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* Recording on SB Live line-in
@  John Heim
   ` Charles Hallenbeck
                   ` (2 more replies)
  0 siblings, 3 replies; 6+ messages in thread
From: John Heim @  UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: speakup

I can't record the audio I hear when I plug my VCR or stereo into the 
line-jack on my SB Live sound card. I can record if I plug it int the mic 
jack but the quality isn't as good.  I've used aumix to set the level of 
the line-in to 64 which sounds good. But recording with sox gives me 
nothing but silence.  Ie:

$ aumix -l 64 -m 64
$sox -t ossdsp /dev/dsp bogus.wav

That works if I have my VCR connected to the mic although the quality is 
poor.  Can I tell it to record from the line-in but not from the mic? Maybe 
aumix isn't the best tool to use.

Alternately, maybe I could get the mic to work...  The problem with the mic 
jack is that I get only the left or the right channel. I have a cable with 
2 RCA jacks on one end and a stereo jack on the other. The 2 RCA jacks are 
plugged into the line-out on the VCR, left and right. The stereo jack is 
plugged into the mic on the sound card. Only 1 of the RCA jacks matter. The 
other I might as well leave dangling because I don't hear that channel no 
matter what.  I can get the left channel on the VCR if i plug the jack that 
works into the left line-out jack on the VCR or I can get the right channel 
by plugging it into the right line-out jack.  So the mic is acting as if 
there's a stereo-mono converter in there somewhere.

I know the cable is good because:
1. I can hear both channels if I plug it into the line-in on the soundcard. 
But as I explained above, then I can't record.
2. I have a second cable and that one does the same thing
3.  Both cables work fine with another sound card



^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 6+ messages in thread

* Re: Recording on SB Live line-in
   Recording on SB Live line-in John Heim
@  ` Charles Hallenbeck
     ` Georgina Joyce
     ` John Heim
   ` Willem van der Walt
   ` Glenn at home
  2 siblings, 2 replies; 6+ messages in thread
From: Charles Hallenbeck @  UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Speakup is a screen review system for Linux.

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

John,

The mike is a monaural device. So no matter how you cable it, you only 
can capture one channel.

The volume setting of the line device is only half of the story. You 
also need to set capture on, and choose a capture level as well. Not 
sure of aumix, but amixer lets you do that. You could actually record 
the line device with its playback gain set to zero, as long as the 
capture setting was turned on and the capture gain was adequate. 

Chuck


On Tue, Apr 18, 2006 at 05:32:20PM -0500, John Heim wrote:
> I can't record the audio I hear when I plug my VCR or stereo into the 
> line-jack on my SB Live sound card. I can record if I plug it int the mic 
> jack but the quality isn't as good.  I've used aumix to set the level of 
> the line-in to 64 which sounds good. But recording with sox gives me 
> nothing but silence.  Ie:
> 
> $ aumix -l 64 -m 64
> $sox -t ossdsp /dev/dsp bogus.wav
> 
> That works if I have my VCR connected to the mic although the quality is 
> poor.  Can I tell it to record from the line-in but not from the mic? Maybe 
> aumix isn't the best tool to use.
> 
> Alternately, maybe I could get the mic to work...  The problem with the mic 
> jack is that I get only the left or the right channel. I have a cable with 
> 2 RCA jacks on one end and a stereo jack on the other. The 2 RCA jacks are 
> plugged into the line-out on the VCR, left and right. The stereo jack is 
> plugged into the mic on the sound card. Only 1 of the RCA jacks matter. The 
> other I might as well leave dangling because I don't hear that channel no 
> matter what.  I can get the left channel on the VCR if i plug the jack that 
> works into the left line-out jack on the VCR or I can get the right channel 
> by plugging it into the right line-out jack.  So the mic is acting as if 
> there's a stereo-mono converter in there somewhere.
> 
> I know the cable is good because:
> 1. I can hear both channels if I plug it into the line-in on the soundcard. 
> But as I explained above, then I can't record.
> 2. I have a second cable and that one does the same thing
> 3.  Both cables work fine with another sound card
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup

- -- 
The Moon is Waning Gibbous (73% of Full)
Get downloads from http://www.mhcable.com/~chuckh
  and remember, INFORMATION WANTS TO BE FREE!
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^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 6+ messages in thread

* Re: Recording on SB Live line-in
   Recording on SB Live line-in John Heim
   ` Charles Hallenbeck
@  ` Willem van der Walt
   ` Glenn at home
  2 siblings, 0 replies; 6+ messages in thread
From: Willem van der Walt @  UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: John Heim; +Cc: speakup

