Adjusting volume while recording from line in on Windows 7?

[jiffypop45]

I recently updated a computer that is used to record service audio at a church I help do computer stuff for from XP to Windows 7. The computer is using a SB Audigy 2 sound card.

Before in XP I'd set the recording to channel inside of audacity to "What U Hear" and adjust the volume for the line in to get the desire volume level.

However, since Windows 7 only allows ONE recording channel active at a time adjusting the volume cannot be done that way. I played with it a bit last night but the best I could come up with was either to adjust the "What U Hear" volume which doesn't give me nearly the power I'd like or to adjust the level volume from within audacity. Neither of this give me the same feel like I had in XP for adjusting the volume and I was wondering if anyone here had any other ideas for adjusting the line in volume in order to adjust the recording level inside of Audacity?

[kozikowski]

<<<which doesn't give me nearly the power I'd like>>>

Can you describe this power? Might the feeling be described as having a much more comfortable wide-range control and not have the volume changes scrunched up at one end of the fader?

That's a basic programming or hardware error and you may be stuck with it. You would assume you would reduce the control half way and the signal would go down by half. It does, but it doesn't sound like half. For it to sound correct, half-way on the control should reduce the sound level by about 1/40. Not 1/2.

Some controls are designed to "know" about sound weirdness and some aren't. The more expensive and high end equipment tends to be aware. I have always used a small external mixer to do jobs like this because I had just a bad time doing it any other way.

Koz

[jiffypop45]

Sorry I shouldn't have used the word "power" I meant control in this context. As before it was easy to adjust the line-in level independently from everything else but since Windows 7 only allows one active channel at a time I can only adjust the What U Hear (what it's set to record from) and the recording level inside of audacity.

[kozikowski]

I think I see. In the old system, you were using the mixer as a, well, mixer. You open up multiple connections and fade between them for the show.

You're right. That's pretty unusual now. External mixer time.

Koz