This setting lets you play along with what you??™ve recorded so far.
If you want Audacity to play back each new track as you record it, select the
Software Playthrough check box.
Leave the Audacity Preferences dialog box open for the moment so that you can
choose recording quality settings.
Choose Recording Quality Settings
To choose recording quality settings, follow these steps:
Click the Quality tab to display its contents (see Figure 14-4).
In the Default Sample Rate drop-down list, select 44100 Hz unless you
know you want to use a different sample rate. 44100 Hz (often described as
44.1 kilohertz, or kHz) is the sample rate used for CDs, and provides very
high audio quality. Audacity does offer much higher sample rates??”up to
96000 Hz??”if you need them.
In the Default Sample Format drop-down list, choose 32-bit Float if your
sound card supports 32-bit sound. This gives you the best audio quality??”but
if your sound card maxes out at 16-bit sound, there??™s no point in using 32-bit
sound, so choose 16-bit instead, and you will reduce the file sizes by half. If
your sound card supports 24-bit sound, choose 24-bit, which is the stage in
3.
4.
5.
6.
1.
2.
3.
Figure 14-4
Choose the default
sample rate and default
sample format on the
Quality tab.
Project 14: Turn Your PC into a Recording Studio 157
between 16-bit and 32-bit sound. (Check your sound card??™s documentation if
you??™re not sure of its capabilities.
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