Cool Edit Pro Question

[taybot]

Hi everyone,

I have a quick question about Cool Edit Pro I was hoping I could get some help with.

I am trying to use Cool Edit to record the streaming archives of a radio station onto my computer.

I know this is possible but one little thing is holding me up.

I know I have to run the ouput from the stereo out or headphone out back
into the stereo in, so I use a 1/8" cable. I plug it in, press record on Cool Edit and start streaming the radio show I want, but when I play it back it has A HUGE AMOUNT of static…it sounds awful.

I have tried reversing the cord plug-ins as well as many different sample rates, but nothing seems to work. It sounds fine when I simply stream the radio onto my computer though.

I am very frustrated about this. Is it a simple Cool Edit setting that I have wrong? Any help would be much appreciated!

Thank you very much.

Taybot

[GZsound]

Not sure what your problem is..

You say you are trying to record streaming audio into Cool Edit and getting static, but then you say when you record streaming audio into your computer it sounds fine..

Apparently you are using your on board sound card. Do you have the "settings" in Cool Edit set properly? Are you recording the left channel on one track and the right channel on another track, or are you recording two stereo tracks?

Ideally, you should be recording to two tracks, with the track input settings set to record the left channel on one track and the right channel on the other, after recording you can mix down the two tracks to a stereo file if you need.

And are your session properties set to 44.1 16 bit? That may be all your internal sound card is capable of converting.

Other than that, I don't understand how you can record streaming audio with no problems and streaming audio with problems....?

[taybot]

Sorry for the confusion.

All I meant was:

When I stream the station, and I simply listen to the music, I can hear it fine. It is when I try to record it onto Cool Edit that I have these problems.

Could you please explain how to set it up so the left channel is on one track and the right channel on another track?

Also, how do you set your session properties to 44.1 16 bit? Where exactly is that setting? I have been searching, but haven't been able to find it.

Sorry for all the little questions but I am new to this and really need to finish the project. Your help is very much appreciated though! Thank you.

Taybot

[GZsound]

Sorry for the confusion.

All I meant was:

When I stream the station, and I simply listen to the music, I can hear it fine. It is when I try to record it onto Cool Edit that I have these problems.

Could you please explain how to set it up so the left channel is on one track and the right channel on another track?

Also, how do you set your session properties to 44.1 16 bit? Where exactly is that setting? I have been searching, but haven't been able to find it.

Sorry for all the little questions but I am new to this and really need to finish the project. Your help is very much appreciated though! Thank you.

Taybot

Go the to the "file" menu and click on "new session".. The dialogue box will give you choices. Pick 16 bit 44.1K and the session will open.

Go to the track one input box and see what it says.. You should see your internal sound card listed. Check the box that says "left channel".

Now go to track two and open the "input" box and see what it says.. It also should have your sound card listed. Simply check "right channel".

Make sure the "same for all tracks" box in NOT checked.

If you don't see your sound card in the input list.. Go to "options" and "settings" and set your audio device properties. In "device order" make sure your soundcard is at the top of the list.. It is probably the only device listed anyway since you don't apparently have multiple sound cards.

In other words, you must tell your computer what device you are using for sound (make sure it is set properly in you Windows Control Panel Multimedia pane), then you must tell the software what you are planning on recording and where to look for input and output devices.

Because you can have multiple input and output devices, it seems like a pain to have to do it that way, but it is the only way your system knows what you are trying to do.

I have three sound cards and 30 different inputs and outputs I can select when I use Audition so it can get confusing. Once you get it working properly, write down what you did so you can do it again.

You should also save the session BEFORE you record anything as your "default" session. That way all you need to do is open your default session and all your settings will be the same.

[AndyH]

You should not be going D to A followed by A to D. You should be recording the digital stream you receive from the internet.

This is controlled by the soundcard mixer settings. If your soundcard uses the Window's mixer, the setting is on the recording properties page. It is often labeled something along the lines of "what you hear." That should be selected, all other inputs should be muted.

If your soundcard has its own mixer software, you must follow the manufacturer's instructions.

