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Do external soundcards like below have any effect on overal volume ?
http://www.adjaudio.com/ProductDetails. ... ategory=21

Or is volume coming from the laptop determined by
a) Laptops sound card?
b) Progam playing the mp3+g ?
c) both

Reason for my question is... I don't feel I am getting all the potential VOLUME out of my system. YES I can turn the amp/mixer l UP and UP but I know that the sound coming IN isn't all that it should be. The METERS are hardly moving on the amp/mixer which to me is inidicating not enough signal going IN. The laptop SOUND is at 100% as is the soundcards output. Even the hosting program volume is at 100%-- Are there any other settings on the laptop I could be missing??

What am I missing ?

Could be a bit of both - but I would say more toward the card itself. Some programs have a volume control, but usually that is the overall volume in the system.
I can tell you the difference in my laptops sound card & the Lexicon external I bought for it is night & day. Best $80 I spent. Darn thing sounds as good as the $200 card I have installed in my desktop.

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Could it be that your soundcard is a -10dB line out whereas your mixer/amp is expecting a +4dB line? Many mixers have a switch for the input line level on that channel.

Most budget mixers do not have the +4/-10 switch.

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The extrenal soundcard is listed above --VERSA PORT. I do not believe its a -10dB.
I'm also using the Yamaha EMX512 which --I'll have to check -- I don't believe its has a +10db switch.

Have you tried two mic inputs, panned to L & R, and slowly turning up the gain to get a decent level. Pain though, cus now you have 2 faders to control for the music.
The manual for the USB sound card doesn't list it's line level (that I can see).

Edit: Seen what mixer you have, and looks like you have no pan.

This external card uses RCA connections so it's not balanced and therefore its a -10db.

Does your mixer have sliders? You might want set the level to +10db if it doesn't have the +4db option

The mixer does have RCA inputs, which should be -10dB. It's a long shot, but open your sound card control panel and see if you can tell that you're using headphones instead of speakers - that boosts the volume on some sound cards with certain drivers.

Currently using RCA to 1/4" cables from the External Card to the Mixer.
Am I better off going into the RCA on the mixer ? or makes no difference ?

Currently using RCA to 1/4" cables from the External Card to the Mixer.
Am I better off going into the RCA on the mixer ? or makes no difference ?

I don't understand the problem here. If you bring it into a full stereo channel on the mixer, the preamp gain adjustment should be able to handle any range you send it.

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

If you have some rca to rca cables, give it a go, though the specs in the mixer's manual suggest that the rca and phone socket are the same input level.

The problem may be just "me" . As stated It just appears that I am not getting the full sound out of my laptop/external soundcard even though both seem to be at 100% volume. I am going to do a comparison using the same mpe3+g file and play it a few different ways using the same settings on the mixer
Once using the external card and then using the laptops card.
I'll even compare the 2 hosting programs I use to see what happens and if the volume changes

Then you must be going into some crippled thing like "CD in". I can't see how you couldn't get proper output when you go into a standard stereo channel with a preamp and trim/gain control.

_________________
[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Not using "cd in" but going into one of the stereo channels.

Had another look at the manual for your mixer, and it's line ins, both phone and rca are nominally +5dB. This might be like teaching your grandmother to suck eggs, but line levels come in 2 flavors, -10dB consumer level and +4dB pro level. Consumer levels come from cd players, dvd players and computer sound cards. The mixer is expecting +4dB pro level inputs, hence it's very quiet.

If you plug the soundcard into channels 3 and 4 and press input switch to 'mic', it will be set to -25dB. Set the level knob to a low level and turn it up until it's loud enough. Unfortunately though, that will use 2 mic channels and be mono.

Had the same problem on my mixer, but fortunately have a -10/+4 switch.

What mixer? Is it the EMX512? I could see how that could happen, then, because there is no separate pre-amp TRIM control only the LEVEL knob.

When it seems I had that same problem a couple times, I went into the sound controller driver controls and found the volume was set at 50%. (This is separate from the master volume.) I turn it up there, and the problem goes away.

_________________
[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Thanks everyone for the replies

I'll fool around tonight if I can with the soundcard/software/driver etc and see if any of the volume/gain settings can be increased.