Q10 microphone recording level too loo

Q10 running 10.3 audio level is too low when recording or streaming video.Symptoms:When recording a video the audio that plays back is extremely faint.When on a BBM video call, need to yell into the microphone to be heard by the other person.Quirks:Audio for a regular phone call works fine.Audio for a BBM voice call works fine (in fact is amazingly high quality)Phone is factory reset and battery reset several times.No radio or other multimedia apps on board other than the ones that come with 10.3. I see several instances where others have had a problem with the mic not working for calls unless a handsfree or speaker is used. My issue feels like the opposite of that. I work in television and need to be able to use my phone as a video device in the field. My company wants me to move to an iPhone. Help me fight them off by fixing this issue.

TheSaint wrote:
Very different from mine
Try to set the capture level lower, you may do it by amixer or alsamixer or your systray applet.
I think your card is non fully set.
What says
lspci -vnn |grep 'High Definition Audio'
Try to disable pulseaudio and remove the module. See wiki and in particular this section.
I know, their aren't the definitive solution, but we should have to toss a bit of straw from the haystack to find the needle.
Well, I should point out that it's an USB headset with integrated audio controller (was a bit unclear in my first post, sorry). The sound card integrated in the laptop works just fine but the integrated microphone is awful (in a non-ALSA, non-PulseAudio way ) so showing you the output from lspci won't help much I suppose. But at least it has a Mic Boost control.
Maybe it helps if I describe the behavior in the PulseAudio volume control in more detail.
For the integrated sound card, the input level behaves linear (I know it's logarithmic but that's not the point ). At 0 %, it's completely quiet, at 100 %, it's clipping. In between, everything's fine.
For the USB headset, 0 % is completely quiet, 1 % is clipping already, just getting worse until 40 % which is the ALSA base volume. There it's quiet but at least the volume indicator shows something. At 41 %, it's clipping again until 100 % which seems to behave like 40 %.
Now as Skype thinks that 40 % is too quiet it changes the input level (reasonably enough I guess). Too bad that anything BUT 40 % means white noise coming from the microphone...
Disabling PulseAudio is not really an option as Skype doesn't work with anything but PulseAudio. Besides that the problem also occurs with arecord.
Last edited by volatile void (2014-12-27 14:22:48)

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[SOLVED] Microphone recording level is too high

Hi,
since yesterday, I've got an issue with my headset's microphone (it's a QPAD QH-1339). The recording level is WAY too high, at 2 % level it's already starting to clip and I hear noise coming from the motherboard (a Lenovo ThinkPad T540p laptop). First I thought it might be a problem with PulseAudio but after testing with arecord I realized it seems to be ALSA related (same problem there).
Here are my sound related packages:
$ pacman -Ss alsa | grep Installiert
extra/alsa-lib 1.0.28-1 [Installiert]
extra/alsa-plugins 1.0.28-2 [Installiert]
extra/alsa-utils 1.0.28-1 [Installiert]
extra/pulseaudio-alsa 2-3 [Installiert]
extra/zita-alsa-pcmi 0.2.0-1 [Installiert]
multilib/lib32-alsa-lib 1.0.28-1 [Installiert]
$ pacman -Ss pulse | grep Installiert
extra/libao 1.2.0-1 [Installiert]
extra/libcanberra-pulse 0.30-4 [Installiert]
extra/libpulse 5.0-1 [Installiert]
extra/pavucontrol 2.0-2 [Installiert]
extra/pulseaudio 5.0-1 [Installiert]
extra/pulseaudio-alsa 2-3 [Installiert]
multilib/lib32-libpulse 5.0-1 [Installiert]
lsusb:
$ lsusb
Bus 003 Device 003: ID 0d8c:000c C-Media Electronics, Inc. Audio Adapter
ALSA and PulseAudio config files are stock; I've reinstalled alsa-lib, lib32-alsa-lib, libpulse, pulseaudio and lib32-libpulse already, making no difference. The built-in microphone seems to record just fine (apart from the horriblenot-so-great sound quality). It also seems to work somewhat if I set the recording level in the ALSA mixer to 100 % but Skype of course changes the recording level as it likes. When enabling the monitor (to hear myself) the sound quality from the headset's microphone is just perfect so I'm pretty puzzled what to try next.
If you need more information, let me know. Thanks in advance!
Thomas
Last edited by volatile void (2014-12-31 14:12:49)

