Adobe Audition Not Recording [FIXED]

Introduction

Recording problems in Adobe Audition can arise due to a number of reasons. These may include bugs with the software, faulty equipment, or bad connections. Whenever a recording is ongoing, the red vertical line (the playhead) should leave behind a waveform, as shown in the screenshot below.

playhead vertical line audition

Sometimes, a waveform does not appear even when the playhead is moving. When this happens, you know that there is an issue that needs to be addressed. The screenshot below shows the playhead moving yet there is no waveform forming.

playhead moving no waveform audition

The second recording issue will have the playhead not moving from the starting point no matter how many times you try to initiate the recording. Other times the playhead will not move from the far left point where it is always located (at the start of a recording) as shown in the screenshot below. It remains still no matter how many times you try to initiate the recording.

playhead not moving audition

In this article, I will categorize the solutions based on the two scenarios mentioned above.

No Audio Waveform when Playhead is Moving

The following issues might be affecting your recording process.

1. Faders or gain knob set at zero: If you have your microphone plugged into a mixer, check the particular channel for that microphone on the mixer, and make sure the fader is not set to zero.

Some smaller mixers will not have a slider fader, but will have a knob instead. Ensure that the volume of the channel you are using is not set to zero. It is important to check all controls on your equipment before you begin recording.

If you are using a USB microphone plugged directly into your computer check the gain knob and make sure that it is not set to zero either.

2. Is your microphone on? Microphones like the Behringer microphone XM1800S have a power button. Therefore, always ensure that the mic is on.

3. Loose connections: After failing to start a recording this third option calls for switching off the equipment first. Once everything is switched off, check if any of your connections/cables are loose.

Check the male and female connectors on the mixers and microphones for any loosely connected cables. Additionally check the usb connection plugged into your computer if you happen to be using a USB microphone.

4. Old or broken equipment: Sometimes this issue arises due to using spoiled cables which have an issue processing data. Therefore, the playhead will keep on moving but the audio will not get processed into your computer.

5. A reduced microphone sensitivity level: You have the option to increase the level of sensitivity with any mic plugged into your computer. To make a change in the sensitivity level, right-click on the speaker icon in the taskbar. From the list that pops up, click on Sounds.

sound settings computer

This will open the pop-up box in the image below.

mic recording settings

Click on the recording tab as highlighted in the image above. In the image, we have 4 options. Microphone Array is the default microphone and it is the one in use currently. The Stereo Mix is available and ready to use.

From your list, click on the microphone that is in use. In my case, I will click on Microphone Array. Once you do that, the Properties button on the bottom right side of the dialogue box will be available for selection.

microphone array

After you click on properties, a new dialogue box will open up. From that box click on the levels tab as highlighted in the image below.

microphone array and boost levels

Make sure that the microphone array slider is set at the center. From the image above, you will notice that it is set at zero which is muted. The microphone boost slider is used to increase the sensitivity to the already set level in the first slider.

The speaker icon on the right side of the slider is used to mute and unmute the microphone.

Alternatively, you can access these settings on your computer. Click on the start button followed by the settings icon. Once the settings window is open, click on the sound tab. From this tab, click on Device Properties under the input settings.

device properties

This will direct you to the device properties page as highlighted below.

device properties page

Adjust the slider to a range of 50-60. Close the window and head back to Adobe Audition and start recording. Do this to confirm if there is an audio waveform forming.

Playhead Not Moving

If the playhead does not move from the starting point at all, you will need to change your audio hardware settings. To get to these settings, click on Edit in the menu tab. Scroll down to the Preference option and hover your mouse pointer over this option. A new list of options will appear on the right. From this list click on Audio Hardware.

audio hardware audition

Clicking on the audio hardware will open the dialogue box shown in the screenshot below.

audio hardware dialogue box audition

In the Device Class entry pick MME. With that, make sure that you also change the default input and output entries.

Click OK on the bottom right of the dialogue box to apply these changes.

Conclusion

Recording issues often call for lots of troubleshooting. This becomes more tedious if you have a lot of equipment plugged in. To avoid these issues, always ensure that you have everything plugged in correctly and your equipment is in good working condition. This requires you to have a bit of background information on the recording process as well as some familiarity with the interface that you are using.

The troubleshooting scenarios outlined in this article are straightforward to implement by a beginner. I hope that you are able to get Audition to record by following these instructions. Good luck!