Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with audio and soundcard

Slow Audio Problem

popcassady — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 14:49:16 -0800

Why does my PC play audio at such a glacial rate? My PC just got a sound card upgrade -- a Trust SC-5250 to be precise -- but it won't play back at the correct sample rate.

Everything plays at a ridiculously slow speed. The Windows 'ding!' becomes a protracted 'growl'. I presume this is something to do with some kind of internal clock gubbins.

There is an option to switch the playback rate between 44.1 and 48KHz but that doesn't seem to affect the problem much and there are no other sample rate options. Also, the 'advanced controls' option is ticked but greyed out in the standard 'volume control' window.

The PC is a VIA M1000 (on board audio disabled in BIOS) and it's running XP Home SP1. The drivers are up to date (and I've reinstalled them about a dozen times).

This seems like one of those problems with a simple solution. How do I get my audio up to speed?

How to record electric guitar noiselessly with minimal computer specs?

Phire — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 10:03:06 -0800

I'm looking for a decent USB-to-audio input adapter, like the M-Audio Jam Lab So I'm looking for a 1/4" jack to USB adapter that I can use to record electric guitar playing with minimal noise, without getting a professional recording system and a $500 sound card. The two I've looked at are the Jam Lab referenced above and the Edirol UA-1EX.

What can you tell me about either of those adapters, and are there better alternatives out there?

Price range is around 50-120 CDN (so 100 USD max).

Help my MacBook make sound again!

zacharyseibert — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 20:00:50 -0800

Possible solution to getting sound back on my MacBook? I have an original white MacBook, Core Duo 2 ghz. The sound card on the logic board died awhile ago, and I have yet to get it fixed. It is out of warranty, and the people at the Apple store have informed me that it will cost $250 to get it fixed through Apple. I was hoping there was a way around spending $250 on an older laptop I might replace fairly soon.

My real question is, if I were to buy an external sound device, that would go through USB or FireWire, would that solve my problem of no audio input/output without needing to repair the internal onboard sound card? Also, if this is a plausible solution to my problem, any recommendations on an external device that works well with OSX (Leopard, if that matters) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Tunneling audio over TCP/IP

spaceman_spiff — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 14:35:25 -0800

How can I play audio from one computer through another computer's sound card? At home, I have a server running Debian, which usually has a medium-range wireless headset plugged into it. My time is split between that and a Powerbook running OS X. Which one I use depends on the activity at hand - I use the Debian machine for gaming and music, while the Powerbook tends to get used while I'm online or watching web video.

I was very happy to find mocp, letting me control my music from the Powerbook, but I'd like to make it more general. Ideally, I'd be able to leave the headset's transmitter plugged into the server all the time, but have it play the audio generated by random applications on my Powerbook.

So is there a way to have my Powerbook send audio to esd or alsa on the Debian box? A sort of remote soundcard, I guess. I'm comfortable fiddling with SSH tunneling and config files, but I don't really know anything about how ALSA works (or OS X audio, for that matter).

Soundcard interference but only over KVM?

cyrusdogstar — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 18:12:31 -0800

I need help figuring out a strange audio interference issue with my computer setup, involving headphones, a KVM, and an apparent contradiction. The setup: iMac, custom-built gaming PC, nice pair of headphones, plenty of cables. Until today, I had speakers hooked up to the iMac and the headphone jacked into the PC, and everything was fine. Today, wanting to use the headphones on both machines, I bought an ioGear KVM which includes audio switching, hooked it up, and now the PC - and only the PC - is generating irritating background noise.

So, with headphones on, I have the KVM set to the iMac. The connection goes headphones -> KVM -> KVM cable -> iMac. The sound is perfect. I then switch the KVM to the PC's port, and get a decently loud background hum/buzz noise, including various additional sounds when the mouse moves, hard disk spins up, network activity, etc.

Plugging the headphones straight into the PC results in perfect quality, as before. So if it's not the sound card (or the problem would exist with the direct connection) or the KVM cabling (or the problem would exist with both machines) then what is it?

Additional caveats: I think I can rule out nearby cable interference and the sound card, as both KVM connections have other cables nearby, and the issue happens with both my onboard and expansion sound cards (but to a lesser extent with the onboard). I also recall a similar issue with other KVMs in the past.

Third party stereo mix recording

punishinglemur — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 10:02:25 -0800

Is there any way to do Stereo Mix recording in Windows Vista when the soundcard does not support this feature?

soundcard problem

sgt.serenity — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 16:45:44 -0800

Onboard soundcard problem. i've got the asrock alivenf4g-dvi/m/asr motherboard with the onboard soundcard , unfortunately when i play anything now , i can only hear out of one speaker, it doesnt play in stereo anymore - can anyone help ?

Good audio setup for a Home Theater PC?

mmcg — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 23:57:06 -0800

What's the best combination of soundcard, speaker bundle and/or receiver I can get to work with a standard PC running MediaPortal that I'm using as a HTPC? I'm by no means an audiophile, and all I'm really concerned about is nice, loud 5.1 that'll sound good to someone who listened to a lot of really loud music in high school and college.

Ideally I'd like the computer to be able to send whatever type digital audio you might find on a DVD to the speaker set up, but all the hype put out by companies like Creative Labs has me confused. Do I need a soundcard and a set of 5.1 computer speakers, or a soundcard and a receiver and a set of home theater speakers, or what? I'd love to hear specific product recommendations if anything has built setups similar to this, and, again, I'm looking for functional and affordable rather than, you know, German and shiny.

Can I boost the line-in feed on my laptop?

