive to this factor. Maybe this is where it hangs.
I got many latency error messages while trying to use PulseAudio. When I switched to JACK, other trouble popped out... System resources were inaproppriate.
So I ended up buying a Zoom R16 digital recorder, to "put an end to the pain", so to speak.
Now the system (Precision T1700) is far from what Lenovo T400 could offer so I might test, but now I have many other things to do than playing with music recording.
Besides this, for what I need, Zoom R16 is more than enough. I also have two MIDI workstations (Korg PA500 and Roland FA06) so my interest now for fiddling with the computer is low. There are many other priorities before making music for now.

Another thing that prevents me to say anything else is that I use an USB audio (Lexicon Lambda) and this offers different options than the default chipset.
While using the internal chipset, I could record any audio input, using the mike input, regardless the source of the signal. The idea is to start with a very low volume for the input, in order to prevent damaging the device, due to the strength of the input signal.
There are two approaches here:
(a) Reduce the output volume (if possible) at the source of the signal (MPx player, CD player, tape/casette recorder or whatever audio source);
I recorded this way the audio output of Yamaha PSR 290, and Korg PA500, using audio dedicated cables and jack size adapters (6.3 to 3.6 or viceversa).
(b) Reduce the input volume from the software mixer (the microphone, if you use the 3.6 input jack).
On Lexicon I have 6.3 jacks IN/OUT but usually systems have only 3.6 mini jacks.

I shared this thoughts and the experience I gained using a low resources machine (Lenovo T400), in the hope that this might give you at least a glimpse into the issue.
Some ideas to test what, how and if it works.

Best wishes and good luck!

[Jacob Pertou]

Guess what, I found an old USB dongle, I bought for digitizing VHS tapes, turns out it works perfectly with Audacity - just plug, play and record! This is even better than what I used to do. Also I found the right setting for monitor recordings in the Volume Control app.

Volume control/Input Devices:
Stream recording: Choose "the name of the DAC I use" 100% (0 dB)
Cassette recording: Choose "USB dongle" 100% (0 dB)

Audacity:
Input: "pulse: Internal Mic:0"
Output: "default"
Disable: "Software playthrough of input"

[Şerban S.]

[...] turns out it works perfectly with Audacity - just plug, play and record! This is even better than what I used to do. Also I found the right setting for monitor recordings in the Volume Control app. [...]

I'm glad you found a working solution!
I'm sure this will be inspiring for other people interested to record (sound) on Linux.

Please, mark the thread as "SOLVED".

Best regards!