Setting Up Audacity Preferences

Before beginning a recording project in Audacity, it's necessary to set the Audacity preferences in the Edit Preferences dialog box. This ensures that the sound source and playback options are set correctly as well as bit-rate, quality indicators and more.

Setting Up Audacity Preferences on Your Computer

Follow this step by step procedure to setup your computer. Obviously you must download and install the software first, which you can get from http://audacity.sourceforge.net.

Launch Audacity

Step 1. Check the Preferences
Checking the Audacity preferences is very important step and should be done before you begin editing any audio. You can locate the Preferences Dialog box by going to Edit Preferences, or the shortcut key combination Control P 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 3. Set Audio Input & Outputs
Select the Audio I/O tab from the choices across the top of the Preferences Dialog box. I/O is short for Input Output and is where you’ll tell it to record your sound from and where to play it back.

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Step 4. Set Playback Output

From the drop down window under Playback, select the output device that you would like to route the sound through. In this case, I’m sending it to the sound card in my computer.

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Step 5. Set Recording Input
From the drop down window under Recording, select the sound source you want to record from. In this case, I’m selecting the Logitech USB Headset, because that is the microphone that I’m going to use to record some voiceover narration.

If you’re recording music, you probably want the Check box next to Record in Stereo checked. If you’re just recording your voice, leave it unchecked. Usually, you’ll leave the check box unchecked for "Play other tracks while recording new one".

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Step 6. Sound Quality Tab
The Quality tab is where you’ll set the quality of your audio. The higher the sample rate, the better quality your audio, but the larger the file size will be. For CD quality sound, record at 44,100 Hz. You’ll typically leave the other settings at their factory defaults.

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Arrow Right View the full size narrated Flash tutorial - Setting Audacity Preferences (1:28)


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Audacity Tutorials : Recording and Editing with Audacity

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Audacity Download
Audacity LAME MP3 Encoder
Overview of Digital Audio
Scriptwriting for Audio
Microphone Selection
High Quality Voiceovers
Setting Preferences
Saving Projects
Toolbars and Controls
Docking Toolbars
Mixer Toolbar
Meter Levels
The Track Tools
The Track Menu
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The Edit Menu
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The Generate Menu
The Effects Menu Part 1
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Audio Tracks and Waveforms
Using the Label Track
Using the Time Track
Sound File Formats
Importing Audio
Fading Music Up & Down
Exporting MP3 File

 

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