"Stereo Mix" too quiet...

So I'm trying to record some sound effects I found on the web using Audacity. I've enabled "Stereo Mix" under Recording in Sounds, set the level to 100 and made it my input in Audacity. But when I go to record something, it records at maybe 10% of the actual volume.

Any ideas?

And I'm pretty sure it's not the software because I downloaded the trial of Virtual DJ, and the same thing happened. I'm running Windows 7 Beta, so any advice that applies to Vista would probably work. Thanks!

 

Just highlight what is recorded, Effects->Amplify, and let it use the value it chooses. Hit OK and all will be fine.

 

No it won't be "fine". The signal to noise ratio will suffer terribly. You will be boosting the signal and also the noise at the same time. As an audio engineer, I can tell you that you always want to provide a proper input level PRIOR to any recording of the signal. For best results you need to have the signal level of the input as closely matched to the dynamic range of the input stage of the recording device. You should use any amplification at the input stage or after the fact only as a last resort.

Gary

 

I have the M1530's basic audio card... Sigmatel I believe.
I've read in a lot of places that Stereo Mix just doesn't work with those cards.
For me, it works, but at a very low volume.

 

Are you SURE it is working or are you possibly just getting the microphone picking up the signal from the speakers? Did you see the "Stereo Mix" option as a recording source option right away, or did you have to perform one of the various tweaks posted around the web to actually enable this as an option?

Try recording another "Stereo Mix" source again, and this time tap on your laptop's microphone. Play it back and see if you hear these taps.

Gary

 

To get the mic working correctly on my laptop I had to mute stereo mix.

Once you do that, make sure all the other volume options for line in/mic/recording are all the way in the Windows control panel and any other sound card software. Make sure to enable mic boost as well.

On my desktop however, Stereo Mix cannot be muted otherwise the mic won't work.

 

The problem the op is having is not with the mic. I only brought up th microphone because I suspect the OP may not really be recording the "Stereo Mix" and instead may be unintentionally recording the mic.

Gary

 

Oops, sorry for the delayed response. I bookmarked this page and forgot to check back on it.



So I did try what you suggested, and it didn't pick up the mic tapping.

To get stereo mix working, I think I just had to go to recording devices and enable it. I'm 99% sure it's working. I've tried recording directly through the mic to compare, and the quality is just awful. With this, the quality is pretty good, it's just the volume that's too low.