low quality sound in recordings

Hi Shalini ,

Thanks much for your response!

I probably should have made it clear, I'm NOT trying to record from a mic at all.

In the above suggestions, method 1 only would troubleshoot a mic, which I'm not using.

Method 2 said it was not compatible with my system when I tried installing it after download.

Method 3 I do not see how it can be as simple as audio levels as they are good and it's as simple as playing from a audio file on my pc (or from the web) that is fine, but when I open it in my recording program(s) and just play it back even before exporting, I get that hollow sound. "Hollow" is actually a good term to describe this sound.

What I also realized since my initial post here is it was working fine the day before this happened. I don't see what could have changed since.

Another example is how I discovered this issue yesterday: I play audio from an online source which sounds good, hit record in Audacity (or Free Sound Recorder-the issue is in both programs) and it is very hollow sounding by just playing it back in the program. The levels are also good--not too low, not too high to distort either.

I did update my soundcard driver yesterday too. Is there anything else I could try?

thanks again,

boc

Hello Boc,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

I understand that you have issues with quality of audio while recording.

Method 1: Firstly, I would suggest you to run the troubleshooter mentioned below and check if that helps.

Use audio recording troubleshooter

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Open-the-Recording-Audio-troubleshooter

Method 2: Try to follow the suggestions mentioned below to fix the issue with audio recording.

Troubleshoot audio-recording problems

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/Troubleshoot-audio-recording-problems

(Also applies for Windows 7)

Method 3: If the above methods doesn't help then try to follow the suggestions mentioned below and see if that helps.

To adjust the record volume, follow these steps before you make the recording:

1. Click Start then click Control Panel.
2. Click Hardware and Sound.
3. Under Sound, click Manage audio devices.
4. Click the Recording tab.
5. Click the M icrophone Device, and then clickProp erties.
6. Click the Levels tab. Move the slider to increase or decrease the volume.

If you find any difficulty in following the above provided steps then you need to follow the link provided below.

The audio volume recorded by Sound Recorder in Windows Vista or in Windows 7 is lower than in Windows XP.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/973446

Hope this helps. Otherwise, feel free to write us back and we will be glad to help you further.

Thank you

Hello Boc,

Thank you for keeping us update with the status of the issue.

In future, if you have any queries related to Windows, please feel free to write us and we will be glad to help you.

Thank you

Hello Boc,

Thank you for the quick reply.

I would suggest you to uninstall the audio drivers once again and reinstall them completely and see if that helps. Follow the steps mentioned below to do the same.

1. Click on the Windows "Start" button and click "Control Panel" to launch.
2. Click **"Hardware and Sound,"**and then click "Device Manager" in the "Devices and Printers" section. The Device Manager opens showing a tree view of all the different types of hardware installed.
3. Click on the "Sound, Video and Game Controller" branch to expand. Installed audio device drivers will be displayed.
4. Right-click on the audio device driver you want to remove, and click **"Uninstall"**from the menu that

appears.

5. Click "OK" to confirm that you want to remove the device driver. You may then be prompted to restart the computer, which should be done to allow the driver to be fully uninstalled.
6. Locate an installer for you original sound driver. Computers and sound cards come with driver CDs, but you may not be able to locate the original CD. If you can't find your driver CD, you will have to

download the old driver from your computer manufacturer's website or from your sound card manufacturer's website.

Hope this works for you. Otherwise, feel free to write us back.

Thank you

Hi again,

Since my last post I discovered something about this issue.

There's some audio on line I want to record. I've done this often enough before in Audacity and never had any problems. I do so by selecting the "Stereo Mix" and it records directly from the web through my soundcard to Audacity. As previously mentioned, when I do this, even just simply play it back without even exporting the file, it sounds very hollow.

HOWEVER, I tried playing the same audio from the web out of my PC (line out), which goes into my Stereo Amp, which then goes back into my PC (Line in) and when I record that using Line In in Audacity, it is fine! So, it's a "Stereo Mix" issue, but probably not an Audacity issue per se as it happens the same in the another sound recording program too.

Any advice will be appreciated.

Thanks!

B.O.C.