Record Lps And Tapes

[willji]

I am having trouble with recording levels when recording my old tapes and LPs, sometimes it works OK and at other times the level goes totally into the red 'clipping' area and distorts the sound. I haven't been able to figure out what I do right when it works correctly, I have even reinstalled the program to no avail.

any help would be appreciated, Will.

[tbrewst]

One thing I noticed is you said LP's and Tapes.

When you record how are you hooking up to your computer?

The reason I ask is because when you do tapes you should just be able to hook to the line in direct from the tape.

When you do LP's then there has to be a preamp in between to boost the signal.

Are you by chance playing the tape through the preamp?

 

Other than that I can't think of a reason it would work one time and not the next.As long as your source and setup don't change there really shouldn't be much difference.Sure,you can get sources that vary but you shouldn't get one that works ok and then another that just pegs the meters.Unless that source was recorded unusually loud.Even if it was you should be able to tweak down the levels.

[d_deweywright]

Thanks for the response to my problem; I didn't explain the situation well enough, I do attempt to adjust the levels manually but it just stays on high (into the red). I used it this morning and it was fine then returned this afternoon and it was too high again, this happens without adjusting anything....although I have tried many things.

 

I thought perhaps someone else may have had the same problem - every other item on EMC10 works fine although I did have to copy the whole program from the CD onto my hard drive in order to install it.

 

Easy CD creator Platinum was better for copying vinyl but doesn't work on XP.

 

Regards, Will.

Can you give us some more information about how your turntable is connected to your sound card? i.e. turntable connected to your stereo amp through the phono inputs, and then your amp connected to the sound card from the Tape-Out jacks? Or turntable has a preamp and is connected directly to the sound card? Or are you using a USB audio device?

 

Also, what controls are you using to set the volume level? If you open your sound cards mixer controls, select Options -> Properties, then click the "Recording" button, you should find a control for Line-In, and that should allow you to control the recording level.

 

So, let us know the details of your setup.

[willji]

Thanks for the response to my problem; I didn't explain the situation well enough, I do attempt to adjust the levels manually but it just stays on high (into the red). I used it this morning and it was fine then returned this afternoon and it was too high again, this happens without adjusting anything....although I have tried many things.

 

I thought perhaps someone else may have had the same problem - every other item on EMC10 works fine although I did have to copy the whole program from the CD onto my hard drive in order to install it.

 

Easy CD creator Platinum was better for copying vinyl but doesn't work on XP.

 

Regards, Will.

[Jim_Hardin]

I do very, very little audio work but if you select automatic leveling, it only works after is has a chance to go through the entire song, then it will start over and apply what it found.

[tbrewst]

What you're going to find is that rarely do 2 music sources have the same levels.

You need to adjust the recording level for every different piece that you record.

 

You can use the Auto Adjustment but what you'll want to do is play the music,making sure that the loudest part is played,and hit Auto.This will adjust the level so it doesn't clip.Once you've done that go back and record the selection.

If you don't include the loudest part then the recording still may clip when it gets recorded.

You can also do the same thing manually by playing the music and setting the levels yourself.Just make sure to keep the level out of the red as much as possible.

[willji]

I use a pre amp for the turntable and plug the tape deck directly into the line in, I adjust the line in level but it makes no difference, the level remains at the highest.

 

The computer has conexant hd audio with xp media centre, I have downloaded new drivers and directx 9 to no avail.

 

I really can't think of anything else except that EMC is not compatible with the sound card - I was considering buying a USB connector to see if it helps....or perhaps creator 2009. There is an update for 10 but it's enormous and would take hours to download with my connection.

 

Regards, Will

[Jim_Hardin]

I use a pre amp for the turntable and plug the tape deck directly into the line in, I adjust the line in level but it makes no difference, the level remains at the highest.

 

The computer has conexant hd audio with xp media centre, I have downloaded new drivers and directx 9 to no avail.

 

I really can't think of anything else except that EMC is not compatible with the sound card - I was considering buying a USB connector to see if it helps....or perhaps creator 2009. There is an update for 10 but it's enormous and would take hours to download with my connection.

 

Regards, Will

If you go with USB you will doubtless make it worse…

 

The 10.1 update is to improve Vista compliance and nothing else Does that apply to you?

 

If you feel like you have to do something, do a Clean Install – Here

 

WHAT tapes are giving you this problem? Maybe someone will have one and can test that. (give us a varied choice if you can)

 

[d_deweywright]

I use a pre amp for the turntable and plug the tape deck directly into the line in, I adjust the line in level but it makes no difference, the level remains at the highest.

 

The computer has conexant hd audio with xp media centre, I have downloaded new drivers and directx 9 to no avail.

 

I really can't think of anything else except that EMC is not compatible with the sound card - I was considering buying a USB connector to see if it helps....or perhaps creator 2009. There is an update for 10 but it's enormous and would take hours to download with my connection.

 

Regards, Will

Just as a double check, there's no chance you've plugged into the microphone input, is there?

 

You should be able to verify the input by checking the mute boxes for the various inputs until the sound stops. That control should then be the one that controls your input level. One other thing, there are two sets of controls in most mixer panels, and they look identical. Make sure you're looking at the Recording controls (Options -> Properties, click the "Recording" button), not the Playback controls. Also, my system has a line-in control as well as an Aux control, make sure you're displaying ALL of the controls, and try them all.

 

Let us know if you find anything.

 

One problem with most USB inputs is that they don't have any volume controls. I have one, and I picked up a small preamp to use as a volume control on the input to my USB device.