TheSaint wrote:
Very different from mine
Try to set the capture level lower, you may do it by amixer or alsamixer or your systray applet.
I think your card is non fully set.
What says
lspci -vnn |grep 'High Definition Audio'
Try to disable pulseaudio and remove the module. See wiki and in particular this section.
I know, their aren't the definitive solution, but we should have to toss a bit of straw from the haystack to find the needle.
Well, I should point out that it's an USB headset with integrated audio controller (was a bit unclear in my first post, sorry). The sound card integrated in the laptop works just fine but the integrated microphone is awful (in a non-ALSA, non-PulseAudio way ) so showing you the output from lspci won't help much I suppose. But at least it has a Mic Boost control.
Maybe it helps if I describe the behavior in the PulseAudio volume control in more detail.
For the integrated sound card, the input level behaves linear (I know it's logarithmic but that's not the point ). At 0 %, it's completely quiet, at 100 %, it's clipping. In between, everything's fine.
For the USB headset, 0 % is completely quiet, 1 % is clipping already, just getting worse until 40 % which is the ALSA base volume. There it's quiet but at least the volume indicator shows something. At 41 %, it's clipping again until 100 % which seems to behave like 40 %.
Now as Skype thinks that 40 % is too quiet it changes the input level (reasonably enough I guess). Too bad that anything BUT 40 % means white noise coming from the microphone...
Disabling PulseAudio is not really an option as Skype doesn't work with anything but PulseAudio. Besides that the problem also occurs with arecord.
Last edited by volatile void (2014-12-27 14:22:48)

HP Pavilion dv7-1130us IDT HD sound card problem: recording levels too high

I have been trying to get the IDT HD sound card in my HP Pavilion dv7-1130us laptop to allow me to switch from "microphone" to "Line In" input signal. I cannot find an option anywhere in the laptop do this. There is not a separate Line-In jack on the laptop. The mike jack is it.
The reason I'm trying to change the input setting is that I am using Audacity/Lame (the Win 7-compatible Beta version) to convert old cassettes to MP3. My laptop came with Vista but I upgraded to Windows 7 Professional (64-bit) earlier this year.
The problem is that recording levels are way too high using the mike input and so the recording comes out harsh and distorted. I have tried all possible recording level adjustments on the tape deck (no option), IDT sound card control panel, Windows device manager, etc.
From what I am reading on the online Audacity forums, using a mike input will cause the recording levels to be too high, and the setting has to be changed to "Line In" and not "microphone." Is there not a way to do that with this laptop and sound card?
The HP Support Assistant tells me that the driver for my sound card is up-to-date.
Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions. I've been trying to find a solution on my own for a couple days with no luck.

Hi Amanda,
Try the following.
Download the IDT Audio installer on the link below and save it to your Downloads folder.
http://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp52501-53000/sp52658.exe
When done, open windows Control Panel, open Device Manager and open up Sound, Video and Game Controllers. Right click the IDT device and select Uninstall - you should also get a prompt to remove the current driver, tick the box to allow this and then proceed with the uninstall.
When complete, shut down the notebook, unplug the AC Adapter and then remove the battery. Hold down the Power button for 30 seconds. Re-insert the battery and plug in the AC Adapter.
Tap away at the esc key as you start the notebook to launch the Start-up Menu and then select f10 to enter the bios menu. Press f5 to load the defaults ( this is sometimes f9, but the menu at the bottom will show the correct key ), use the arrow keys to select 'Yes' and hit enter. Press f10 to save the setting and again use the arrow keys to select 'Yes' and hit enter.
Let Windows fully load - it will automatically load an audio driver, but just let this complete. Then open your Downloads folder, right click on the IDT installer and select 'Run as Administrator' to start the installation. When this has completed, right click the speaker icon in the Taskbar and select Playback Devices. Left click 'Speakers and Headphones' once to highlight it and then click the Set Default button - check if you now have audio.
Regards,
DP-K
****Click the White thumb to say thanks****
****Please mark Accept As Solution if it solves your problem****
****I don't work for HP****
Microsoft MVP - Windows Experience

Microphone level too low

It seems like the microphone input level on my wife's iPhone 4 is too low. People have trouble hearing her during her calls. Using the headset, speakerphone, or Bluetooth doesn't increase the volume, nor does covering up the noise-cancelling input on the top.
Using the voice recorder app, I used the same headset the same distance from my mouth to compare the meter volume against my 1st gen iPhone, and the input comes in at least 6dB lower.
Is this a defective model that needs to be returned? Or is this expected as part of the new design? My wife says she can't use it as a phone, it may have to go back.
It would be great if a future iOS update allowed us to adjust the input level.

