Audacity Setup and Configuration

From Audacity Manual

For many users, Audacity will just work "out of the box", and you can immediately begin playing and recording. However, because there are so many different types of computers and ways to configure computers, some users may need to set up Audacity the first time they use it.

Temporary Files

Most users have only one hard disk. However, if you have multiple hard disks, you will want to make sure that Audacity uses your largest or fastest hard disk to store audio. Open the Preferences (in the Edit menu, or the Audacity menu on Mac OS X) and click on the Directories tab. Make sure that the directory listed is on your preferred hard disk.

Note: if your home directory is mounted from a remote server, you definitely do not want Audacity's temporary directory to be there!

Audio Devices

Locate the three colored analog audio ports on the back of your computer - almost every PC will have these as part of your computer's built-in sound card. The red jack is for microphone input (usually mono, not stereo), the green jack is for line output (to your speakers or headphones) and the blue jack is for stereo line input (like from a cassette player).

Back of a typical PC

Close-up of the audio ports

If you have a Mac, your audio ports will look something more like the image below. In this picture, the left jack is for stereo line input (like from a microphone or cassette player) and the right jack is for line output (to your speakers or headphones).

For better audio quality, many people use a USB audio device. If you have such a device, attach your microphone and speakers to that device, and plug the device into your computer's USB port.

USB Cable and Plug

USB Ports

If you are using a USB audio device, or if your computer has more than one built-in sound card to choose from, you will need to tell Audacity which device to use for recording and playback. Open the Preferences (in the Edit menu, or the Audacity menu on Mac OS X) and click on the Audio I/O tab. Choose your preferred sound card or audio device from the lists provided. Usually you should choose the same device for recording and playback, but it is possible for them to be different.

Volume controls

After you have set your preferred audio device, look at the Mixer Toolbar:

The two sliders control the volume levels on your sound card, and the selector on the right controls the input source for recording (such as "Line In" or "Mic"). Adjust these appropriately.

• If you are unable to move the sliders, or if the sliders always "jump back" to the same value no matter where you put them, don't panic: some sound cards do not have level controls, and some of them have controls that are not compatible with Audacity. To adjust your sound card levels, you will need to use other system software or perhaps a special control panel that came with your sound card.

Now you are ready to play and record audio.