I can only record though the mic

rrrobinsonjr

I've been using this software for some time.

I frequently use the record feature in WavePad to record audio directly though my sound card on my desktop PC.

I recently got a new Lenovo laptop and it won't do the same thing.

The only choices I have in sound and audio devices is something called SoundMAX HD Audio for both recording and playback. I'm pretty sure on my desktop I can choose Windows audio too.

No matter what I do I only get audio sourced through the built-in mic.

Can I disable this? Can I add another driver so it will pic up the audio coming through the integrated audio?

djcyberlegend

You would need a sound card with a line input. There are USB sound cards available that will do that. When you're ready to make the recording, go to the Windows Recording mixer and make sure that the source you want to record from is checked.

rrrobinsonjr

DJ Cyberlegend wrote:

....go to the Windows Recording mixer and make sure that the source you want to record from is checked.

Where is the Windows Recording mixer? In Wavepad or part of the Windows control panel?

rrrobinsonjr

In Wavepad when I hit the Windows Record Mixer button nothing happens.

djcyberlegend

rrrobinsonjr wrote:

Where is the Windows Recording mixer? In Wavepad or part of the Windows control panel?

If you have a speaker icon in your system tray, right-click on it and click "Adjust Audio Properties", if not, go to the Control Panel->Sounds, Speech and Audio Devices->Sounds and Audio Devices. Once there, click the Audio tab and under Sound Recording, click the Volume button. You should have at least four channels along with a Master Record slider - make sure the Stereo Mix channel has a check in the "Select" check box. This should allow you to "record what you hear".

rrrobinsonjr

DJ Cyberlegend wrote:

You should have at least four channels along with a Master Record slider - make sure the Stereo Mix channel has a check in the "Select" check box. This should allow you to "record what you hear".

AH! This is helpful in pinpointing the problem. I only have one slider for Microphone.

If I go in the the properties tab, it still only gives me the one choice. If I look in playback, I have 5.

What do I need to install to get myself more sliders.

I already added SndVol32.exe to get more for playback. I bet there is something similar specifically for Windows recording...RcdVol32???

djcyberlegend

rrrobinsonjr wrote:

What do I need to install to get myself more sliders.

When you open the Windows Recording Mixer, click Options -> Properties, then check the boxes for the controls you want to see and click OK. This should show the rest of the sliders.

rrrobinsonjr

DJ Cyberlegend wrote:

When you open the Windows Recording Mixer, click Options -> Properties, then check the boxes for the controls you want to see and click OK. This should show the rest of the sliders.

No dice. After some exhaustive research I found that some sound card manufacturers disable stereo mix or 'what you hear' recording at the hardware level. Lenovo uses SoundMAXHD. They are one of those companies that presumably do this to protect copyrights....blah blah blah.

Anyone know anything about this?

The workaround is plugging an audio cable from speaker/headphone jack to the mic jack. That only produces low, barely audible recordings no matter how much I crank the playback audio settings.

djcyberlegend

What OS are you using?

rrrobinsonjr

DJ Cyberlegend wrote:

What OS are you using?

XP Pro SP3. It didn't work when I was on SP2, so that's probably irrelevant.

djcyberlegend

rrrobinsonjr wrote:

The workaround is plugging an audio cable from speaker/headphone jack to the mic jack. That only produces low, barely audible recordings no matter how much I crank the playback audio settings.

The other problem with doing that is that you only get a mono recording if you use the mic input, to get a stereo recording, you would need to use a stereo line input, which you stated wasn't an option since your sound card doesn't have one of those. The only other option I can suggest is to look into getting a USB multi-channel sound card, for example, the Maya 44 USB. When you plug that card in and install it, you can make it override the PC's built-in sound card so you should be able to use that to "record what you hear". I have an HP Pavilion and I have no problems doing the "record what you hear" thing, then again, I most likely have a sound card that is capable of doing that.

Racin_with_DO

DJ Cyberlegend wrote:

The other problem with doing that is that you only get a mono recording if you use the mic input, to get a stereo recording, you would need to use a stereo line input, which you stated wasn't an option since your sound card doesn't have one of those. The only other option I can suggest is to look into getting a USB multi-channel sound card, for example, the Maya 44 USB. When you plug that card in and install it, you can make it override the PC's built-in sound card so you should be able to use that to "record what you hear". I have an HP Pavilion and I have no problems doing the "record what you hear" thing, then again, I most likely have a sound card that is capable of doing that.

I'm in the same boat by not being able to hear what i'm doing in the headset mics with out a delay. What external sound card is the best? I do a show weeekly that I have 4 inputs from headset mics with the 3.5 plug. Is there a connector to go from 3.5 to rca???

Any help please???

Dan O.