My wife's iPhone 4 has the same problem concerning the person that she is talking to can't hear her very well at all. It sounds like she is down in a well or the microphone is far away from her mouth.
We have confirmed that signal strength does not appear to be an issue as it does the same thing with 2 bars or 4 bars. I have had her call me on my office landline, so we don't have the issue of two cell phones to cloud the issue.
She also has one of the vinyl or silicon covers that AT&T sold us the day we bought the phone.
She is right-handed, so some of the issues mentioned concerning problems covering up the antenna by left-handers is not a factor.
We are on the latest software revision - v4.0.1 (I believe that was the release we download to iTunes and installed onto her iPhone 4.
The only thing else we have noticed is that the volume of her call approaches a normal level after about 30 seconds into the call.

Audio Levels too low with ATR35s lavalier microphone

Hi,
Have a new lavalier microphone from audio-techica the ATR35s.
I have it plugged into the audio-in jack and have played with the sound pref pane and my audio-in levels are in the basement. I have moved the slider all the way to the right but still barely audible.
Anyone with a suggestion on how to boost the audio signal?

The audio-in jack is line level (for the output from hi-fis etc), and microphones have much too low an output for it. You will need to get either a microphone preamplifier or a mixer. There are various small mixers available from firms such as Alesis and Behringer. In the UK Maplin (http://www.maplin.co.uk) sell a microphone preamplifier and Alesis mixers: there must be similar firms in the USA.

Recording level is too low when burning CD from playlist

When burning a CD from playlist, the resulting CD has a lower recording level than in the original recordings. How can I adjust this?

It sounds like you are having a similar problem to the one I was having when I was downloading my cds to itunes. The whole album would download but some of the songs would be on a different thumbnail instead of in the same album. Although the albums had the "artist" listed already it would still go to a separate thumbnail. It took me a while to search and figure it out through trial and error but if you right click on the album and when the tab pops up you go to "get info" and select "yes" you want to "edit information for multiple items" you must input the "album artist" and it will automatically import it into the correct album it originally came from. Some of them you have to input the information manually through the "get info". Hope this helps!!!

Setting the record straight for setting recording levels in Logic

Hey everyone,
I asked a similar question a while back and got some great feedback, but I'm still a little confused about how to set a perfect recording level and work with the fader in Logic. A lot of what I've been doing has been trial and error and I would like to ask a few more specific questions:
I record with a MOTU traveler and have recently, for example, been recording direct with my guitar into the MOTU inputs. I am using "pre-fader metering", which is checked, and I using "software monitoring", which is also checked. When I am watching the fader, what should I be looking for? I always have the fader set at 0.0db. How do I set the perfect level in this situation? Should the fader be hitting red as I record? How do I make sure I don't clip, and what should I be watching for overall? AND, is it all the same process when recording with microphones? I've heard Logic records at a low level with MOTU products, but what exaclty does this mean in terms of setting levels and watching the fader as I record? I have been recording a lot lately and have some good sounding tracks and some that are not so great and I think it has a lot to do with the topic of this post.
Thanks for the help and clarification.

the fader position in logic does nothing to affect the recording level. That is totally dependent on the gain setting on your MOTU. The logic fader merely allows you to adjust the level at which you listen to the material you are recording. If you set the gain correctly on your MOTU then you shouldn't see the logic audio object hit the red unless your logic fader is set higher than 0dB. If your logic fader is at 0, and you still see red, then your gain is set too high. Remember, digital distortion is not like analog distortion. Once you have recorded the signal and you are in playback mode, then things change somewhat. The internal headroom of logic allows individual channels to hit the red without causing audible distortion. You should definitely avoid hitting the red on your audio output objects though.
I haven't heard about low levels with MOTU stuff. My own 896 has three settings on the inputs - mic, line and fixed +4dB. If you have variable gain as well, then you should be able to get healthy gain. If your recording level is very low, then recording at 24bit will help a lot towards a more detailed recording, as 16 bit can get grainy if the recorded levels are low.

How can I set the microphone input level?

How can I set the microphone input level?

It would be best to use the standard windows mixer "sndvol32.exe" (in the windows directory) and control it with the System Exec.vi from the Communication palette.
You may want to look at the following discussion thread, too:
how to control the microphone volume input via LabView
How Can I Record Sound in LabVIEW from Sources other than the Microphone?
Zvezdana S.

