Meters say -55 db when I have no signal coming in! Help

W

wsprawls

New member
I'm using sound forge on a 566 with the built in sound card. When I pull up my level meters they fluctuate between -60 and
-55 db leaving me with very little headroom.
(60 db) Whats the problem and how can I fix it? Could it be the sound card or wiring in the house or the computer noise? One of my friends has the same problem and he's tried many things to no avail. Heeeeelp
 
Make sure everything except your line-in is muted (ESPECIALLY the CD) in the Windows mixer. This is often the problem.
 
this is not an especially unusual level with entry-level equipment. i don't get any better than about mid-60's with my sb live, behringer mixer, and audix mics, though i think i may get another 5-10 db when i do some damping/moving of equipment around. fortunately, in a lovely program like sound forge, you can fix those dynamics up quick with a nice plugin like sonic foundry graphic dynamics in the sonic foundry XFX package. i can get a more compressed but natural sound with my noise floor pushed way down using this. bear in mind that the signal-to-noise ratio for fm radio is something like 50 db, and that standard cassette tapes are about 30db. many stereos won't even be able to reproduce much of that noise. turning things in windows down helps to a degree, certainly, and depending on your preamp device, you may want to change the settings on your mixer until you get a better signal-to-noise figure. it's all about experimenting.
 
Hmmm... I get about the same results, but I never worry too much about it, But I get large difference between the Left and Right signals. THE right will be at -45 and the left at like -50... I don't really exspect this crappy little sound card to do much better.

-jhe
 
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