If your soundcard is USB or firewire, you are at a great disadvantage for this task. You need a helper application such as Total Recorder, which will record directly to hard drive. You can later open the file in CoolEdit.
http://www.highcriteria.com/

Another approach for such external soundcards is Virtual Audio Cables. This program will let you record directly into CoolEdit.
http://spider.nrcde.ru/music/software/eng/vac.html

[GZsound]

Ahh... you are correct. I wasn't thinking of recording the streaming audio that would be already IN the computer.. My bad..

I was thinking of recording external audio sources. Sorry for the dumb advice..

[juan47]

If your software and soundcard force you to record using the external cable, be sure you are using the line level input - not mic level. That might be the source of what you describe as static.
juan

[AndyH]

Using the correct inputs and outputs can help, but it is still not a good approach.

[taybot]

Thank you very much, you all have been very helpful thus far. I just have a few more questions...I am realizing I know very little about these things.

"If your soundcard uses the Window's mixer, the setting is on the recording properties page"

How do I get to the recording properties page? Would that be on Cool Edit, or under my windows toolbar? If it is under my windows toolbar, where would it be? I can't seem to find it. Also, once I find this page, how do I mute all other inputs? I assume it would be easy to do once I find the Recording Properties Page though.

"If your soundcard is USB or firewire, you are at a great disadvantage for this task."

I am truthfully not sure what kind of soundcard I have, nor do I know how to find out what I have. When I click on "Record Devices" it says Conexant AMC Audio. Would that be it?

Also, I don't know what kind of mixer my soundcard uses. Under options, it does say Windows Recording Mixer so I assume this is it, am I correct in thinking that? Can anyone tell me how to figure out what my soundcard is?

I know these are simple questions but I am still learning and I am determined to finish this project so your help would be much much appreciated.

Thanks again for everyone's help thus far!

Taybot

[GZsound]

Thank you very much, you all have been very helpful thus far. I just have a few more questions...I am realizing I know very little about these things.

"If your soundcard uses the Window's mixer, the setting is on the recording properties page"

How do I get to the recording properties page? Would that be on Cool Edit, or under my windows toolbar? If it is under my windows toolbar, where would it be? I can't seem to find it. Also, once I find this page, how do I mute all other inputs? I assume it would be easy to do once I find the Recording Properties Page though.

"If your soundcard is USB or firewire, you are at a great disadvantage for this task."

I am truthfully not sure what kind of soundcard I have, nor do I know how to find out what I have. When I click on "Record Devices" it says Conexant AMC Audio. Would that be it?

Also, I don't know what kind of mixer my soundcard uses. Under options, it does say Windows Recording Mixer so I assume this is it, am I correct in thinking that? Can anyone tell me how to figure out what my soundcard is?

I know these are simple questions but I am still learning and I am determined to finish this project so your help would be much much appreciated.

Thanks again for everyone's help thus far!

Taybot

First off.. there is no "recording properties page"...as such. There is a section in your control panel multimedia section that allow you to set what device is to be used for recording or playback.

First...You can right click on "my computer" and go to the device manager and see what it says under multimedia and sound devices. Your sound card will be listed there. Your AMC card will most likely be listed there.

You can also go to your Windows "Control Panel" and open "multimedia" and see what devices you have.. The odds are you will see your AMC audio card.

You can tell Windows to use that device for recording and for playback. There is also a Windows volume control, normally on your taskbar that will allow you to set the volumes for several different functions, including recording, etc.

Once Windows recognizes the sound card and is set to properly use the soundcard for recording and playback, THEN you set your audio software to the correct input and output device, which in your case is the same onboard sound AMC sound card.

[AndyH]

This is probably a built-into-the-motherboard soundcard. They are essentially Soundblaster clones.

I know the labels of some things are different with later versions of the OS, but maybe mine is similar enough for you to follow, or perhaps, once you reveal what version of Windows you are using, someone else can be more specific.

On the Control Panel, under Multimedia, one sees a tab for Audio Properties. At the bottom of that is a check box for "show volume control on the taskbar"

When the volume control is on the taskbar, double clicking on it will open the mixer. Usually the playback options are shown by default.

Under Options/Properties you get to select either playback or recording. Select recording.

Make sure only one of the input options is selected. This should be the "what you hear" option. It may have a different label for some soundcards but should be distinguishable from other devices. It is definitely not ‘line-in' or microphone' or any other choice that has a more obvious meaning.

