Recording issues.

[Yorutora]

1. Is there a feature to make audio waves look bigger to help me know whether I talk too loud while recording? I usually know after using Effect>Normalise.

2. I don't have ReplayGain under Analyse even if I have the text file 'ReplayGain.ny' in my pluggins file. I saw a YT video that shows ReplayGain under Nyquist but I could not install Nyquist either.

Can someone help me?

[Availle]

As for 1), you're only too loud if the waves touch the top/bottom of the window. Everything else is fixable in post-processing.
Ideally, the peaks should be around the 0.5 mark in audacity, that's a good ballpark estimate. If you need to normalise/amplify your recording to actually see your waveform, you're much too quiet.

Can't help with 2) since I don't have this feature installed on my ancient audacity...

[TriciaG]

2) Go to Effect / Add/remove Plugins, find ReplayGain on the list, and enable it.

[knotyouraveragejo]

On my Windows install of Audacity 3.0.2, Replay Gain no longer appears in the Analyze Menu. It's down towards the bottom of the list of Effects (below the line separating the built in effects and any you have added). If you have enabled it as Tricia has described, try looking for it there.

[Yorutora]

If you need to normalise/amplify your recording to actually see your waveform, you're much too quiet.

I am speaking as loud and close to the mic of my earphone and the height of the audio wave is same as the height of my cursor.

[Yorutora]

2) Go to Effect / Add/remove Plugins, find ReplayGain on the list, and enable it.

I already did and it is not there.

[Yorutora]

On my Windows install of Audacity 3.0.2, Replay Gain no longer appears in the Analyze Menu. It's down towards the bottom of the list of Effects (below the line separating the built in effects and any you have added). If you have enabled it as Tricia has described, try looking for it there.

Yes, found it! ^^
Thank you.

[Yorutora]

I think I would need to buy a microphone. Any recommendations?

[Availle]

If you need to normalise/amplify your recording to actually see your waveform, you're much too quiet.

I am speaking as loud and close to the mic of my earphone and the height of the audio wave is same as the height of my cursor.

I don't know what that means since I can't see your screen and how big your cursor appears there.
But as I said, as long as you're in the 0.5 range of the audacity window, you're fine. Should look something like the image on this page:
https://wiki.librivox.org/index.php?title=1-Minute_Test

If you can't achieve that, there is the possibility that audacity doesn't use your earphone mic, but the built-in one of your laptop instead.
Plug in the mic in before you open audacity again. This way, it should recognise a plug-in microphone automatically.

[Peter Why]

In Audacity, View/Toolbars/Device Toolbar will show you what device Audacity is using for recording and playback.

Then Transport/ Rescan Audio Devices will force Audacity to look at the devices again ... you can use this if you plug in your microphone after Audacity has already opened, to make it recognise the new microphone.

Peter

[Rapunzelina]

Also, in the Mixer toolbar, you can increase the microphone's input volume. Or, if that's already at maximum, you can check the microphone settings in your system's Control Panel (for sounds and microphones). Or if your earset microphone has a volume knob.

[atruewalker]

When I use click remover, it makes the recording sound scratchy. I spent an hour just editing and removing my clicks and pops. Should I just get a better mike? I have a Logitech headset. I put a bit of netting around the mike and it sounds a little better. The mike seems to make a pop every time I move or wiggle in my chair. I guess I must need a mike on a stand. I also need to re-install the Checker but I can't find it on the website. The old Checker suddenly stopped working for me, so I uninstalled it. BTW, each time I tried to access it it seemed to need to re-install. It said, "can this app make changes in your computer?" each time I used it. Is this normal? I'm not terribly computer savvy.

[TriciaG]

You've got a lot of questions packed into that post! Here's a run-down:

(1) The "Click Remover" effect in Audacity isn't very good. I think it's meant to remove clicks and scratch sounds from recordings from vinyl records. I don't know if it'll help in your case, but the DeClicker effect is much better at removing my clicks.

(2) I got rid of my cheap headset mic partly because of the pops and clicks you describe. But...

(3) We tend to be our worst critic. A few pops and clicks aren't the end of the world, depending on how loud they are.

(4) Checker is here: https://cgjennings.ca/projects/checker/ It has never stopped working for me, but then, I don't update my computer every time I'm told to.

(5) No, I don't believe it's normal for it to want to make changes to your computer.

[philchenevert]

I just want to insert a word of praise of the amazing effect LOUDNESS NORMILAZIATION in Audacity. I'm not sure when it even came into existence but it is a very easy to assure that my volume is perfect on every track I upload. Simply select the track, apply the effect at -19 LUFS (whatever they are) and my track emerges at the perfect volume, very close to 89 dB. Never need to use the Checker for my past 50 or so tracks, they are always just right. This is sooooo easy that I'm surprised there is not more talk about it. Oh, -20 LUFS produces a good track too, just a trifle softer. Naturally i'm making a video about it tonight. If there are any negative effects I don't know about them.

[knotyouraveragejo]

LUFS = loudness units relative to full scale

The exact setting will depend on whether you have varying height peaks or have used dynamic compression. For my recordings -22.5 LUFS comes in at ~89db in Checker.