sb live volume

[jimmychan]

yeah I know it's a duff card, I'm saving for a better one! But for the moment, I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations for mixer settings for the soundblaster Live, i.e. what volume level should I set the mixer at in order to get a "true" output for my stereo? I've noticed the thing distorts at full output volume, so is there a way of testing for the optimum levels or is it pretty much whatever sounds good? the stereo ain't that good either.

 

[Toki987]

I have my mixer volume set at 65%. Going to my amp and speakers, that volume gets me well above the floor on the signal to noise ratio yet low enough that I don`t have clipping.