Sound problems

[shanangough]

Hi all,

I've been struggling with this problem for some time and am really not sure how to fix it. It doesn't seem to matter what capturing software I use, the sound never turns out right. It comes out sounding really echoey (sp) and hollow. Initially I thought this was something to do with the software settings but have since ruled that out. I now think it's probably something to do with my sound card.

My default (and only) sound device is "SoundMax Digital Audio" and my capture card uses the microphone in port.

I'm wondering what an economical way of fixing this would be. Would a USB audio adapter ( like this one (http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/422154930a29998e273fc0a87f990713/Product/View/XH1938) ) aid in fixing this problem? I'm using a laptop for capturing so buying a new internal sound card is really out of the question.

Thansk in advance for any advice that could help me with this.

[fccHandler]

Look at the preferences menu in your SoundMax control panel, particularly "Listening Environment / Acoustic Environments / Environmental Models." There are a lot of models, and all of them affect the sound you hear. You can turn off all such effects by setting the model to "[None]."

[jggimi]

...and my capture card uses the microphone in port.... Then you've set it up incorrectly, and you are experiencing an impedance mismatch problem. Your soundcard should have a "line-in" socket. Use it.

Set your soundcard's driver to record "line-in" rather than "mic-in". Open your volume controls, use the "Options....Properties" command to open the Properties window, select Recording, and then select whatever your driver calls the "line-in" rather than your microphone.

[shanangough]

Thanks for your replies guys, but I don't seem to have a preferences menu or any other ports on my laptop. The weird thing is, it sounds fine when I'm capturing. It's only when I playback the recorded clip that the sound is crap. I thought this might have been the playback settings, but after burning a DVD and trying it on other players it does the same thing.

I've included a screen shot of my SoundMax control panel. I think I've experimented with the few controls that are there but any suggestions would be much appreciated.

[fccHandler]

Are you sure you have the latest driver for your SoundMax? My SoundMax control panel looks completely different, but it could just be a different model. IIRC I had to get my driver from the motherboard manufacturer (Intel) because I don't think SoundMax offers drivers on their website.

Other than a driver update I don't know what else to suggest. :(

[shanangough]

I'm not entirely sure about the driver. I've just checked my computer here at work and the control panel looks the same as the one on my laptop (both are running windows XP). I'll look into it anyway.

Other than that do you think buying an audio adpater like the one I linked to above could be used instead? I might be way off on this but thought it sounded like the right sort of thing.

Thanks again for the help.

[Arachnotron]

On my laptop, I have three connectors for sound.
If I open the Sound Manager from the control panel, on the Speaker Configuration tab, if I select "2 channel mode for stereo speaker output" I get the option to select what each connector is used for on the right side of this page. Most options have to do with driving a surround speaker set, but I can set one of the connectors to line in.

However, which options you get depend on the AC97 codec chip used (mine is a realtek), the soundmax version and exactly which options the laptop maker licenced from.

Soundmax is a company that makes sound software for several hardware manufacturers, just like WinDVD does.

[edit] the link you posted points to a general shopping page. An external soundcard might help. You may run into some audio sync problems though.

[shanangough]

Thanks for that. I guess I really should have looked into all this before buying a laptop.

Sorry about the link. If you search for audio adapter it's the first one on the list. I think I'll give it a go. I believe the shop in question gives you 14 days right of return so I can always take it back if it doesn't do what I want.

*crosses fingers*

[Arachnotron]

Do you mean this "AudiMax USB Audio Adaptor"

If so, it has some unusual characteristics. It does not appear to be a full-blown sound card. It is fixed at a 48 KHz sampling rate for instance. I'm not saying it won't do the job, just that you may run into surprises with it.

[edit] looks like it might be made by mediatek
http://www.mediatek.com.tw/eng/product/oemodm/audimax_dual/spec.htm
and that Terratec has a version of it too.

[shanangough]

Yeah, that's the one. Thanks for the link too, very helpful. I guess I'll give it a go. Can't hurt with the return policy.

[MaxPowers]

I've had the same problem, my solution: set the volume of the source video which you want to capture to a lower level (I don't know your situation, but mine was: digibox audio connected to line in, the digibox was on maximum volume, I changed sound volume to half and sound was perfectly clear, so in the situation of analog capture, just lower the recording volume on your audio in line (line in or microphone)