Recording Can no longer record in Audacity

jbtsax · Apr 2, 2017

Can anyone help me? My equipment is Windows 7, Audacity 2.0.6, Shure SM57 microphone through Shure X2U usb adapter.

Here is the situation. Previously I could use this set-up to record in Audacity with no problems. Currently Audacity recognizes the Shure mic, but there is no response on the recording meter or in the track. I have reinstalled Audacity, tried different USB ports, gone to the Windows sound settings, uninstalled a couple of applications that were installed since I recorded last, and even went so far as to purchase a new Shure X2U.

Can anyone figure out what I am missing?

Stephen Howard · Apr 2, 2017

Have you had a Windows update lately?

I lost some program sounds on my machine after an update (security rollup) and it appears that the updates have meddled with the permissions. Somewhere in the system there's a flag raised that says 'such and such a programm does not have permission to access the sound module'.
Rather annoyingly the sounds come back after a new update is installed, but disappear again on the next reboot.

Assuming nothing's changed, have you tried running Audacity in Admin mode?

Tiberius · Apr 2, 2017

Different things to try. In order...

1. Does the basic recording work, e.g. try Voice Recorder, with the inbuilt microphone.
2. Does Your mic work, again with the inbuilt Voice Recorder.
3. Does Audacity work with the inbuilt mic

Colin the Bear · Apr 2, 2017

Is the mic volume turned up?

jbtsax · Apr 3, 2017

Here's how I solved the problem. I installed Audacity on my laptop which also has Windows 7 and put the microphone in the usb port. It worked perfectly. Then I did some "reverse engineering" and studied the audio settings in the laptop. I discovered that in the the microphone properties-levels window, the small speaker icon needed to be unchecked to remove the small red X. Somehow in my mind I thought that if I unchecked the speaker it would create feedback from the microphone. That's what I get for thinking. Thank you to everyone who made suggestions, they really helped to point me in the right direction.