Help With Podcast Audio Setup (Diagram provided)

Okay, so I made it to radio shack and picked up a stereo 1/8th male (connected from laptop) to stereo 1/4th male (to fast track pro) and I was able to get the audio into my DAW from the laptop on XLR (combo) input 2.

However, I'm having a quality issue and I couldn't figure out how to fix it (or determine the cause:)

The laptop has a Realtek sound driver installed, and when you do the sound test within the realtek settings manager the audio out via the Fast Track Pro is excellent. The moment you start sending what I believe is compressed audio (Youtube, Mp3s via WMP, or Skype) the sound kind of distorts and or becomes robotic. It's strange, some mp3s have slightly robotic sound and with others the lows can't be heard. And to elaborate a little more on why I believe the 'lows' are effected is because in a few songs that feature more bass via kick-drum, the volume literally cuts when that low frequency is introduced.

Any ideas as why the Realtek audio test works perfectly, but everything else sounds distorted or cut?
 
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SyDiko said:
Any ideas as why the Realtek audio test works perfectly, but everything else sounds distorted or cut?
Click to expand...

A headphone output at full tilt is much louder (higher voltage) than a line input expects.

Open your daw and arm a track with input 2, then play some of your distorting mp3s from the laptop.
I guess the meters in the DAW are hitting red, right?

Turn the laptop output volume down until your DAW shows a level well clear of peaking.
I expect you'll need to turn it down to about 10-15% of full output.
 
Steenamaroo said:
A headphone output at full tilt is much louder (higher voltage) than a line input expects.

Open your daw and arm a track with input 2, then play some of your distorting mp3s from the laptop.
I guess the meters in the DAW are hitting red, right?

Turn the laptop output volume down until your DAW shows a level well clear of peaking.
I expect you'll need to turn it down to about 10-15% of full output.
Click to expand...

Hm, I don't think its peaking when the DAW is recording, but let me try in the morning and I'll report back. :)
 
SyDiko said:
Hm, I don't think its peaking when the DAW is recording, but let me try in the morning and I'll report back. :)
Click to expand...

If not, it's still likely to be overloading the interface.
Does the gain pot effect input 2 when using TS/TRS?

Bring the laptop level right down and if necessary use the interface gain to bring the signal back up.
 
Steenamaroo said:
If not, it's still likely to be overloading the interface.
Does the gain pot effect input 2 when using TS/TRS?

Bring the laptop level right down and if necessary use the interface gain to bring the signal back up.
Click to expand...

SUCCESS!!! :D

It was actually the stereo 1/8 to stereo 1/4 cable causing the problem!!

After changing some of the settings around, I said 'what the hell, lets see what happens if I record the input as stereo.' Sure enough, only the left channel played which caused the light-bulb effect above my head. I quickly swapped out the stereo cable for a full mono cable, armed the track for mono recording, and the lows came through.

Can't thank you guys enough!!! Funny thing is, I had all the necessary equipment right here in my apartment lol. I spent about $15 USD on cables, but I'll probably keep them for a later project.
 
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SyDiko said:
SUCCESS!!! :D

It was actually the stereo 1/8 to stereo 1/4 cable causing the problem!!
Click to expand...

Ah super! I wasn't 100% which way round would work, but I knew one of them would.
So, does that sort this thing out 100%?
Everyone can hear everyone and your voice is recorded with good quality?
 
Steenamaroo said:
Ah super! I wasn't 100% which way round would work, but I knew one of them would.
So, does that sort this thing out 100%?
Everyone can hear everyone and your voice is recorded with good quality?
Click to expand...

I've only had the luxury of testing this out with random audio (Youtube, Mp3s, and some wave files) coming from the laptop, but I'm confident that Skype will be perfect from this point on. Thursday evening, when I attempted the first series of tests, I did try Skype and it was distorted (because of the stereo cable.)

So, 99.9% sorted out. My co-host is in Australia, and we're due to record in a few days - so it'll be good to test!
 
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