Red + White = Meh

June 18, 2010 9:43 AM

I'm currently using this USB capture device. The sound (regardless of the source, it seems) is always tinny and weak... maybe 1/3 the volume it should be. Would putting a preamp in between the source and the card improve things? Am I resigned to mixing sound in after the fact?

For anyone curious about that card... it's OK. It was a pain to use with Vista, and I had to download some custom drivers that someone else wrote, but it was cheap.

posted by codacorolla to computers & internet (4 answers total)

Damn, that is cheap. The price just went from $6.45 to $6.00 while I was looking at it. From one of the Amazon reviews: "... Next, expect low quality audio." That is what I'd be expecting. Does it have a volume meter in the capture software? Is it showing a low signal? You could try, instead of using the "line out" jack, putting that into an amp or preamp, turning the volume all the way down on the amp/preamp, run the speaker out into it (you might need to splice on an RCA connector from Radio Shack) and turn it up gradually while watching the meter.
posted by StickyCarpet at 10:06 AM on June 18, 2010

The capture software doesn't seem to have a line-in volume control (it's Ulead studio from 2006, and the best that I can say for it is that it's servicable). I looked through my installed drivers, and didn't see any way to change the properties of the driver itself.

A cheap preamp is 17 bucks, I suppose, so maybe I'll just give it a shot.

Can anyone think of something that might work better?
posted by codacorolla at 10:14 AM on June 18, 2010

I had the same problem with a similar device, I just plugged the audio output of what I was recording into the Aux inputs on my Stereo receiver, Then patched from the Monitor outs through a cheap EQ and was able to achieve a good sound- plus I cold sculpt it a bit as a ripped it with the EQ.....
posted by peewinkle at 11:34 AM on June 18, 2010

peewinkle: That's a good idea. I can't remember if my current receiver that I have managing my computer speakers has a line-out, but I may give that a try.
posted by codacorolla at 11:53 AM on June 18, 2010