First, set
Audacity to record in stereo. Open the Audacity preferences. In the “Audio I/O”
section, change the number of recording channels from 1 (mono) to 2
(stereo).
Next, plug one end of a stereo cable into the “Line Out” or “Headphone”
connector on your tape deck, minidisc player, mixer or stereo system. Plug
the other end into your computer’s “Line In” connector.
Choose “Line In” as the input source on the Audacity toolbar, and press
the Record button. While Audacity is recording, start playing your tape, record
or disc. When you have captured the entire recording, press the Stop
button.
Notes:
Do not plug stereo equipment into your computer’s
“Microphone” port, which is designed for low-powered (“mic-level”)
signals only. Use the “Line In” port instead.
Do not
connect a turntable directly to your computer. The signal from a
turntable is distorted; it must be corrected by passing it through a
phono pre-amp or a receiver with a “phono” input.
After making a recording or editing a file in Audacity, follow these steps to save your work on an audio CD:
- Use the “Export as WAV” or “Export as AIFF” command to save your Audacity recording in a sound file.
- Use any CD-recording software (iTunes or Nero, for example) to burn this file to a CD.
To make a disc you can play in normal CD players, make sure to
create a “music” or “audio” CD (not a “data” CD). Use CD-R discs,
because some players cannot read CD-RW.
Some CD software will burn only 16-bit, 44.1KHz stereo sound files.
If your CD recording software won't open your sound file, export the
file again after choosing the following settings in Audacity:
- At the bottom of the Audacity window, set the Project Rate to 44100 Hz.
- In the File Formats preferences, choose WAV (16-bit...) or AIFF (16-bit...).
- If
your project does not already contain a stereo track, choose “New
Stereo Track” from the Project menu. (This will make Audacity export
your recording as a stereo file.)