recording with audacity
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  1. #1
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    Default recording with audacity

    Hi, i just got audacity and recorded my first set. The quality sucked pretty bad! constant cracking in the back ground,no clarity in the songs at all. Please help. Using traktor pro 2 and audio 2 with a 2 channel mixer.

  2. #2
    Tech Guru Patch's Avatar
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    Are you using the same computer as you are playing on to record? Some older (and even newer) machines struggle to read and write to the disc at the same time.

    However, there are a million reasons for what you are describing...
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  3. #3
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    yup using the same laptop to play and record. Though shockingly the cpu load reached to red only once.

    Using a compaq intel pentium dual cpu, 2.16 - 2.17 GHz, 2 gb ram..if you need to know all that..

  4. #4
    Tech Guru Patch's Avatar
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    That's not a huge amount of RAM. Yo might get some luck if you record at a lower bitrate, or change the format.

    What format were you recording to in Audacity? .wav will hit your CPU pretty hard, 320kbps .mp3 might, too. Maybe give 128 or 192kbps .mp3 a bash?
    Last edited by Patch; 10-18-2012 at 07:05 AM.
    DJ'ing: 2x1200MK2, DJM 850, Dicers, F1, Zomo MC-1000, Sony MDR-v700, i7 Win 10 HP Envy
    Production: Ableton Live 8 and a mouse, Sennheiser HD400, Sony VAIO

    Click HERE to D/L Free Tracks from Soundcloud!!!
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  5. #5
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    All of my mixes are recorded as wav in Traktor then converted to a 192kbps mp3 with Audacity because that's what the radio station requires for the listen again server. Sound is fine at 192 for internet listening.
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  6. #6
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    *scratches head*

    Are you mixing internally or externally? Uncertain how you'd use an A2DJ with a two-channel mixer.

    If the mixer is MIDI-enabled and you are indeed mixing internally...what about recording from Traktor?

  7. #7
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    Im mixing externally. The 2 channels are connected to the 2 outputs of the audio 2. from my recording output on the mixer i connect it to the mic input on my laptop.

  8. #8
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    Ahhh, I see now. Thought the blighter only ever had one output for cuing.

    Firstly ensure that the output channel on the mixer is turned to only about 30%: any soft recordings can have their volume managed using the "Leveller", "Normalise" and "Amplify" effects in Audacity. Also in Audacity, check to see if you can reduce the input gain to ensure there's no clipping.

    Lastly, when that fails, have a browse through here. Will ensure you get a clean recording and keep your machine stable for operating Traktor.

  9. #9
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    The mic input on a laptop is notorious for sounding bad. Also, it is expecting a mono mic level signal and you are sending it a much higher line level signal from the mixer (possibly in stereo depending on what cable you are using from the mixer to the laptop?). To get a good result you will likely need an external sound card with an audio input, or record to an external device such as the ones linked to in the post above.

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