I have never even had a Tascam 4 track or done any home recording except on an H2 Zoom. Not a having a budget for buying any recording equipment Audacity's free software has my interest.

The price is right. Does any one have experience with this software ? Is it worth the effort to figure out how to use ? Do you have to buy a bunch of stuff to use the software ? I think think my Zoom recorder will work as an audio interface.

By the way, my computer is a pretty old Dell with Windows XP.

Thanks, Brendan

It's pretty easy to use. Maybe the editing and mastering applications aren't real good, but the interface is easy. The only problem with Audacity is that, from time to time, it will crash as soon as you stop recording, losing your song, which can be frustrating.

I love Audacity!

The interface is scary close to Protools. And being that I'm Protools trained, it was very simple to use.

I've never had a problem with it crashing.

Computer based software is superior to dedicated digital recorders for ease of use as far as I can tell. Take the time to learn how to use it.

We were using the unstable beta version on Windows Vista, that was probably the issue

there also is a manual recovery feature for what you lose from crashes, but it is a giant bitch to use

I have some tracks that I am trying to mix down online. I loaded them into audacity and couldn`t find a way to combine them onto a single track. But I didn`t have much time. I did have a good experience with a single track before. At the moment I`m trying sound pad, also very easy to use.

Audacity is great for the quick recording of ideas. It's also a nice way to get "broken in" to the computer recording world. When you are ready for it, you can also grab a copy of Reaper. While not truly free, it is a full working demo that never times out.

A friend of my downloaded Audacity but not being recording engineer he complained where is the instructions. He didn't understand the technical lingo. He was happy that he figured out how take out the white noise from tape 4-track recordings.

Will the Zoom H-2 work, using it's built in microphones ?

Has anyone tried the Kristal Audio Engine ?

Audacity is dreadfully simple. Press the record button (Which has the universal record symbol on it) and record. Press stop when you are done. Next, press record again and your second recording will be recorded in a second track. Each time you record, a new track is created. Then, simply adjust the volume and pan (left and right) for each track until it sounds good. You can also get into basic editing and effect if you want to dabble with that, but you certainly don't have to.

Also, ANY input will work. I used to plug my guitar directly into my sound card using a 1/4" to 1/8" adapter that I got at the dollar store.

actually, audacity doesn't work with my Tascam US-1641, because the drivers designate it as a MIDI device

I have the same interface it works for me. Something in the settings maybe?

Oh, hang on...I have the US-144...

I have Audacity for windows 7. It's beta, and even audacitie's
disclaimer says that it may not be totally stable for Windows7, but older versions I've had were great! In the 80s-90s, we had to use cassette 4 trasck recorders, which were terrible machines that offered no sound quality. audacity is hands down a very cool tool to have. Take some time and get to know the program. You can also download free effects add-ons.