Erratic Recording Levels

I am having difficulty with erratic recording levels in SB 2.01. The sound card is an
Andrea USB pod.
This is what happens: I will record a 20 second sound clip, stop recording and copy and paste
the clip into another file. I will then record the another sound clip. The volume is often 20%
higher when recording the next clip.
I use the USB pod to record in Dragon NaturallySpeaking and to record into Soundbooth.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking automaticlly sets the pod's recording level to 81. When I lower it to
60 for use with SB, it is often too high (The level meters in the Record dialog box are in the red
area). Even when the level is lowered to 43, the level meters are often in the red area. However,
when I shut down and restart SB, 43 is often an appropriate level.
Are the erratic recording levels caused by the sound card driver?

Hi Durin,
I checked Dragon NaturallySpeaking to find out if there is an option to select which sound card can be used with it. I did not find any such option. I'm using a Dell XPS 420 that came with a "Sigma Tel High Definition Audio Codec" sound card.
I tested the Sigma card with SB. In the recording level dialog box, there are two controls: one for microphone volume and the other for microphone boost. With microphone boost turned off, the recording levels in SB are near zero. Only with the microphone boost turned up to the max of 20db are the recording levels in SB satisfactory.
Do I need a better sound card? I found some lower-priced sound cards that may result in good quality audio when recording in SB. Do you know if the following are decent cards:
(1) Creative Labs SB0880 PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Sound Card
(2) PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series
(3) M-Audio US41750 Audiophile 192 Hi-def Aud Card

T420 Microphone volume way too low

Hi,
I am having a problem with my ThinkPad's microphone. The problem occurs with the internal microphone as well as an external microphone. The volume is way too low. I need to have my mouth very close (almost against it) to the microphone in order to be able to record anything and therefore to be able to see my microphone level shift at the recording devices section of Windows. Because of this using a mic is pretty much impossible. The sound level recorded is way too low.
I have tried a lot of things and settings: I have deleted the SoundMax drivers to try the drivers that Windows installs by default, and they don't work either. I have tried the put the microphone boost level to the highest settings possible and it certainly helps, but it is still almost just as bad, plus the noise added when boosting the level is unacceptable. I have also checked if the microphone sound recorded isn't being played through the speakers and it isn't. I also disabled any type of post signal processing I came across, but this also didn't help.
As a last resort I completely reinstalled Windows on my system and installed the SoundMax drivers again, but this didn't work either.
Important thing:
I just tried a Ubuntu live CD and the microphone worked fine. I could just sit away from it and talk to it and it would record my voice pretty good. So I guess the whole problem is pretty much software related.
Some side info:
As external mic I was using a headset that comes with almost any type of smartphone nowadays, a headset which has a small (and usually clip-on) microphone and a four pole jack-plug (which the T420 only accepts unfortunately).
OS: Windows 7 64 bit Professional
I really, really hope someone is able to help me with my problem. I love my T420, but this is just unacceptable and very annoying.

Try disabling all of the Conexant services in Services.
Also go into Sound, Recording, Internal Microphone, Levels tab.
Set volume to 100, and boost to +10. This is what works optimally for my W520 on TeamSpeak.
W520: i7-2720QM, Q2000M at 1080/688/1376, 21GB RAM, 500GB + 750GB HDD, FHD screen
X61T: L7500, 3GB RAM, 500GB HDD, XGA screen, Ultrabase
Y3P: 5Y70, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, QHD+ screen

Recording Level Sli

I have the X-Fi Fatality sound card. For some reason, (and overnight), the recording level slider won't function any more. The message in the recording status window says "Follow Mixer Settings". I don't want that!? I want to be able to control the recording level from the player window as I always have. Does anyone know how to turn off the "Follow Mixer Settings" option? Thanks!

Found the answer. For some reason, the "Sound & Audio Devices" in Control Panel didn't have the "Use Only Default Devices" checked. This was because I installed a Logitech HD WebCam, with its own microphone. That little check box somehow got unchecked. Not only did this fix the problem, but it also fixed "Smart Recorder", which was telling me that I didn't have an audio device. Everything's good now.

