On Thu, Dec 02, 2004 at 12:01:12PM +0100, David Cluytens wrote: I also have this card. I don't have the equipment to duplicate your test signal, but I've observed the mixer levels are very low from what I would expect from typical inputs. The granularity of the faders goes from very fine at the lower 3/4ths to very coarse at the top. My guess is there's a problem with envy24control. What distro are you using? I'm running DeMuDi 1.2.0 and they don't seem to be monitoring their new bug reports (I entered one about NMI 34 issues I'm having with my platform). For me, the next stop is the ALSA-project.org bug reports. -- May the LORD God bless you exceedingly abundantly! Dave Craig - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "'So the universe is not quite as you thought it was. You'd better rearrange your beliefs, then. Because you certainly can't rearrange the universe.'" --from _Nightfall_ by Asimov/Silverberg

The Delta cards have two controls for each channel that affect the input level seen on the meters. The one that is most often seen is a simple volume control, which is analagous to the fader on a mixing console. The other one is more like the 'trim'. It is a control that adjusts the actual gain, or amplification power of the input. Using envy24control, these sliders can be seen under the 'Analog Volume' tab. The ones called 'ADC 0'... 'ADC n' are the volume controls, and the ones called 'IPGA 0'... 'IPGA n' are the *gain* controls. Knowing the difference is very important with regard to getting a clean recording. Basically, turning up a gain control results in the amplifier generating more noise along with a louder signal. If it is set too low however, then the signal may not reach full level, and will suffer from a poor signal to noise ratio. An easy way to look at this, is to always leave the volume (ADC) controls all the way up (Why reduce what you have already amplified?) and then to use the gain (IPGA) controls to bring the level up near 0dB. This will result in the cleanest properly adjusted signal. Now under Windows, a slider for the IPGA is not provided. There is only more limited access to the gain registers, allowing the inputs to be set for +4, 0, and -10 dB use. This was done, I imagine, to prevent someone from turning the gain up high, with the volume down, resulting in a noisy signal. Fortunately, the wise programmers of ALSA gives us the hardware's full range of control (256 steps I believe for this register) for the gain. Pushing both the ADC and IPGA sliders all the way up, gives a level of sensitivity that far surpasses (well, is higher) then what can be accomplished under windows. Some experimentation may be needed to find the best setting; the amps on my Delta 44 are pretty clean, even at high gain levels. If a noisy mic pre is being used, it may be best to turn *it's* gain down and lean on the Delta amps. If a great mic pre is being used, then it may be best to raise it's gain, and back off on the Delta's. Tobiah David Cluytens wrote: