To quote Captain Reynolds, “How come it never goes smooth?” My most expensive, and potentially most fun, Christmas gift was a USB turntable from Number Two Son. I feel a little bit bad about him having spent so much. I had thought about getting one but I have barely enough old records to make it worth the price. But anyway, today I finally got around to trying it out and we can’t make it work. Our best guess is that the Audacity software that came with it is not compatible with the version of Windows that we’re using. The booklet says, “…the input volume control may not work on some individual Windows versions. Windows Vista is recommended…” DOH!
Just a temporary setback, I’m sure. There must be compatible software out there somewhere. (or, possibly, we have something already) Audacity looks like it would be very easy to use if it worked and that’s another thing to be bummed about because I’m sure that whatever we find that does work will be difficult or annoying in some way.
December 28th, 2009 - 10:10 pm
Audacity (1.2.6) works fine for me on XP with Service Pack 3.
Usually when they complain about the volume control, it’s because the hardware manufacturer stuck in a sleazoid integrated-audio section that doesn’t allow for the mixing options afforded by even the crummiest separate sound card. My own desktop had this issue; I resolved it by transplanting the sound card (an old Soundblaster Live!) from an old W98 box.
I have to remember, though, to switch (in Control Panel) the recording device to USB before I use a USB turntable. (Sounds and Audio Devices / Audio tab / Sound Recording default device; the USB option, at least with my Ion, will not appear unless it’s plugged into an actual USB port.)
I have recorded somewhere upward of 20 hours of audio with Audacity, and it works pretty well for me. I have a commercial package called Spin It Again (Acoustica, $35) which automates the process somewhat, and has easier noise filters.