Audacity Forum

I'm having the same problem with my E-MU 0404 USB in Windows 7, and I can confirm that it is not a problem with Audacity, but also show up in Windows Control Panel -> Sound -> Recording tab. My 0404 shows up there as "Microphone" and a signal (I'm testing with a constant tone) that lights "-6dB" on the 0404 input meters will have the meter in Control Panel pegged - in fact, even a "-18dB" level will make the Control Panel meter peg. If I reduce the input at the source so that it is in, say, the top 1/3 of the Control Panel meter (it's then off the bottom of the 0404's meters' scale), then what I record has visible stair-stepping and audible quantization noise, like I'm only getting 4 or 5 bits of resolution.

Strangely enough, this signal, reading correctly on the 0404 front panel, sounds perfectly fine if you're just monitoring it. It's only when it's taken in by a recording application (I've also seen the problem in Sonar X3) that the problem shows up.

Note that this 0404 worked perfectly in Windows XP.

I'm using the latest 0404 driver, but - and this is probably a big clue - it is dated Jan. 30, 2007. The 0404 is a discontinued product.

If anyone knows how to stop Windows 7 from mangling this signal, your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Stephen

Well, the answer was easier than I expected. In Control Panel --> Sound --> Recording tab, select the "Microphone", click Properties --> Levels tab, adjust "Main volume" to get an acceptable, unclipped level. The unexpected thing was that, on a scale of 0 to 100, my optimum setting was 1, yes, one. YMMV. I had actually played with this control earlier, but it just never occurred to me that the required setting could be that low.

-Stephen

USB inputs tend to produce a higher level under Windows Vista or Windows 7 and later than under XP. And yes, being limited to older drivers not intended for newer operating systems may not help that.

Sometimes, USB ports on different edges of the machine can give different input levels.


Gale