Auto Gain on AWE64 Value at low input level

[Eben van der Merwe]

When I record in any program, even SB's wave editor at low input volume on my AWE64 and play it back,it seems that it recorded with some kind of a auto gain control. I've set it to 16 bit/44Khz,put the recording level(mic/line) on it's highest. There is no option anywhere for auto gain control,so that's good.While recording,I turn my sound module's volume down slowly.When playing back the recording,the fading part (when I turned the volume down whilst recording) sounds like an 8-bit recording. This happens only at fading part/very low volume level. But...this happens constantly when I record with a guitar at 16 bit/44Khz. I plug it directly in the input jact. The guit volume is opened full. When I play this back, it sounds like 8-bit quality. Any suggestions?

 

[Eben van der Merwe]

OK,I got some info...apparently the output level of most mics and guitars is to low for the card to handle properly. You either need to go trough a mixer first or have some kind of a pre-amp. Else you get a poor quality and low recording level. So, the card will only record correctly above a certain input level...funny, my old SB16 worked fine.