details: I have Pentium II PC, a Soundblaster Live Value sound card, running with Windows 98 and my wav editor is Cool Edit. I can record from CD's (playing on the internal CD drive) just fine. But when I run patch cords from the "line out" of my receiver to the "line in" on the sound card, I can get an audible, but very low volume signal, even with the Soundblaster mixer volume set all the way up (I'm certain the mixer settings are correct). The Windows record volume control is also all the way up and the Soundblaster is the "prefered" device for recording. I have two, probably dumb questions:

(1) do I need ANOTHER amplifier between my receiver and the PC to boost the signal?

(2) is there supposed to be a "line input device driver" associated with the sound card? I've noticed I have one on my PC at work, under "Control Panel / Multimedia / Devices" but there's none on the home PC

I'm clearly out of my depth with this problem, but any help from those of you have have successfully mastered this process would sure be appreciated.

Thanks.

For most devices, you wouldn't need a separate amplifier at all, since to my knowledge, "line out/in" has a standardized "volume". Because most LP players don't have an integrated amp though, and the "original volume" of LPs is very low, you do need an amp in this case - but one amp, as you described, should certainly be enough!

So, I don't see what's wrong, either. Just a few more tips for when it's working:

1) Make sure the "line in" is the only input selected for recording (BTW, did you adjust the mixer settings for recording, or just those for playback!?)

2) Depending on the quality of your receiver, the sound quality will diminish at least a bit. If your receiver is rather hissy, it might be a good idea to get a separate pre-amplifier; there are special pre-amps for connecting LP players directly to your soundcard.

All I can think of is that the line record volume is set low or isn't selected. For my SB PCI128, I have to choose the input device from the recording control in the Windows mixer. It's the little checkbox below each input volume control labeled "select."

I should mention I had the same problem with the LAST sound card, so I think it's a Windows problem, but that REALLY confuses me. Where's Bill Gates when you need him?

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Originally posted by soundtrackman:
Where's Bill Gates when you need him?

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Try setting the Line OUTPUT of your soundcard to minimum and see if this boosts your volume. Of course, you can't set it TOO low because then you can't monitor it thru your PC speakers. If that doesn't help, then it must have only worked on my sound card, a generic Yamaha OPL-SA.