Search Results for 'Audacity'

Hello,
We recently have installed a QU16 in our church for recording services.
We are trying to record into Audacity but the input level is very low.
Also, we will be live streaming with Wirecast, but again the audio input is low.
I’m new to this board so any helpful hints would be appreciated.

Computer is Windows 7 Pro.

Thanks,
Dan

[abzurd1Participant]

Thanks. Yes, that was just a cut from the first set of a live show in someone’s back yard for a surprise birthday party we were hired for. I used Audacity for the same reason as mixing down in the Qu-16. It’s fast and easy. If I put it in Reaper, Garage Band, or Studio One, I find I play around with it for hours, often giving up, or ending up with a product worse than if I just go bare bones and do it with the mixer.

I mix with the Qu pretty much every weekend, but we mix from the stage so I don’t really get the time to really work on EQ and compression skills until post show. That recording is EQ’d with channel strips only and the main buss EQ flat. So for live work I don’t really need to mess with the channel strips and just need to use the FOH EQ for the room.

Sometimes it takes me a couple of tries because I’ll mix it down with headphones in the garage (can’t get the mixer in the house as it’s racked) and then run the file upstairs to see what it sounds like on my studio monitors. I’ve really been trying to work on the lead vocal EQ, that’s me signing, and bass guitar EQ, and am getting happier with both.

Lastly, I’ve found I’ve had better luck NOT using my studio headphones when mixing down. Instead I use the headphones I wear at work, which are decent, but small portable type and not studio phones. It doesn’t matter that they aren’t flat. They are what I’m used to so when I mix down the reference I have is what I’m used to hearing other pre-recorded music sound like.

[Anonymous]

Brilliant
So was this a live take?
Why Audacity? Free ware?

Thanks for sharing

dave NZ

I thought I’d share an example of master mixing inside Qu-16 and outputting via the 2 track out. It’s nothing spectacular, but it’s so awesome that this kind of result is available for a few thousand dollars. The recording is from a backyard surprise party we did. I recorded this straight into Audacity. Then:

1 – Amplify the track (I’ll leave about 1 dB of headroom during the recording and then amplify in Audacity)
2 – Hard limit 1-2 dB (I’ll look at the track to see if there are any peaks that only happen a few times during the song and lop off the tops)
3 – Amplify again, getting the 1-2 dB back in the overall mix
4 – Trim the ends (get the start point right and fade out the end)
4 – Sometimes that’s it, but other times I’ll use the “Leveler” plug in that comes with Audacity and apply the “light” effect to it. It’s a compressor/limiter with not much in the way of user controllable settings. It puts the song more, in your face. Too much though and it causes distortion. In this example I used the Leveler plugin.

HERE’S THE FILE – TAINTED LOVE (Punk/Pop version originally performed by the Argonauts)

[Lee7Participant]

@Hawk,

Best way to record and save is to mix & master within the QU-16 and/or take a signal from either the 2 TRK or L&R outputs to a PC/Mac or other good quality recording device. You could use audacity and save the incoming mix from the QU-16 as your master file, all you need to do is normalise it and then burn to CD or upload to whichever medium you use.

Pretty straightforward.

Hi all…
I have a problem streaming via USB B to Pro Tools 11 on Windows 7 64. When i connect the QU16 everything works fine, I can stream my Windows audio to the QU and record via the QU in Audacity.
I’m normaly running Pro Tools 11 with my MBox 2, and it works flawlessly.
When I try to open Pro Tools 11 with the QU connected instead it takes ages to start PT. In the Setup screen of PT I can see the QU Asio, also in the I/O screen.
When I try to start a new session it takes ages to load. I created 1 new mono channel trying to record Channel 1 from QU. When I record enable the channel, there’s no moving in the level meter. When I start recording, there’s an error that there wouldn’t be enough CPU-Power.
As I stated above, with MBox 2 it works without problems, so I think there’s something wrong with the windows driver of QU.
Has anyone had the same problems?

Multi-track recording of first live gig went really well. I’m amazed at the quality of the recording. So far I’ve only played it back through the mixer – but I’d like to transfer the recording to my laptop and then maybe adjust the mix and possibly add some effects – before generating a stereo file. I’m not looking to do anything fancy – however, I’m a total novice on this stuff. How do I transfer the recordings to my PC? Is it just a drag and drop type activity?

