Note (October 2026): An earlier version tied the x3daudio1_7.dll error to the LAME MP3 encoder. x3daudio1_7.dll is a Microsoft DirectX audio file, and LAME has been built into Audacity for Windows and macOS since version 2.3.2 (May 2019).
Most Audacity errors come from audio device settings, not from Audacity itself. For “Error opening sound device” and error codes -9996 to -9999, rescan audio devices (Transport > Rescan Audio Devices), switch the audio host (MME or WASAPI), set the project rate to 44,100 or 48,000 Hz, and record in 1 or 2 channels. For MP3 errors, install the latest Audacity, which has LAME built in.
Key Takeaways
- “Error opening sound device” points to a hardware, driver, permission or settings problem with the recording or playback device, according to Audacity’s support documentation.
- Error codes -9996 (invalid device), -9997 (invalid sample rate), -9998 (invalid number of channels) and -9999 (unanticipated host error) each have specific fixes, listed in the table below.
- LAME, the MP3 encoder, has been built into Audacity for Windows and macOS since version 2.3.2, released on May 15, 2019, so no separate DLL download is needed for MP3 export.
- x3daudio1_7.dll is a Microsoft DirectX (X3DAudio) file, not an Audacity or LAME file.
- FFmpeg is still a separate, optional install for formats such as M4A and WMA.
Audacity is a free, open-source audio editor (licensed under GPLv3) that runs on Windows and macOS, as well as Linux. Audacity was first released on May 28, 2000, and has been developed by Muse Group together with the Audacity Team since Muse Group acquired it in April 2021. Its wide range of recording, editing and effects tools makes it an everyday program for many podcasters, musicians and students.
How to Solve Common Problems in Audacity
From students to professional beat makers and audio masters, Audacity brings many benefits for business and personal applications.
Every once in a while, however, using the app is not usually as seamless as we would like. From DLL file errors to “Error opening sound device”, here is how to solve the most common errors in Audacity for Windows, with notes for macOS where the fix differs.
1) The “Error opening sound device” error
This error message usually pops up as a result of an error in either your playback device settings, hardware problem or issues with your recording device. The error message will typically ask you to inspect the audacity sample rate or the settings of the recording or playback device.
If the error carries “recording device”, it signifies that there is an issue with the operating system, sound device or the Audacity software itself. When the error mentions “playback device”, then there is a need to check the playback settings.
To fix this error, a number of options can be explored.
- First, close the Audacity program and head over to the control panel. From the Control Panel, open Sound and select the Recording tab.
- Next, right-click inside the box where devices are listed and select the “show disabled devices option”. You should see a check mark next to it to show that you have selected the option.
This displays any devices that have not been enabled on your PC. If you can’t find any new devices, then there is a possibility that there is an issue with your soundcard driver or the sound card itself.
- At this point, the next thing to do is to reinstall your sound card driver. If you do find a new device displayed, right click on the new-found device and navigate to “properties”. On the properties dialogue, navigate to “device usage” and select “enable/use this device”.
- Click OK and close all the open windows.
- Re-open the Audacity app and see if it runs fine. If you still get the error, ensure that the default format set for the recording and playback devices uses the same number of recording channels and sample rates as Audacity.
- In older Audacity versions, this sample rate appeared at the bottom left corner of the program window as “Project rate”. In current Audacity 3.x releases, it is set under Audio Setup > Audio Settings > Project Sample Rate. According to Audacity’s documentation, the common values are 44,100 Hz and 48,000 Hz; if a different rate is selected, change it to one of these and test recording again.
- Another cause is a channel mismatch: some sound cards support only one or two recording channels, so errors can occur when Audacity tries to record a number of channels the device does not support. To fix this, open Audacity, click Edit and select Preferences (in Audacity 3.x the same setting is also available under Audio Setup > Recording Channels).
- Under the Devices section, set Channels to 1 (mono) or 2 (stereo).
2) The x3daudio1_7.dll error
The x3daudio1_7.dll error is often searched alongside Audacity MP3 export problems, but the two are separate issues. x3daudio1_7.dll belongs to Microsoft’s X3DAudio library, which was distributed with XAudio2 2.7 in the legacy DirectX SDK (last released in June 2010); it is not part of the LAME MP3 encoder. The file older Audacity versions asked for when MP3 export failed was the LAME library, lame_enc.dll.