You should set the line to R mode.
aumix -l R
aumix -lq
should now show an r next to the numbers.
HTH
Willem


On Tue, 18 Apr 2006, John Heim wrote:

> I can't record the audio I hear when I plug my VCR or stereo into the
> line-jack on my SB Live sound card. I can record if I plug it int the mic
> jack but the quality isn't as good.  I've used aumix to set the level of
> the line-in to 64 which sounds good. But recording with sox gives me
> nothing but silence.  Ie:
>
> $ aumix -l 64 -m 64
> $sox -t ossdsp /dev/dsp bogus.wav
>
> That works if I have my VCR connected to the mic although the quality is
> poor.  Can I tell it to record from the line-in but not from the mic? Maybe
> aumix isn't the best tool to use.
>
> Alternately, maybe I could get the mic to work...  The problem with the mic
> jack is that I get only the left or the right channel. I have a cable with
> 2 RCA jacks on one end and a stereo jack on the other. The 2 RCA jacks are
> plugged into the line-out on the VCR, left and right. The stereo jack is
> plugged into the mic on the sound card. Only 1 of the RCA jacks matter. The
> other I might as well leave dangling because I don't hear that channel no
> matter what.  I can get the left channel on the VCR if i plug the jack that
> works into the left line-out jack on the VCR or I can get the right channel
> by plugging it into the right line-out jack.  So the mic is acting as if
> there's a stereo-mono converter in there somewhere.
>
> I know the cable is good because:
> 1. I can hear both channels if I plug it into the line-in on the soundcard.
> But as I explained above, then I can't record.
> 2. I have a second cable and that one does the same thing
> 3.  Both cables work fine with another sound card
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
>

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^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 6+ messages in thread

* Re: Recording on SB Live line-in
   ` Charles Hallenbeck
@    ` Georgina Joyce
     ` John Heim
  1 sibling, 0 replies; 6+ messages in thread
From: Georgina Joyce @  UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Speakup is a screen review system for Linux.

Hi

Use a capitalised 'R' with the line value.  And aumix calls capture 'input gain', thus you'd need something like:

aumix -l 65
aumix -l R 
aumix -i 65

You're supposed to include all those commands in one string, however, I have difficulty in getting the 'R' to move from the mic to line.  But by using the -q switch, you can see what is listed for playback and what is listed for recording.

HTH

Gena
On Tue, Apr 18, 2006 at 06:49:02PM -0400, Charles Hallenbeck wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
> 
> John,
> 
> The mike is a monaural device. So no matter how you cable it, you only 
> can capture one channel.
> 
> The volume setting of the line device is only half of the story. You 
> also need to set capture on, and choose a capture level as well. Not 
> sure of aumix, but amixer lets you do that. You could actually record 
> the line device with its playback gain set to zero, as long as the 
> capture setting was turned on and the capture gain was adequate. 
> 
> Chuck
> 
> 
> On Tue, Apr 18, 2006 at 05:32:20PM -0500, John Heim wrote:
> > I can't record the audio I hear when I plug my VCR or stereo into the 
> > line-jack on my SB Live sound card. I can record if I plug it int the mic 
> > jack but the quality isn't as good.  I've used aumix to set the level of 
> > the line-in to 64 which sounds good. But recording with sox gives me 
> > nothing but silence.  Ie:
> > 
> > $ aumix -l 64 -m 64
> > $sox -t ossdsp /dev/dsp bogus.wav
> > 
> > That works if I have my VCR connected to the mic although the quality is 
> > poor.  Can I tell it to record from the line-in but not from the mic? Maybe 
> > aumix isn't the best tool to use.
> > 
> > Alternately, maybe I could get the mic to work...  The problem with the mic 
> > jack is that I get only the left or the right channel. I have a cable with 
> > 2 RCA jacks on one end and a stereo jack on the other. The 2 RCA jacks are 
> > plugged into the line-out on the VCR, left and right. The stereo jack is 
> > plugged into the mic on the sound card. Only 1 of the RCA jacks matter. The 
> > other I might as well leave dangling because I don't hear that channel no 
> > matter what.  I can get the left channel on the VCR if i plug the jack that 
> > works into the left line-out jack on the VCR or I can get the right channel 
> > by plugging it into the right line-out jack.  So the mic is acting as if 
> > there's a stereo-mono converter in there somewhere.
> > 
> > I know the cable is good because:
> > 1. I can hear both channels if I plug it into the line-in on the soundcard. 
> > But as I explained above, then I can't record.
> > 2. I have a second cable and that one does the same thing
> > 3.  Both cables work fine with another sound card
> > 
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > Speakup mailing list
> > Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 
> - -- 
> The Moon is Waning Gibbous (73% of Full)
> Get downloads from http://www.mhcable.com/~chuckh
>   and remember, INFORMATION WANTS TO BE FREE!
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
> Version: GnuPG v1.4.3 (GNU/Linux)
> 
> iD8DBQFERWzeXnuiIOyDVQURAl/7AJ4p3UFwmCXTaVbdh2DHDT6XhyD6dgCfWcE3
> OiJNovm2StV4t0S9tvdf75I=
> =IUYM
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Speakup mailing list
> Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
> http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
> 
---end quoted text---

