How to change input level for Behringer UCA202

[mischko]

Thanks!
I'll start researching solutions.

[kozikowski]

It occurs to me you don't need the USB version of the mixer because you already have a UCA-202. Connect it to the "Tape Out" of the mixer.

Koz

[steve]

I'm pulling line out of the mixer as a 1/4" output into one of the channels on the INPUT of the UCA202.

I don't know the make and model of the mixer. It belongs to the band and I'm just showing up to try some live recording. The line level output on the mixer is not adjustable.

Most mixers will have a suitable output for connecting to the UCA 202, but without the make/model number we can't tell advise you of which output to use.
The Line level output is always adjustable on all mixers. If there's no sound going into the desk, then there's no sound coming out - right?
I think what you mean is that there's no separate/independent level control for the line output that you are using, so that when you push the mix level up for front of house, then the output to the UCA 202 is too high?

It is normal that Audacity cannot control the signal level to the input of external devices. This is not a limitation of Audacity, it is a limitation of external sound cards.
You probably do not need to buy more equipment. I've used a UCA 202 with several different desks and always had good results. Of course, your set-up could be an exception, but as we don't know what your set-up is we've no way of knowing.

[DVDdoug]

An inline attenuator could be a solution. (You might need to get more than one pair of different atttenuation values or use a couple in series to get the right amount of attnuation.)

Otherwise, a cheap little mixer simply used as a volume control/attenuator in-between the house mixer and the Behringer is an easy solution. A passive mixer (no power supply or batteries) would work fine.

I have a little "volume control" box that I built several years ago. It's just stereo potentiometer (pot) a box with 4 connectors. The most expensive part was probably the box. Something like that is easy to build if you know how to solder. You can also built an fixed attenuator (voltage divider circuit) with a pair of resistors, which are a few cents each.

[kozikowski]

The most expensive part was probably the box.

Or the four Saturdays it took you to build it. Not that it would take you four days for the actual construction, it would take that long to shop for and buy all the extra tools. Nobody ever has too many tools. My last mini-circuit board construction project bagged me a floor-standing, Diesel-operated drill press.

You can also built an fixed attenuator (voltage divider circuit) with a pair of resistors, which are a few cents each.

Or in stereo, four resistors. We are faced with something of the same problem here in the Land of Fruits and Nuts. One of the sound cards we use has damaged drivers and the Line-In connection is always at full volume -- not average volume -- and we can't control it. I'm faced with "losing" 20dB of sound on every machine that has this problem.

It may actually be worse than we think. The poster does not have too much volume, he has unknown wrong volume and it could change from gig to gig. So the fixed resistors are not going to do it. Stereo 10K Pot it is. Or the above mixers which don't need any construction at all.

Koz

[steve]

Or use the control room output?
Without more/some information about the desk it's not worth speculating.

[waxcylinder]

The user could replace the UCA-202 with the Edirol UA-1EX (or its successor the Cakewalk UA-1G) - they both have hardware gain controls on-board which can attenuate the signal.

WC