Recording levels

Hi
I have a question about recording levels in relation to some of the instruments in Logic, specifically, the acoustic pianos. I've noticed that even when set at a level of 0.0, the volume is only registering in the very lowest section of the meter at around -18. Playing with force, which I don't necessarily want to do, only brings this level in the meter up to about -11. And pushing the level all the way up to +6.0 only results in barely any difference to the volume being recorded, and if I did that anyway, I wouldn't have anywhere to go during mixing.
I hope you can see my point, which is probably an absurdly simple one, and probably not an issue anyway, but I'm just wondering if when the project is complete everything recorded will be governed by the low volume/signal of this particular instrument. Not that it sounds too quiet, the volume is perfectly adequate, but my concern is the recording signal/level is not strong enough because it's registering so low a meter reading.
This is something that's just bugging me, and probably so simplistic it's the sort of thing you hunt for in manuals without luck. Some reassurance/advice would be welcomed with thanks.
Robert

Well don't record your Tracks at 0dB, never, especially not Audio tracks. There is absolutely no need for that and many engineers will tell you that Audio tracks recorded at lower levels (at 24 Bit) are much better to handle and the overall Mix will sound more tranparent. You have to understand the principle of additive Mixing meaning that two tracks played back at 0dB will add up and already clip the Outputs. Now iamgine what 24 tracks played back at maximum non-clipiing level (odB) will add up to...
In your template(s) (if you have one ore more) set all fader and Instrument levels to -10dB to start with. If you want to make something louder, turn the other tracks down first until you hear that particular Instrument. Read some books by Bob Katz about Mixing and Mastering, start learning now....

Mic recording volume too high

Even with the lowest input volume setting in System Preferences / Sound, the mic recording volume is too high and I'm getting clipping. I'm using an MXL Desktop Recording Kit from Marshall Electronics, with a Griffin iMic USB interface, and recording in GarageBand 3 on a Mac Mini.
I'm a folk singer playing a nylon-string classical guitar, so I'm not even especially loud! The MXL mic captures great sound quality, but it is so sensitive that even when I'm six feet away, my acoustic guitar and vocals frequently max out the sound levels and get clipped. The room where I record doesn't allow me to get much farther away, so I need a different solution.
I've tried using compression while recording, but this doesn't appear to limit the peaks or prevent clipping. Do I need to buy a hardware mixer or some other interface to allow me to further reduce the mic input level, or is there another software contol in GarageBand or someplace else (other than System Preferences / Sound) that I'm missing?
I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thanks, David
Mac Mini G4 Mac OS X (10.4.6) GarageBand 3

Thanks for these suggestions. I suspected GB effects wouldn't change the recording levels, but appreciate the confirmation. I checked the Audio/Midi setup in GB preferences, and I don't see anywhere to adjust the recording level there, just a selection for the audio input (source).
I have been using the iBooster, so I tried plugging the mic directly into the iMic and boosting the input level in System Preferences/Sound. This achieved a much lower input level; so low that the GB tuner couldn't even recognize the pitch of a single string when plucked. So this seems to create the opposite problem (recording volume too low). Good idea to try, though.
I will experiment with the room acoustics and try a larger space, but it still seems the recording level is just too high, period. Any other suggestions?
I saw a reference to a simple mixer in another GB thread (Behringer UB502 Eurorack). Could something like this be a possible solution?
Thanks, David

Set iPhone recording level

Is there a way to set the recording level in my iPhone? I'm trying to record live music and can't get a recording that isn't distorted. I've tried several apps that have an input level control, but the recordings end up just as distorted but quieter overall. This leads me to believe that somewhere in the phone itself exists a master input level control for the microphone. Does anyone have any advice? Thanks for your help.
Take care,
Mike

yes, i am of course saving the spreadsheet.
i do use icloud integration to keep spreadsheets synced between my mac, iphone and ipad as well as iwork online.
the biggest offender seems to be iOS versions, which always default to 125% regardless of what was saved elsewhere. but it seems iCloud defaults to 100%...
so here's what i tried:
1. create new spreadsheet in numbers, set to 100%. saved to icloud as "test"
2. open spreadsheet "test" on ipad - zoom was 125%
3. open spreadsheet "test" on mac - zoom was 125%
3. open spreadsheet "test" in icloud - zoom was 100%
in the screenshot below, neither spreadsheet was altered or "saved" after opening, but the zoom levels do not match up...
i know it's just an exercise in futility. eventually apple will get around to restoring the lost option, they've already admitted that things were removed (and yes, removed is the right word even though it's new code - at some point they decided not to port this over for lack of resources, parity, whatever) and will be added back over the next 6 months:
Numbers
Customize toolbar
Improvements to zoom and window placement
Multi-column and range sort
Auto-complete text in cells
Page headers and footers
Improvements to AppleScript support

Ipod Nano recording level

Is there a way to control recording level? My ipod nano records too low.
How would I record Higher?

At this point, the software people with iPods purchased in EU countries were using to remove the cap do not work on the 2nd gen nano. No word on when it will. So other than maxing your volume limiter and trying more expensive earphones there really isn't anything you can do right now.

Q10 microphone recording level too loo

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