Recording Device

This is where you select the device that WavePad should record from. Select your preferred device from the 'Device' list.

The 'Input' list will change depending on your device. Many devices will have two options: 'Windows Record Mixer', and 'Master Volume'. If you select 'Windows Record Mixer' then a button will appear that will allow you to open the Windows Record Mixer and adjust recording levels there. If you select 'Master Volume' then you can adjust the volume directly from the Recording Options window. Some devices will list which channels they have available. If you choose to record in stereo, then WavePad will use more than one of these channels, but you only need to select one.

There is a level display below the Volume control, so you can see the effects of your volume changes. This level display will show the level of any audio picked up through that device. If the level display remains black then no audio is being received.

You should adjust your recording volume to ensure that the level never reaches 0dB during normal recording. Any audio over this level will be 'clipped', which means that it is distorted, losing audio quality.

Use overdub as default recording mode:

This will change the recording mode to overdub (mix recording with current audio).

Display levels while recording is on standby:

This will enable the DB level meter to show audio levels before recording starts.

For professional grade microphones recommended for use with WavePad, see WavePad Recommended Microphones.

Automatic Recording

Voice Activated Recording:

With this activated, recording will start when audio is received, such as when you speak into the microphone, and pause whenever there is silence. The level that will start recording is the Silence Threshold. The recording will pause when the level falls 4dB below the Silence Threshold. The Silence Threshold should be adjusted so that it is high enough not to start recording when only background noise is heard, and low enough to always start recording when you start speaking. This will depend on your level of background noise, the sensitivity of your microphone, and other factors.

Silence Threshold:

This is used by the Voice Activation feature. It defines what level should be considered silence. This is useful because a microphone will often pick up background noise, but this noise should not trigger the voice activation. You should set the Silence Threshold to be slightly higher than the background noise your microphone is picking up. You can gauge this background level by looking at the level that is currently being received in the Recording Device section (see above).

Delay Before Deactivate:

This will adjust the length of the silence recorded between voice-activated recordings. Recording will continue after you stop speaking for the given duration, before pausing to wait for further input. If you have a low Silence Threshold set then you can safely leave this at 0.

Bookmark

Allow to add recording bookmarks if the window is not empty and is not entirely selected.

See also Recording.