Brian James — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 16:17:18 -0800

PC Audio: How can I boost the audio coming in through my laptop's line-in? I'm recording classes using a single boundary microphone connected to my laptop. On playback, the speaker is audible and intelligible, but I have to max out my volume controls and questioners can't be heard.

Is there a way, on my laptop, to boost the line-in signal? I have maxed out the mic volume control, and I don't seem to have any kind of Mic Boost or AGC function on my soundcard. (A SOUNDMAX Digital Audio, if that matters)

I have a feeling the "correct" solution here is to get a microphone preamp, but those that I have seen on the interweb are pricey ($200 and up), and my classes just aren't worth it. I'm seeking a cheaper alternative.

Cloned soundcard output

ArmyOfKittens — Sat, 07 Jan 2006 12:53:49 -0800

I need to know something fairly specific about the Audigy 2 sound card. I want to clone the video and audio outs on our PC to the HDTV, for games, DVDs, etc. My graphics card will do this happily enough through its second DVI port, but my soundcard (a Gamesurround Fortissimo II) won't. The best it will do is switch between the headphone out and the main stereo out, which isn't good enough: I want to have them both on at the same time. So I want to get a new one.

I don't have surround sound speakers on either the PC or the TV, and don't plan to get any, so I don't need anything other than two identical stereo outs on a card.

I'm looking at the Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS -- the basic one, without the breakout box or the front panel -- because it's cheap and seems quite good. Does it have a headphone socket or an auxiliary out that can operate at the same time as the main stereo out?

If the answer is no, can you recommend a cheap sound card that will do this?

Can't hear line-in in Win XP

MotorNeuron — Thu, 07 Jul 2005 20:13:31 -0800

Windows XP: Unable to hear sounds from the line-in jack on my soundcard: I just bought a nifty new TV tuner card and have connected to line out from the TV tuner the the line in on my soundcard. If I go to sound recorder, I can record the sound from the TV, so I know that the sound is coming out of the tuner and is received on the soundcard.

In the volume control dialog, I have enabled the line-in for playback. The volume for this device is at the max and the mute box is not checked. Shouldn't I be able to hear the sound coming in with Windows set up this way?

Laptop audio

vernondalhart — Sat, 18 Jun 2005 08:13:19 -0800

What is the best option for having decent audio on a laptop? I recently bought my first laptop, a toshiba M40, which was intended to be a desktop replacement for me. Unfortunately, I found out after the fact that the default audio jacks are headphone jacks and don't run at a line level, so they sound pretty poor when I plug them into my reciever.

So I'm wondering what I should look for to remedy this. I've done a bit of looking and have found both USB sound cards
and PCMCIA sound cards, but I'm really not sure which is better. Honestly all I really need is a decent stereo line out - anything above that wouldn't hurt, but it isn't really necessary.

Recommend some good software for multi-track recording in Windows.

skallas — Wed, 17 Nov 2004 00:11:51 -0800

What are some popular (both expensive and cheap) software packages for windows based multi-track recording? Also, are there any relevant and good websites/webcommunities and newsgroups? Soundcard/hardware recommendations would be nice as being limited to one input might be a drag and I really don't know how to tell the difference between a good soundcard chipset and a bad one.

How do I connect a guitar and mic into a MOTO soundcard?

fishfucker — Tue, 12 Oct 2004 10:23:30 -0800

Guitarists and gearheads! I need assistance connecting an electric guitar and a microphone directly into a MOTU 828 soundcard. Here's the situation: parents are away on a week's vacation, and I've got an Ovation Breadwinner Limited solidbody electric (if it matters) whose signal I'd like to get directly into my computer, and hopefully monitor simultaneously. I am planning to add effects realtime via software, and at the moment, I play primarily rhythm -- lots of open chords. Soundcard wise, I'm using the original MOTU 828 (not the Mark II). Everytime I plug directly into the soundcard, the signal 1) doesn't seem to be hot enough (hope I'm using these terms correctly -- when I say hot, I mean the levels on the guitar are SUPER low, even when I use the gain on the soundcard) and 2) seems to lose a lot of top end. I also have a SM57 mic that, when DI'ed into the MOTU is SUPER-BASSY (to the point where anything one might sing/say into it is just about totally unintelligible: total Charlie Brown teacher here) -- this is with the MOTU gain cranked. (i don't think the bassy sound from the mic is due to any sort of feedback -- when I run it through my mackie it sounds semi-reasonable, but again, I'd rather not do that. I'll probably just be headphone monitoring the mic anyways once I get everything properly set.)

I've got a Mackie 1202vlz, but I'd prefer not to run through this board as it would 1) ruin my current synth setup and 2) generate some nice hum.

I'd prefer in price over perfection. If $100 can make a noticeable difference in my sound quality, it's worth it to me. If I have to spend $1000, I'm not interested. I have looked into this before and have heard that the Zvex Super-Hard-On is supposedly the shizz, but if there's a solution that's going to work for my mic *and* my guitar (and potentially an electric bass in the future), that'd be, well, awesome.

So what do I need? a new mixer? pre-amp? Solutions under $200 are key.

What laptop should I get to make music on?

drezdn — Mon, 09 Aug 2004 09:25:43 -0800

Laptop Music filter- Can you help me pick out a computer to make music on [mi]? I'm interested in making electronic music on a computer and would like to reproduce it live from the computer (so I can manipulate it). Until I can save up to buy a really nice laptop, I was thinking of buying a tower and a flatscreen monitor to set up live (and to save some money). Currently, I've been using Fruity Loops 4.0 plus sound forge to do most of my music making but I'm thinking of getting Reason in the future.

Would a tower with a processor around 2.0 Ghz be able to run most music software without playback problems? Should I get a special soundcard? Should I just save up and buy a particular laptop?