LINE IN sound card woes

  • Thread starter Thread starter cincy_kid
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cincy_kid

cincy_kid

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So, I ended up buying the Behringer UB 802 for my first mixer and got a Shure SM57 as well. My next purchase will be a new sound card but for now I am stuck using the Creative SBLive sound card with the 1/8" inputs.

Anyways, the first problem is that its hard for me to tell which input is the LINE IN. They are only labeled with symbols and few letters. They go something like this:

1. serial port
2. ((|))-2 (i am guessing its the 2nd line out)
3. ((|))-1 (i am guessing its the 1st line out-this is where I plug my speakers into normally)
4. 0==-- (its drawing of microphone so we know this is mic input that you are not suppose to use)
5. ((|)) (this one has arrow pointing into it where the 2 above have the arrow pointing out, so I am guessing this is the LINE IN?!?)
6. DIGITAL OUT

If that is true and #5 above is the LINE IN, then I am having another problem.

- I have the shure SM57 going into the XLR in channel 1
- I have a 1/4" going from the mixers "FX SEND" into the LINE IN in my soundcard with a jack that changes it frokm 1/4" to 1/8"
- I have my headphones plugged into the PHONES jack in the mixer.

When I sing into the mic, the green signal lights go just fine and I can hear myself perfectly in the headphones (although only in one ear..is there anyway to get into both ears?). But the problem is I am not getting a signal in ACID 4. The green lights wont move at all in ACID, and when I record it anyway I get nothing on playback.

I have tried plugging into every input in my sound card now and got the same result except for when I plug into the dreaded MIC input. Then the lights go crazy in ACID (i am guessing since its a very high or strong signal). And when I record that way it records except its all crackly and very distorted and staticy.

Any advice on what the heck I am doing wrong or can fix this? I realize that when I get a better card it will help dramatically, but isnt there a way to get thru my cards LINE IN now and get sound that dont crackle?

Thanks again for all your help
 
Yes #5 would be the line in ....
You should use the RCA Tape Out on the mixer along with a cable such as this one .

-EDIT- Forgot to add the rest ....
The problem is .... the line in is a stereo input and you are feeding it a mono signal with a mono cable. Hence you only hear it on one side.
The above recommendation will give you a true stereo output of the mixer to the Line In of the soundcard. This way you will be able to pan your inputs on the mixer however you like.
 
using the Y cable from the tape out to my sound card will help hearing both ears in phones or help the main problem of not being able to geta signal to ACID with the LINE IN input?
 
As far as hearing through headphones in this setup .... you could just plug some into the line out of the soundcard (though you won't get much gain this way) or if your computer speakers have a headphone jack on them, you could use that.
Also you could use another one of those Radio Shack cables and run the line out of the soundcard to a stereo receiver's RCA input (for CD or AUX) to power either a set of passive monitors or headphones.
 
cincy_kid said:
using the Y cable from the tape out to my sound card will help hearing both ears in phones or help the main problem of not being able to geta signal to ACID with the LINE IN input?
Click to expand...


It will do both! :cool:
 
You will have to make sure you have the Creative mixer applet set correctly for recording from the Line In and the level set accordingly.

Creativer Mixer

As you can see in the picture ... the button above the record fader shows a 1/4" plug .... that means it's set for line in, if your's shows something different, click on it and set it to Line In.

To find the mixer .... navigate to Start/All Programs/Creative/Sound Blaster Live/Creative Surround Mixer.
 
hmm, ok off to radio shack if they still open /cross fingers :D
 
you are right, but Walgreens IS open...the have some RCA type cables but not sure if they have the Y type. Anyway to make the other RCA ones work?
 
Could be possible .... you just need to convert the two RCA outputs of the mixer's Tape Out to a Stereo 1/8" plug for going into the soundcard. Wal-Mart prolly has that Y cable if Walgreen's doesn't.
 
so when i get my new card (prolly the maya mk2 24/96 with 2 1/4" ins and 2 1/4" outs will i still need that Y cable or can I just use the FX SEND to the 1/4" LINE IN in my card?
 
Yes you will be able to use 1/4" cables then, but you will be sending a mono signal to a mono input, which shouldn't be a problem as most recording programs will allow you to record a mono track and pan it to taste within the software.
 
I have a UB802 hooked up to my computer in front of me so maybe I can help. It sounds like you have it right . If you can only hear out of 1 side of your headphones check the Pan knob to make sure it is in the 12 O'clock position. The FX knob is controlling the output of the mic channel to the soundcard input. If it is too high you will get distortion as you described.
 
Yes, but the only reason I got distortion was because I used the MIC input instead of the LINE IN.

I want to use the LINE IN like you are supposed to but getting no signal (green lights) in acid
 
Are you getting the first 2 green lights on the 802 lighting up?
 
yes, the green lights on the 802 work fine and I can hear myself perfectly thru the headphones plugged into the mixer. But it is not going into the LINE IN in my sound card into ACID.

When I tried going into the MIC input instead of LINE IN then it was very loud distorted and crackly like it always is when you try to put in the mic input. But it atleast got green signal lights in ACID.
 
Try setting the 802 "LEVEL" knob to 0 [12 o'clock position] and adjust the "Gain" knob until the green lights are at the correct level. Now turn up the "FX" knob until you get the proper levels in Acid. If you still are not getting the right levels in Acid then the problem may be in your Windows mixer levels.
 
You need to change the input device in the Creative mixer like I had explained above. Obviously it must be set to Mic In if that is the only input that is working in Acid.

You need to launch the Creative mixer and at the far right you have a fader for the recording device. There is an icon button just above the fader .... click it at select Line In. Do not select "What you hear" or each additional track you record will get bleed over from all of the previous tracks.

Get a good signal at the mixer then adjust the fader in the creative mixer to obtain the desired level on the meters in Acid.

I would also still use the tape out on the mixer as this gives you a stereo output, not mono like the FX Send. Panning wont effect the output of the FX Send, it only effects the Mains and Tape out. I could be wrong, as I don't have that mixer. For that to work, the FX Send would need to be a stereo TRS jack. If it isn't, you can use the FX Send if you really want to, but you would need a stereo Y cable that takes two mono (TS - Tip Sleeve) plugs and converts them to a stereo (TRS - Tip Ring Sleeve) plug, which then would require yet another adapter to convert it to a 1/8" TRS plug for going into the Line In. Even with that method you will still only get a signal on one side (unless you use two channels on the mixer and two FX Sends), this is why I recommend the Tape Out and the Y cable I posted earlier. I also have Acid Pro 4.0 and a Soundblaster Live in one of my older DAWs and a 12 channel Mackie that I use the Tape out on, just the same way as I've mentioned. Works wonderfully!
Trust me you will see, and the cable is only going to cost you like $7 bucks.

Again, the issue with the Line In on the soundcard is due to the setting in the Creative mixer. You can make the changes needed via the windows mixer, but that's the long way around. It's much quicker and easier to just use the Creative Surround Mixer.


-Ken
 
I dont have that creative software...I guess I can try to locate the disc or download from the web...

thanks again for all oyur help...on way to radio shack to get the plug..they were closed last night =)
 
OK, I have the Y cable and hooked it up and still the same thing. Only can hear thru the left ear and not thru both. And still no signal in acid. I do believe the signal problem in acid is because I need to find the sound card soiftware and install it properly and make sure LINE IN is set up for recording.

That still doesn't explain the left ear only headphone problem. I dont know if this makes a difference but my headphones have a 1/8" connection and I have a 1/4" adapter on the end of it plugged into my mixer.

thanks again
 
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