Recording volume is very low.

[solidd]

Hi, I'm not sure if I should post this here or the Recording Technique forum.

Here's my problem:

I use Windows 7 and any output I record is extremely quiet. I'm trying to record ventrilo during my guild's WoW raids for use in a soundboard later on.

When I was on XP, everything worked fine. What I would do is record vent with it's own built in recorder and then go into Windows Movie Maker and use its Narrate Timeline function to record the earlier vent conversation into a .wav file. I then used Audacity to trim it down and convert into a .mp3.


The problem now is: on Windows 7, the Windows Movie Maker Narrate Timeline is really quiet. So then I tried skipping WMM and use Audacity, but I'm getting the same thing. The Audacity timeline is very quiet. My mic is slightly louder (I can actually hear it when I'm playing it back) but is still quieter than on XP.

Here's an image of the level of my mic as an example:
http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/3420/micrecord.png

I don't have a sound card (never needed one before) and I'm using a headset with mic to talk. Both of these are plugged into the front panel audio jacks.


Ideally, this is what I'd like to do:
Have Audacity run during the entire raid and ONLY record other people on vent. I absolutely do not want it recording me with an open mic. I don't want it recording me breathing and the like. I would like it to record me only when I push my push-to-talk button. I don't want any Windows sounds or game sounds. Is this possible? How do I accomplish this? Do I need to buy anything extra?

When I go to Audacity's preferences, the Playback Devices are as listed: Headphones, Microsoft Sound Mapper - Output, Digital Audio (S/PDIF) x2. Under Recording I have: Microphone and Microsoft Sound Mapper - Input.

Here's my vent settings: http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/3742/ventsettingsp.png
I haven't downloaded the x64 Vent version yet because I don't want to replace some settings. Would switching to this version help?

[Mritter26]

I actually have the same problem. Just received Windows 7 yesterday and find the volume of the input very very low. I have gone into the sound device manager and turned the levels to 100. Also, it seems that it only records on the right channel, never the left. Please, any help would be appreciated. =)