In Audacity versions before 2.3.2, a message like the following appeared when the LAME library was missing (in Audacity’s real message the file named was lame_enc.dll, not x3daudio1_7.dll). The version reported here reads “Audacity does not export MP3 files directly, but instead uses the freely available LAME library to handle MP3 file encoding. You must obtain x3daudio1_7.dll separately, by downloading the LAME MP3 encoder, and then locate this file for Audacity.
You only need to do this once. Would you like to locate x3daudio1_7.dll now? Audacity needs the file x3daudio1_7.dll to create MP3s.”
If you’re having X3daudio1_7.dll issues with your Audacity app, here’s how to solve it:
- Download the X3daudio1_7.dll file in its zip folder. Downloading individual DLL files from third-party sites is risky and is not recommended: such files can be outdated, mismatched or bundled with malware. For an MP3 export problem, the official fix is to install the latest Audacity, which includes LAME on Windows and macOS.
- Once you have downloaded the .zip Dll file, use the Windows explorer app to unzip it to the desired destination or right click the file and select extract.
- Once you have the raw .dll file, open Audacity and go to Edit > Preferences > Libraries. (In Audacity 2.3.2 and later on Windows and macOS, the MP3 library section no longer has a Locate option because LAME is built in.)
- Navigate to the mp3 library section and choose locate, then browse and manually locate and select the .dll file that you have just downloaded and extracted.
- If you do not want to use the Audacity app to locate the file, simply copy it to the installation path where you installed your Audacity program for Windows.
- Restart the Audacity app and check for the errors.
- If the problem continues, uninstall Audacity and install the latest version from the official Audacity website, which is the fix Audacity’s own documentation gives for LAME errors.
Which Version of Audacity Should You Use?
Many old Audacity errors disappear simply by updating. As of October 2026, the official Audacity download page offers the Audacity 4 series (version 4.0.x) for Windows (x86_64 and ARM64), macOS (Universal, Apple Silicon and Intel) and Linux (x86_64 and ARM64 AppImages). Wikipedia lists Audacity 4.0.1, released on September 30, 2026, as the latest stable version.
Audacity 3.x is still maintained: according to the Audacity changelog, Audacity 3.7.9 was released on September 1, 2026. Audacity 4 has a redesigned interface (for example, the Sync Lock feature was replaced by ripple editing), so some menu names differ. The menu paths in this guide follow Audacity’s documentation for version 3.x.
What Do Audacity Error Codes Mean?
Audacity error codes are numbered messages that appear when recording or playback cannot start. The four most common codes, with the causes and fixes Audacity’s support documentation gives, are summarized below.
| Error code | Meaning | Common causes | Fixes to try |
|---|---|---|---|
| -9996 | Invalid device | Device unplugged, loose or faulty connection; unsupported channel count; on Windows WASAPI, another app (such as ASIO4ALL, Voicemod or Voicemeeter) using the device exclusively | Try a different USB port and cable, a different audio host, or a different number of channels |
| -9997 | Invalid sample rate | Unsupported sample rate; recording and playback devices set to different rates while overdubbing with WASAPI | Set both the operating system and the Audacity project rate to a supported rate (usually 44,100 or 48,000 Hz); try another host or channel count |
| -9998 | Invalid number of channels | Recording more channels than the device supports | Go to Audio Setup > Recording Channels and choose 1 (mono), 2 (stereo) or the highest number listed |
| -9999 | Unanticipated host error | Lost USB connection, missing microphone permission, or a playback/recording sample-rate mismatch | Match sample rates in Windows and Audacity, turn off Overdub under Transport > Transport Options, then run the common troubleshooting steps |
Common Troubleshooting Steps That Fix Most Audacity Errors
Audacity’s support documentation recommends working through the same short checklist for most device errors, including “Error opening sound device” and “Error opening recording device”:
- Rescan audio devices: select Transport > Rescan Audio Devices to refresh the device list, especially after plugging in a microphone or headphones.
- Change the audio host: open the Audio Setup button and switch the Host (for example, between MME and Windows WASAPI), then confirm the correct Recording and Playback Device is selected.
- Change the project rate: go to Audio Setup > Audio Settings > Project Sample Rate and try 44,100 or 48,000 Hz.
- Check privacy permissions: on Windows, open Settings > Privacy (or Privacy & Security) > Microphone and turn on microphone access, including “Let desktop apps access your microphone” where available. On macOS, allow Audacity under Security & Privacy > Privacy > Microphone.
