Mixer Toolbar
From Audacity Manual
- Output Volume Slider: Sets the playback volume.
- Input Volume Slider: Sets the recording volume.
- Input Device Selector: Depending on your system, may allow selection of different inputs such as microphone or line-in (for devices such as record players or cassette decks).
If your sound card or operating system sound control panel does not give Audacity control of its input volume control, then Audacity's input volume slider will be disabled and set to maximum. You will need to set up the recording levels using the card's mixer program or sound control panel.
Output Slider
This is the left hand slider that lets you control the volume at which you listen to the mix of your project. This is a "monitor" control, and does not affect level of your mix, so will not help if your mix is clipped. It does not affect the levels indicated by the playback meters.
- If your sound card or operating system sound control panel gives Audacity control of its output volume control, then this slider will control the overall system output volume of your computer.
- If your sound card or operating system sound control panel does not give Audacity control of its output volume control, then this slider will control the sound volume that Audacity sends to your sound card or OS sound control panel.
Should your output sound distorted, this is not the first place to look. Usually the distortion comes from clipping of your project's mix. You actually need to reduce the level of your tracks. It is suggested you reduce every track by the same amount using the gain sliders in the track panel.
Input Slider
As noted above, the input slider may be disabled and set to maximum. In this case you will need to use your sound card's mixer program or your operating system's sound control panel to set your recording levels.
If visible, this is the right hand slider that lets you control the level of the input selected in the Input Selector. If the Input Selector is not visible you will need to choose your input in the Devices Preferences panel.
What you record is also determined in the mixer settings on your sound card. There you can switch certain sources on and off, such as the Line Input, the Microphone Input or the CD Audio.
After selecting the corresponding input source with the Input Selector or in Devices Preferences, you can control the level of the recording with this slider. Use the recording level meters on the Meter Toolbar to get the correct recording level. See the tips on the Meter Toolbar page for how to do this.
Should your input sound distorted, you should lower this slider until no distortion can be heard, and the clipping indicators on the recording meters do not light up.
Input Selector
Pick the input source you wish to record from. The items in the list are provided by the sound card driver, so the options will vary with different sound cards. The image shows an example of the options you might see, in this case with an an ESS 1969 sound card with the Line In input selected.
Details for Mac OS X
On Mac OS X, the Input Selector will be available only if you have chosen "Core Audio: Built-in Audio" in the Device Toolbar, or "Built-in Audio" in the Recording tab of Devices Preferences. These may include: Line Input, Digital Input, and/or Internal Microphone, depending on the capabilities of your computer. Macs do not have microphone input jacks.
If you have selected another input device (in the Devices Toolbar or Devices Preferences), such as a USB microphone or external USB audio interface, the Input Selector will not be visible.
Macs cannot record "computer playback" without the addition of third-party add-ons such as Soundflower.
See this page on the Audacity Wiki for more details on setting up recording sources on Mac.
Details for Linux
If you are recording through a sound server like JACK or PulseAudio the input selector will not be available. You can use a program specific to your sound server to control input selection and audio routing.
