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Subject:Problem Recording
Posted by: billraymond
Date:3/24/2001 2:31:00 PM

Hello,

This is my first day using SoundForge 4.5. First off, I
have a pretty decent sound system and a pretty basic sound
card. I plugged my stereo into the input of the sound card
(not the mic input) and started recording some music off a
tape.

I tried all sorts of options and combinations
(8bit/16bit/frequencies/mono/stereo/etc.) Now, the music
does actually record and I can play it back, however the
recording goes off the scale (i.e. the 'waves' in the sound
window practically make the entire window solid blue.)

I would like to adjust the [technical term here] touchiness
of the application so it thinks that let's say a 100%
volume is more like 75%. This way, when I play the song
back, louder sounds or voices don't sound absolutely
horrible and too loud.

I wish I could describe this better but I think you get
what I'm trying to say (I hope).

Thanks,

-Bill

Subject:RE: Problem Recording
Reply by: nlamartina
Date:3/25/2001 12:41:40 PM

Bill,

Yeah, I get what you're trying to say. Your input level is
too high, and is causing the sound to consistantly clip, ie
you're overdriving the circuit (making the solid blue
mess). You need to either turn down the sensitivity of your
card input, or change the output level of your stero.
Here's how you do this (if you don't know already):

REDUCING OUTPUT LEVEL
- To turn down your stereo, umm... take that big ol' volume
knob and crank it to the left. Yeah.

REDUCING INPUT SENSITIVITY
1. To turn down your card sensitivity, double click on the
little yellow speaker on the lower right hand side of your
Windows toolbar.

2. Click OPTIONS, then PROPERTIES.

3. Click the radio button labeled RECORDING.

4. Make sure the "LINE-IN" box is check, and hit OK.

5. Make sure the "LINE-IN" box is checked only. Pull the
slider down to adjust the sensitivity.

Here's the best way to adjust the level to an appropriate
amount:

1. Open Sound Forge, and create a new file.

2. Hit the RECORD button. Your little recording dialogue
box should come up.

3. Now make sure the little box labeled "MONITOR" is
checked. Now play your stereo, but do not start recording.

4. Since you enabled the "MONITOR" feature, you can now
watch the meters go up and down according to the output of
your stereo. If clipping is your problem as described,
you'll probably see them rise up full, and the clip
indicators will light up. Turn down either your input
sensitivity (you still have your mixer open, right?), or
your stereo output until the meters fall below the clip
lines. Don't forget to click the "RESET" button so you can
see the change.

That should do it for ya. I hope this helps.

Best wishes,
Nick LaMartina

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