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audacity software guide

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table of contents general software notes 2 audacity software installation 3 configuring windows vista to work with the usb turntable 4 configuring windows xp to work with the usb turntable 6 audacity configuration on pc 8 configuring audacity for mac os 10.4 and above 10 recording into the computer 14 adjusting your audio level optional 15 cleaning your audio optional 16 high-speed recording of your vinyl optional 19 dividing your album into tracks 20 exporting tracks to separate files 23 listening and exporting to wav/mp3 24 recording 78rpm records 24 troubleshooting 25 1

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general software notes your usb turntable is compatible with any recording software that supports usb audio devices we have included audacity however you may prefer to use one of a variety of the 3rd party software packages that are also available audacity is free software distributed under the general public license gpl more information as well as open source code can be found on the included cd or on the web at http audacity.sourceforge.net audacity works on both windows 98 and greater as well as mac os x and 9.2 software for linux can be found on the audacity website go to http audacity.sourceforge.net/help/tutorials for additional tutorials the website also has information for separate add-ons to audacity to enhance performance and features 2

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audacity software installation before starting the software make sure that your usb turntable is plugged into the computer with the supplied usb cable and both the computer and the turntable are plugged in and on refer to the included usb turntable quick start instruction manual before proceeding with software installation remove the clear plastic cartridge needle cover for your first recording we recommend that you test your settings on short section a minute or less of recorded audio so you can become familiar with the the process before recording a full lp to install software pc 1 2 3 4 5 6 plug your turntable into an ac power outlet and use the included usb cable to connect the usb port on your turntable to the usb port on your computer turn your computer on if it is not on already allow it to boot fully turn on the turntable by pressing the power button near the base of the tonearm your computer might display a message saying that it has detected a new device and that it is available to use depending on your system this message may or may not appear this is normal insert the cd that came with your usb turntable into your computer s cd drive a window will pop up automatically click on the [install icon next to audacity to install software mac 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 plug your turntable into an ac power outlet and use the included usb cable to connect the usb port on your turntable to the usb port on your computer turn your computer on if it is not on already allow it to boot fully insert the included cd into your computer s cd drive open the cd icon on the desktop drag the installation folder for audacity to your hard drive we recommend that you move the folder to your applications folder a window will come up which shows the files copying once the files are done copying eject the cd 3

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configuring microsoft windows vista to work with the usb turntable 1 close all programs that are open on your computer on the bottom left of your screen select the start menu select settings then control panel 2 3 4 5 6 7 in the window that opens find and doubleclick the sound control panel if you don t see a choice called sound choose the switch to classic view option in the panel on the left of the window and the sound control panel should become available on the right select the recording tab at the top of the sound control panel under the recording tab choose microphone usb audio codec as the default device the usb audio codec represents your turntable click on the set default button to confirm your choice 4

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8 9 now select the playback tab at the top of the sound control panel under the playback tab choose the device that you would like your computer s audio to come out of your computer s audio outputs may appear as speakers ­ high definition audio device or headphones ­ high definition audio device or both depending on the hardware installed in your computer click on the device that best matches your desired audio setup and click set default to confirm your selection note do not choose speakers usb audio codec as your playback device usb audio codec represents your turntable and can only be used as recording input not a playback output 10 11 12 13 click set default to confirm your choice click apply if possible then click ok to close the control panel click apply if possible then click ok make sure that your computer s speakers if not built-in are plugged into your computer s audio output and turned on so you can hear your recording if your computer has a headphone output you can use headphones in-place of speakers 5

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configuring microsoft windows xp to work with the usb turntable 1 2 3 close all programs that are open on your computer on the bottom left of your screen select the start menu select settings then control panel 4 5 6 7 in the window that opens find and double-click the sounds and audio devices control panel if you don t see a choice called sounds and audio devices choose the switch to classic view option in the panel on the left of the window and the sounds and audio devices should become available on the right select the voice tab at the top of the sounds and audio devices control panel under voice playback choose your internal sound card as the default device this varies by computer but should not be set to usb audio codec modem or microsoft sound mapper under voice recording select usb audio codec for your default device ­ this is the usb truntable 6

