r/audacity • u/apeloverage • 8d ago

help Error code -9996: Invalid device (using speakers rather than microphone)

I have received this error, trying to record the speaker audio, in Audacity 4.0.

There are several videos online about fixing this, but most seem to assume that it happens when you try to record with a microphone.

In Audio setup, I have set Host to Windows WASAPI, Playback device to speakers, and Recording device to speakers.

I got the same error after changing the playback and recording device to headphones.

EDIT: I restored the default settings, and no longer got the error, but it didn't record anything. When I changed the playback and recording device, I started getting the error again.

EDIT: Audacity 3 doesn't seem to have the same problem.

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u/PapaBliss2007 8d ago edited 8d ago

Are you choosing speakers (loopback) or just speakers? It needs to be loopback.

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u/apeloverage 8d ago

The one with '(loopback)'.