I have a simple asus laptop (xp) with realtek audio. I was looking for a way of recording and mixing/joining two inputs (say internal CD and mike) on the fly, preferably freeware. All the programmes I have tried (e.g. audacity) will only record one input at a time. This may be an inbuilt limitation of the soundcard ?
WAG: Is this what podcast recording software does?
It is a combination of the hardware and the driver that restricts you. Most laptop motherboard audio interfaces are pretty simple things, and only having one stereo A/D converter for input (that can be switched between line and mic) saves money.
The basic Windows drivers don’t help, by presenting the input as a single logical stereo input to the software, with the ability to choose the input stream.
The only solution for what you want is to purchase a cheap multi-input USB audio interface. Prices have dropped and performance increased, so that you can get something pretty good for not many dollars. Not free, but a one off purchase and the only way to get what you want.
Otherwise, rip your CD tracks to MP3/Wav, then use Audacity to play your track and record your voiceover/singing/whatever from mic.
Si
this is what I was doing, playing the track on an external speaker and trying to pick up both on a microphone. I though it was probably my laptop limitations, but it was good to get confirmed.
Please don’t do this. There’s no way you can make this sound listenable. Rather, rip your CD track to a wave file, import it into an Audacity track, and play it back through headphones while you speak into the mic, so that it won’t pick up the CD audio. You can then mix the voice and CD tracks in Audacity. That’s the more professional way of doing things.
Absolutely.
Si
audacity doesnt seem to be able to play and record at the same time even in a different window. I can use a separate player to play the song and audacity to record over the existing track. However then there are large (many seconds) synching errors which are hard to correct. I could record the vocal track with audacity and then merge with the wav file, but this is fiddly with many potential synching problems, but may be the best answer.
In the preferences, make sure you check “Play other tracks when recording new one.” I think it’s off by default.
You should be able to do this in a single window.
Open Audacity. Make sure you select Edit/Preferences/Audio I/O and tick Play other tracks while recording new one.
Import your ripped wav/mp3 file into an Audio track. Ensure that the microphone is selected as the input. Hit the record button - your microphone will record into a new track as your original track plays.
On Preview: beaten by jovan
Si
It works. thanks guys ! 