Low Level Buzz On Left Channel ONLY When Recording

I'm am in a band and have tried to record songs onto the PC using the line-in. I don't have problems when I actually listen to what is being played into the line-in but when I go to record, everytime I get a low level buzz, only present on the left channel. The sound is fine on the right channel, but no sound comes out of the left channel, only the buzz. I am baffled by this because it doesn't seem to make sense that I can hear in stereo the sound perfectly but I can't record this! Does anyone have any ideas how I could sort this out?

I have inputted the sound straight from the amplifiers using phono cables to jack. The current from the amps couldn't have damaged the sound card, could they? Because I had never had a problem before this, and I have been using my keyboard through the line-in and it recorded fine. Or is this just a coincidence?!

Thanks very much,
Tim

 

Taking a stab in the dark ( without the make/model of the sound card , hard to say but...)
It sounds like either the problem cames from the "bad " driver ( might wanna reinstall the latest driver) , possible that the "line -in" connector has a problem ( loose wires , or not a great contact--for that look at the line in connector < from inside the computer as well as outside > ) or very possible that the "in"part of the sound card was damage from the input comming from the amps ( should had tried to take the sound from the pre-amp instead since most of the times amp output is quite high W/A/V for a pc sound card).
U see, the "input" and the output are 2 different things ( well for most of the cards ). The output cames from the amp ( as you know while the input goes to the preamp ( if the sound card has one) to the processing core , then sound is transfered to the amp for output ...
HTH

 

I'm going to guess that you have a grounding or gain issue. One thing to check is are you using the mic inputs or the line inputs? Many audio cards have a 10-20 dB boost for mic inputs, and this can cause the problem you describe. You want to send as strong a signal as possible to the sound card, and use minimal amplification within the PC's sound system.

 

I should have been more detailed with my spec (But was in a rush yesterday...). I have an Aureal Vortex sound card, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Aureal go bust or something, because I have had real trouble with Tech support etc... And finding drivers for it wasn't easy (when I have previously tried), but I'll go have a look now. I'll go through your check lists (Advice has been greatly appreciated by the way! I have been looking for somewhere where I could get some good advice!)

But you were saying the line-in could be damaged...but...if it was damaged, surely it wouldn't work when listening to it, i.e. not recording, because i can feed things through to listen too...but get this buzz with no sound except the buzz on the left, and normal on right when recording, but its fine when playing. Or am I not understanding how a Sound Card works!? =)

Tim

 

Does this mean that when you plug your keyboard into your LINE IN jack, you do not get the buzz?

 

Line-In is an input, so unless you're feeding something through that input, it wouldn't have an effect. If you're playing something from another source, say the hard disk, it wouldn't have anything to do with the line-in inputs.

 

What I meant was, before I used the amplifiers, which I plugged into the line-in, the were no problems, the keyboard could be recorded (in stereo) through the line-in. But now, nothing will record on the left channel except for this "buzz", I say buzz and it looks like one on an audio editor, but it doesn't really make a sound. I can explain this more easily if I upload the file and post a link here but you need to download and view it on an audio editor, so you can see what i mean. Here's the address (150Kb): http://www.geocities.com/hot_data_2000/buzz.wav

Please note, I do not have this problem when listening, only when recording. I think I have confused some people by saying this. But you know when you feed something in, you can change the volume on the audio settings which normally has an icon at the bottom right. There is playback control, and recording control. The "playback" of what is being fed through is fine. You know when you feed something into line in, you can hear it, if you choose to turn it on, on playback. But you do not have to be recording to hear this. This works, in stereo perfectly, when fed from a keyboard etc... But when it comes to use the recording control and a program (obviously =)) to record it, that is when i get this annoying "buzz" only on the left channel, and it's fine on the right.

I'm not playing from the hard-disk, I am playing from a keyboard attatched to the computer through the line-in, and as I said above, it works perfectly just listening to the input, i.e. checking the box for "ext. line-in" in the playback mixer, as you would for a mic, to turn it on. So I am listening, but not recording, as you can also do with any other input, eg. a mic. But it's only when i record using a program like wavelab that I have this problem.

(I hope I have explained myself this time - Sorry about any confusion)

 

Okay, I believe I'm with you about what you're trying to say.

I don't have any specific theory about what you're experiencing, so I have to ask myself what I would do if I had this problem.

Perhaps after drinking...er, I mean thinking about it, I think this would be my approach:

1) verify the program that controls my volume/input and make sure there are no conflicts
2) Using the control panel >multimedia program, monkey around with the hardware acceleration and conversion settings
3) expand the volume-control/recording to display all available graphical slides and monkey with those settings (try mono, etc.)
4) power-down the computer and move the soundcard to another PCI (or ISA) slot and start all over again.
5) purchase another sound card.


Good luck!

 

I tried installing the lastest driver which didn't work...but I will try your other suggestions, but I wanted to ask one more thing. On audio editing programs there is an option for DC adjust if the channel has been offset, and on my program which has a DC adjust both right and left are normally (through mic input) equal or close in numbers together...but through the line-in the left channel has the adjust number 13,448 and the right 108...could there be a loose cable inside the PC producing this problem....have you got any ideas why it needs to adjust like that?!

Thanks

 

I suspect you may have the grounding issue that I mentioned earlier. I'd check all of the wiring to the sound board VERY carefully, my guess is you'll find the problem.

 

Haven't had a look at the card yet, but thanks (in advance ) for the help!