Using Audacity/Setting your Preferences

Preferences modify the default behavior of Audacity. Before you start using Audacity you should change a few of the preferences; these are listed below.

To change your Audacity Preferences:


 * Open Audacity;
 * Under the File Menu, choose Preferences;
 * Select the tab on the left for the settings you wish to modify.

Audio I/O
Make sure your recording device is selected in the Recording -> Device drop down menu.



Quality
Click on the Quality label on the left hand menu.

If you are only recording people talking try starting with a Default Sample Rate of 22.050 Hz and a Default Sample Format of 16-bit.



File Formats
Select the "Make a copy of the file before editing" option as well as the "Always copy all audio (safest)" option.