Once the proper option is checked, and all of the others are un-checked, selecting your soundcard for recording under CoolEdit's Options/Settings/Devices should allow you to record anything that is being played through your soundcard.

[taybot]

Thanks again everyone for your help! Unfortunately I am still stuck. Here is what I'm dealing with...

I have the volume control on my taskbar...I open the mixer, go to Options/Properties and select recording. Then (I believe this is where my hangup is) there aren't any input options to select.

There is insead a list that lets you choose which volume controls will be shown. I can select between Recording, Mono, Stereo, CD Audio, Microphone, Line In etc. but I think that that simply lets you choose which volume controls will be shown, therefore not affecting the recording.

I still went ahead and checked only one option, and I made sure it wasn't 'line-in' or 'microphone'. There were no options that looked anything like "what you hear." I guess I am not sure what you mean by that.

One other thing is, the process has actually gone downhill for me. Now when I record from Cool Edit, I can't get anything at all to record, whereas before at least I had a loud static version of the radio. I obviously screwed something up in messing with all the configurations but I cannot for the life of me backtrack and figure out what I screwed up. Does anyone have any advice on what might have hit wrong?

Just to make things more clear, I have Windows XP Profesional and an AMC soundcard.

Also, how should I have the Cool Edit settings when I try to record it? I was going to do 44100 Stereo 16 bit, I think that is right, but does it matter if I have 2 tracks or 1 track? Should I have them coming in from the Left Channel or Right channel?

I was also wondering, do I even need the cord to do this recording, or should I be able to do it without? From the responses I'm getting, it seems like I should be able to do it without.

I know that is a huge amount of questions but I am really stuck (especially now that I can't even get a loud static sound anymore). I will have somebody come over here to help me if I still can't figure it out but I think I should be able to figure it out myself with the help of everyone here.

Thanks again I appreciate it!

taylor

[AndyH]

Those ‘things' listed on the Recording Control page are the input devices. Yes, there are level sliders associated with them.

At the bottom of the properties page, where you select either playback or recording, there should be a list of devices. Make sure all are checked. The existence of this list is just another MS thing where some twit decided that most people are too delicate to see very much information at once.

Now, if you can't recognize the proper input, list all of them in your next post. Perhaps someone else will recognize it.

You were recording from line-in. Now you have selected something else on the Record Control page. Whatever you selected (Don't attempt to beguile us with vague hints. Just spit it out.) has nothing feeding into it, so you get nothing when you attempt to record.

If the source you are recording is stereo, chose stereo in CoolEdit when you create the file into which you will record. 16/44.1 is fine. How would you choose right or left channel?

No, when you record the internal stream, that cable will not be functional (unless it manages to feed some noise into the circuitry in spite of line-in not being selected).

[AndyH]

The audio you are downloading from the internet comes across in some lossy compressed format, such as mp3. It is decoded by whatever player you are using to listen to it, so the data going to your soundcard, which you want to record, will be PCM. The best quality possible will be to save your recording as WAV, without any encoding.

This audio may have been produced with a 44.1kHz sample rate, but it could easily be something less, such as 22,050Hz or 32kHz. Ideally you would record it without resampling, that is, as whatever sample rate they send you. If you have no way to find out what sample rate is being used, you might experiment by recording at several different rates and see if you can tell any difference.

[MrHope]

There is a program called TotalRecorder that lets you record output from any program that produces audio. You can use it to record internet radio stations.

[taybot]

Hi Mr. Hope,

Could you please tell me more about TotalRecorder. Where could I find it? I cannot figure out how to do this via Cool Edit for the life of me. I can't even get any sort of signal any more.

If you could give me info on where I could get TotalRecorder that would be much appreciated. Thank you!

Taybot

[AndyH]

This is the address for TotalRecorder
http://www.highcriteria.com/
It is one of several programs that will do the job.
HOWEVER, it records what goes through your soundcard. If you don't have that working, I'm not sure if the program will work either.

I tried to give you detailed instructions in a recent post. I ask you to list various things if you could not get things working. What happened? It is quite possible that you can suscessfully record in CoolEdit, once you straighten out the Windows recording options.