Recording your voice with a microphone

Audacity can use many types of microphones and other audio devices to record audio.

1. Connect your Microphone

You can connect your mic by plugging it into the appropriate port. In general, this means:

  • If you have a USB mic, plug it into a USB port.

  • If you have a mic with a 3.5mm jack, plug it into a mic-in port.

  • If you have an XLR mic, plug it into an XLR-USB audio interface and the interface into the USB port.

How you will connect your microphone will depend on your computer model and your microphone. Use your manuals or support pages for further information. You may need adapters if your computer does not have the correct ports for your microphone.

Note: Many laptops and notebooks feature built-in microphones. While they may be good enough to record your voice properly, other recordings that they produce will often be somewhat unpleasant.

2. Select your Microphone

Once you have plugged in your microphone into your computer, select the microphone using Audio setup -> Recording devices.

Notes

  • If your mic doesn't show up in Recording devices, click "Rescan audio devices".

  • This menu may display some unexpected devices (for example, webcams), as well as virtual devices (software pretending to be a microphone).

  • Most microphones are in Mono, and Mono is typically the best choice for recordings.

3. Make a test recording

To start recording your voice in Audacity, simply press the red record button.

When you have ended the recording, listen back to it. If everything went well, you should now hear your voice clearly.

Best practices

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