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8 9 10 11 select the audio tab at the top of the sounds and audio devices control panel under sound playback choose your internal sound card as the default device this varies by computer but should not be set to usb audio codec modem or microsoft sound mapper under sound recording select usb audio codec for your default device ­ this is the usb turntable check the box titled use only default devices 12 13 click apply if possible then click ok make sure that your computer s speakers if not built-in are plugged into your computer s audio output and turned on so you can hear your recording if your computer has a headphone output you can use headphones in-place of speakers 7

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audacity configuration on pc 1 2 3 launch audacity click on the start menu on the bottom left of your screen select all programs then audacity in audacity click on the edit menu at the top of the screen select preferences from the edit menu figure 1 select preferences 4 5 the audacity preferences window will come up figure 2 choose the audio i/o tab from the top of the preferences screen set your playback device to your internal sound card since different computers have different internal sound cards your selection may be different from the image below figure 2 the correct selection however will not be usb audio codec microsoft sound mapper or modem set your recording device to usb audio codec this represents your turntable note the usb turntable may show up with a different name in the preferences window this may depend on your computer model and operating system 99 of the time it will contain usb in the name 6 7 set channels to 2 stereo check the box labeled software playthrough 8

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figure 2 select usb audio device from preferences 8 9 10 under the quality tab set the default sample format to 16bit select ok to save your settings and close the preferences window at the top of the main audacity window to the right of the play control buttons you will see the input and output level meters labeled l and r under the output level meter is an icon that looks like a microphone next to the microphone is a black arrow that points down click this arrow and select monitor input if you don t see the input and output level meters open your preferences again as described above select the interface tab and make sure that enable mixer toolbar is checked you should be all ready to record these settings will be saved when you exit however you will need to select monitor input from the input meter s drop-down menu each time you launch audacity 9

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configuring audacity for mac os 10.4 and above 1 2 3 4 5 6 with the audacity program open click on the audacity menu at the top of the screen select preferences from the audacity menu under the audio i/o tab set your playback device to builtin audio under the audio i/o tab set your recording device to usb audio codec under the audio i/o tab set your channels to 2 stereo check the box labeled software playthrough 7 bit under the quality tab set the default sample format to 16 10

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8 9 select ok to save your settings and close the preferences window at the top of the main audacity window to the right of the play control buttons you will see the input and output level meters labeled l and r under the output level meter is an icon that looks like a microphone next to the microphone is a black arrow that points down click this arrow and select monitor input if you don t see the input and output level meters open your preferences again as described above select the interface tab and make sure that enable mixer toolbar is checked these settings will be saved when you exit however you will need to select monitor input from the input meter s drop-down menu each time you launch audacity 11

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other important macintosh settings we have set up audacity s separate playback and record preferences but your mac also has its own audio playback and record settings when you first connect the turntable the macintosh will often select the usb audio codec as the audio input and output for your entire system since your turntable does not have speakers audio will not be heard from your other programs until you tell your mac not to use the turntable as an output device here s how to change these settings so that your internal sound card will always be used for playback whether or not your turntable is connected via usb the audio midi setup utility 1 2 3 4 open your finder open your applications folder in the applications folder open the utilities folder in the utilities folder open the audio midi setup 5 in the audio midi setup under audio devices set the default input to usb audio codec the default output to built-in audio or built-in output the system output to built-in audio or built-in output 12

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now programs other than audacity will only use your internal sound card for audio output 13

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recording into the computer note we recommend that the first time you use the software you test with a small 1min or less section of audio while recording once you feel comfortable with recording then record a full song or lp 1 2 press the record button start playback on the usb turntable you will see the waveform of the audio on the screen as it is recording you will hear the audio coming from the output of your computer s soundcard no audio go back to the preference menu figure 2 and make sure you have software playthrough selected and the speaker volume up on your computer see troubleshooting at the end of this manual for more help 3 4 5 6 play through the entire track/album you desire to record press stop save your file now by clicking on file save project select the destination and file name for the project and click save you have completed the recording process the file you just saved to your computer is an audacity project file this file can only be opened by audaity the following sections will guide you through some optional editing that may be performed as well as how to divide this audacity project into separate wav files which may be burned to cd or played in music programs such as itunes and windows media player figure 3 recording sample 14

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