If you're using the AT2005 connected via USB, turn it off by the switch on the mic. For now, if you're using the Xenyx mixer, temporarily turn the GAIN and the MIC all the way down on that device. You probably won't at first - not until you can make multiple recordings and compare them - and that's OK. The next few steps are the most sensitive part of the setup to get right. Before moving on to the next step, it is essential that the Recording Level meter moves in response to sound or tapping the head of the mic. Please review the prior steps, including the device setup for the Xenyx if you're using the mixer.

If you don't see any green or motion in the Recording Level meter when the Recording Volume slider is turned all the up and you're making sounds into the mic, then most likely either the mic is not physically connected correctly, you selected the wrong Recording Device in the prior section, or something else is not set up properly. Make some sounds into the mic as you make these changes. Move the Recording Volume slider all the way up toward the + on the right (the slider with the icon of the microphone to the left, circled in the figure below). If you are using the Xenyx 302USB, be sure the GAIN and MIC dials are turned to 6, as indicated in Step 6 of the device setup. When you click there, the text will disappear and you may or may not see the green Recording Level monitor moving in response to sound near the mic. To do this, start by clicking where it says, 'Click to Start Monitoring' on the Recording Level meter. Maximize the volume (loud enough when you are talking).Minimize the noise floor (no sound when you're not talking).To do this, we need to balance two competing factors: The goal in setting the recording levels is to maximize dynamic range, or the difference in recording volume between the load and quiet parts. Part of the purpose of this section is to teach you to use Audacity so you have the knowledge to tune it for optimal sound quality. Now you're ready to fine tune so the recording levels are optimized for your voice, and environment. In the previous section, Configuring Audacity to work with your Microphone, you configured Audacity to work with your hardware. If you are considering buying anything you see listed here, please consider following our link when you do. This helps us promote all our authors' books and continue to provide free titles to our customers at our expense.

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Audacity two microphones