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^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 6+ messages in thread

* Re: Recording on SB Live line-in
   Recording on SB Live line-in John Heim
   ` Charles Hallenbeck
   ` Willem van der Walt
@  ` Glenn at home
  2 siblings, 0 replies; 6+ messages in thread
From: Glenn at home @  UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Speakup is a screen review system for Linux.

Could it be a digital signal causing the problem?
Glenn
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Heim" <jheim@math.wisc.edu>
To: "speakup" <speakup@braille.uwo.ca>
Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 5:32 PM
Subject: Recording on SB Live line-in


I can't record the audio I hear when I plug my VCR or stereo into the
line-jack on my SB Live sound card. I can record if I plug it int the mic
jack but the quality isn't as good.  I've used aumix to set the level of
the line-in to 64 which sounds good. But recording with sox gives me
nothing but silence.  Ie:

$ aumix -l 64 -m 64
$sox -t ossdsp /dev/dsp bogus.wav

That works if I have my VCR connected to the mic although the quality is
poor.  Can I tell it to record from the line-in but not from the mic? Maybe
aumix isn't the best tool to use.

Alternately, maybe I could get the mic to work...  The problem with the mic
jack is that I get only the left or the right channel. I have a cable with
2 RCA jacks on one end and a stereo jack on the other. The 2 RCA jacks are
plugged into the line-out on the VCR, left and right. The stereo jack is
plugged into the mic on the sound card. Only 1 of the RCA jacks matter. The
other I might as well leave dangling because I don't hear that channel no
matter what.  I can get the left channel on the VCR if i plug the jack that
works into the left line-out jack on the VCR or I can get the right channel
by plugging it into the right line-out jack.  So the mic is acting as if
there's a stereo-mono converter in there somewhere.

I know the cable is good because:
1. I can hear both channels if I plug it into the line-in on the soundcard.
But as I explained above, then I can't record.
2. I have a second cable and that one does the same thing
3.  Both cables work fine with another sound card


_______________________________________________
Speakup mailing list
Speakup@braille.uwo.ca
http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup 



^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 6+ messages in thread

* Re: Recording on SB Live line-in
   ` Charles Hallenbeck
     ` Georgina Joyce
@    ` John Heim
  1 sibling, 0 replies; 6+ messages in thread
From: John Heim @  UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: Speakup is a screen review system for Linux.

At 05:49 PM 4/18/2006, Charles Hallenbeck wrote:
>-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>Hash: SHA1
>
>John,
>
>The mike is a monaural device. So no matter how you cable it, you only
>can capture one channel.
>
>The volume setting of the line device is only half of the story. You
>also need to set capture on, and choose a capture level as well. Not
>sure of aumix, but amixer lets you do that. You could actually record
>the line device with its playback gain set to zero, as long as the
>capture setting was turned on and the capture gain was adequate.


Yeah, I feel really stupid. I always try to figure out a problem before i 
post and I listened to the aumix man page. But -- I don't know -- I just 
didn't grok. Somehow I got the idea that the R parameter for record was to 
record through aumix. Doh!

So that was kind of dumb. Thanks to everyone who set me straight.

Everything is working now. I have my VCR going into the first sound card 
and my stereo (with a second VCR) going into the second. I have my computer 
speakers connected to the first sound card. I have no speakers connected to 
the second sound card but my stereo has speakers.

On any day, I can record 2 TV shows or a TV show and a radio program.

I've been recording way more than I can listen to. The script I wrote takes 
a date format string. So, for example, I have it set up so that when I 
record jeopardy, it names the files Mon.ogg, Tue.ogg, ... Then on Monday, 
it over writes Mon.ogg. If I haven't listened to it yet, too bad.




^ permalink raw reply	[flat|nested] 6+ messages in thread

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-- links below jump to the message on this page --
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 ` Charles Hallenbeck
   ` Georgina Joyce
   ` John Heim
 ` Willem van der Walt
 ` Glenn at home

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