I have an ordinary PC laptop running Windows 7 (no special soundcards or special hard disks… just an ordinary PC). I guess I need some kind of editing software – but I don’t want to spend a fortune. Would Audacity do the job – or Reaper? Any advice on which one to use?

Many thanks.

[MarkPAmanParticipant]

I don’t have the desk here, so I can’t test this and could be talking rubbish!

But I think, if you use your computer’s “Audio MIDI Setup” app to create a new “Aggregate Device” you should be able to choose any input you want. You then get Audacity to use that aggregate device.

I know most of the feature requests on this thread are pretty user specific and mine is no exception. This is a wishlist right?

I wish there was a way to turn off individual channel sends on the multi-track output stream and here’s why:
I work at music festivals mostly and there are eight to ten acts per day.
I need a way to make a stereo recording, burn it to a CD and hand it to the performer while setting up the next act. A program like Audacity would work great but it latches onto the first two channels it “sees” (Channels 1 and 2). If I could turn everything off except the stereo mains, it would work.

I know I can record just stereo to an external drive, unplug the drive, plug it into the computer, copy the files, etc but it takes a while for the board to re-sync with the drive and remember, I’m getting ready for the next act.

If anyone knows of a different way to do this, I welcome your suggestions. A stereo recording program (For OS X) that allows you to select the input is really all I need but I haven’t been able to find one yet.

As I said, I welcome any suggestions.

[StealthModerator]

Hi all

Apologies for any inconvenience this issue causes.

R&D is investigating this issue and will hopefully resolve the problem for the next maintenance release of Qu firmware.

The problem is not actually interleaved WAV files, but the additional information specific to Broadcast WAV file headers.

Until we have an update for this, the easiest work around is to re-save the file using an application like: Sound forge/ Audacity/ Goldwave/ reaper etc, where you can choose to save WAV files without any of the extra broadcast WAV data.

Regards
Sam A&H

[Chris93Participant]

Send a click track into an input channel and assign that input to both LR and to a mono group. Assign the group to LR. Pan the input channel hard left and pan the group hard right. Record L and R to a flash drive and take a look at it in a DAW. Audacity would do the job.

Chris

[sraymondParticipant]

I’d agree with Kent. You may need some transformer isolation. I’ve seen comments elsewhere about Dell having a poor grounding design, at least on older laptops. I haven’t seen anything about whether they’ve gotten better on newer models. I have an older Inspiron 8200 that was bad this way. Even a high quality USB Pre interface had hum when recording into Audacity. Running on battery or (cough) lifting the ground on the Dell got rid of it. A stereo DI also fixed it. I also can’t recommend lifting the ground as it’s there for a reason. Mine uses a lump so its low voltage at the laptop as most are but the ground may offer static discharge protection for the laptop. Can’t say for sure though as I have a Thinkpad with only a two prong edison. Running on battery when recording would be the obvious cheap fix if the battery is good and has sufficient capacity for the needed time. You possibly could buy a high capacity battery for less than the DI or isolation transformers.

I have my laptop setup to record our church service. Nothing fancy just the line in mic on the laptop to record L and R channels to Audacity. Very low tech.

A couple of months ago I setup a Stereo Aux 1 (STAX1) to use as an output to an iDec so I could control the amplitude of the output signal. The other benefit is I can have a whole different mix for the iDec (iPod).

Anyway, I am sending that same STAX1 Left and STAX1 Right to two of the 1/4 inch outputs on the back of the surface (T112) that were not in use.

I have a cable that is 1/8 stereo to two RCA Male connectors. I then plug on two RCA female to 1/4 inch tip sleave male plugs.

When I plug in the two 1/4 inch plugs and then plug in the 1/8 stereo plug to the mic jack in the laptop I get a generated noise that sounds like a 50 or 60 hz earth loop problem.

This noise is not present in the iDec (iPod) recordings. That unit is built into our portable surface rack and I only get to see the equipment on Sunday morning for 2 hours because we are portable church. Anyway, I don’t have time on Sunday morning to pull of the covers and check out how the iDec is wired.

My Laptop Power Supply was plugged into the surface external outlet on the right side of the surface box. Dell XPS M1530.

I have a sample file I recorded into Audacity but I don’t see how to upload that to the forum.

Does anyone have any ideas how to stop the noise?

Thanks,
Knoxford