- Enable the microphone: in the Windows Sound control panel, open the Recording tab, turn on Show Disabled Devices and enable the microphone, then rescan in Audacity.
- Check levels: make sure the Recording Meter and Playback Meter toolbar sliders are not set to zero.
- Update drivers and firmware for the sound card or USB audio interface.
- Reset Audacity: use Tools > Reset Configuration, or View > Toolbars > Reset Toolbars if only the toolbars are broken.
How to Reset Audacity Completely
If Audacity will not open at all, Audacity’s documentation says its settings can be cleared by deleting the configuration folder: C:\Users\<yourname>\AppData\Roaming\audacity\ on Windows, ~/Library/Application Support/audacity/ on macOS and ~/.config/audacity/ on Linux. Deleting audacity.cfg (preferences) and pluginregistry.cfg (plugin registry) is usually enough.
How to Fix MP3, LAME and FFmpeg Errors in Audacity
MP3 export no longer needs any extra download on Windows or macOS. According to the Audacity 2.3.2 release notes, the LAME library “is now built-in” on Windows and macOS from that version, released on May 15, 2019. Those notes added that LAME was not built in on Linux at the time. If Audacity reports that LAME or lame_enc.dll is missing, Audacity’s documentation says to uninstall it and install the latest version.
FFmpeg is different. Because of patent restrictions, FFmpeg cannot be distributed with Audacity, but it is required to import and export formats such as M4A (AAC) and WMA. Audacity’s documentation recommends the FFmpeg for Audacity installer, which installs to C:\Program Files\FFmpeg for Audacity by default; restart Audacity afterwards. If FFmpeg is installed elsewhere, point Audacity to it under Edit > Preferences > Libraries > Locate. FFmpeg must match the Audacity release: for example, Audacity 3.7 and later also support avformat-62.dll, while Audacity before 3.1 supports only avformat-55.dll.
Why Audacity Cannot Open an MP3 File
Audacity’s documentation lists three causes: the file uses a different codec despite its .mp3 extension (for example AAC audio, which belongs in an .m4a file), the file is partially broken (a “Huffman Data Overrun” bug in Audacity 3.1.3 and earlier, fixed by updating), or the file is fully corrupted. A true MP3 file shows “MPEG Audio, Version 1, Layer 3” in a media information tool.
Why You Should Avoid DLL Download Sites
Missing-DLL messages tempt users to download single files from DLL archive websites, but those copies are not supplied by Microsoft or the Audacity Team. For Microsoft runtime files, reinstalling the official package is the safer route, as explained in this guide on how to fix the msvcp100.dll missing error. For Audacity, a clean reinstall of the latest version replaces every file the program needs. Basic security habits, such as those covered in this guide to protecting a Windows PC, reduce the risk further.
Where to Get Help With Audacity
If none of the steps above work, the Audacity Team directs users to its official forum (forum.audacityteam.org) and its Discord community. When posting, include the Audacity version, operating system, audio host, device name and the exact error code. For readers setting up a recording workflow, this guide on how to start a podcast on a budget and this round-up of streaming audio recorders cover the wider setup.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I fix “Error opening sound device” in Audacity?
The “Error opening sound device” message in Audacity is fixed by refreshing and correcting device settings: select Transport > Rescan Audio Devices, choose a different audio host in Audio Setup, confirm the right recording and playback device, set the project rate to 44,100 or 48,000 Hz, and check microphone permissions and drivers.
Does Audacity still need LAME to export MP3 files?
No. LAME has been built into Audacity for Windows and macOS since version 2.3.2, released on May 15, 2019. If Audacity says LAME is missing, Audacity’s documentation advises uninstalling it and installing the latest version.
What is x3daudio1_7.dll?
x3daudio1_7.dll is a file from Microsoft’s X3DAudio library, part of the XAudio2 2.7 audio components distributed in the legacy DirectX SDK, whose final release was in June 2010. It is not part of Audacity or the LAME MP3 encoder.
What does Audacity error -9999 mean?
Audacity error -9999 is an “Unanticipated Host Error”. According to Audacity’s documentation, it most often means a lost USB audio connection, missing microphone permission, or a sample-rate mismatch between recording and playback; matching sample rates or turning off Overdub may fix it.
Why does Audacity need FFmpeg?
Audacity needs FFmpeg to import and export formats such as M4A (AAC) and WMA. FFmpeg is not bundled with Audacity because of patent restrictions, so it is installed separately and detected automatically after Audacity restarts.
