VEGAS PRO 16 (on a Dell XPS 15 9570) - Arm for Record not loud enough

VegasMan wrote on 6/26/2022, 3:46 PM

Hello Vegas Pro Team:

I have an issue - before I get to that, here's what my specs are:

  • Running VEGAS PRO 16 on a Dell XPS 15 9570
  • Using Win 10 Home 64-Bit Version 20H2
  • Intel Corei7 -8750H CPU @ 2.20Ghz 2.21 GHz;
  • RAM - 8 GB(7.74 GB Usable)
  • Per my device manager, it appears that all the drivers for the audio devices are up-to-date.

Basically, I'm running a Casio SA-76 synthesizer through a y-splitter which is running to and from a set of 2 HOTMAI HN-A16 2.0 multimedia USB external speakers into a Line-In into my Dell XPS 15 9570, which is where I'm running Vegas Pro 16. This is what I was informed to do by someone at the Win10 forums and it was working for awhile (at least a year and some change) - until today, 6/26/22, when I sat down to record some music using the aforementioned setup. Every time I go to arm for record, while that feature itself is working, it is not recording the keyboard loud enough - and when I go to Normalize the audio, all I get is static. How do I resolve this? I really need to get this resolved fast as I'm working on a video project for which I'm also creating original music. I also checked for updated drivers for all the audio software (including Maxx Audio Pro) in Device Manager and it is telling me that everything is up-to-date. Do I need to update to Win11 or is there a way I can resolve this WITHOUT upgrading to Win 11??? Also, upgrading to another version of Vegas Pro IS NOT an option right now. Looking forward to urgently hearing back. Thank you.

Comments

rraud wrote on 6/26/2022, 5:33 PM

Y-jacks can severely 'load' an input resulting in low volume and usually a muffled sound, depending on the impedance of the interconnected devices . You can try using a mic level input on your PC.
Better yet, get a D.I. (direct interface) and plug the keys into that to feed an XLR preamp/USB interface. Most DI's have a throughput to feed a monitor amp as well which does not f_ck-up the impedance. The passive Rolls DB25 Matchbox is relatively inexpensive and has switchable (or variable) attenuation for all kinds of sources, from instrument level (low) to speaker level (very hot).

Vegas, Sound Forge and most other software that can record audio, does not have record volume control, which must be adjusted at the source, preamp and/or A/D interface.

VegasMan wrote on 6/26/2022, 8:18 PM

Y-jacks can severely 'load' an input resulting in low volume and usually a muffled sound, depending on the impedance of the interconnected devices . You can try using a mic level input on your PC.
Better yet, get a D.I. (direct interface) and plug the keys into that to feed an XLR preamp/USB interface. Most DI's have a throughput to feed a monitor amp as well which does not f_ck-up the impedance. The passive Rolls DB25 Matchbox is relatively inexpensive and has switchable (or variable) attenuation for all kinds of sources, from instrument level (low) to speaker level (very hot).

Vegas, Sound Forge and most other software that can record audio, does not have record volume control, which must be adjusted at the source, preamp and/or A/D interface.

Thank you. Unfortunately, turns out the Rolls DB25 Matchbox has been discontinued per the manufacturer website. Would you have another suggestion I could use? Thanks again.

rraud wrote on 6/27/2022, 9:42 AM

I see the DB-25B was discontinued as well... a shame. I see they have a DB-24, but is more expensive. There may be some on eBay, or elsewhere. ..a pre-owned one would probably be ok, they are pretty much indestructible . There are other manufacturer's DI's as well, though I have no hands-on experience with them or what exactly is available.

DMT3 wrote on 6/27/2022, 9:57 AM

I do a lot of audio recording of guitars and these are the devices I use.
https://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-M-Track-Duo-Interface-Podcasting/dp/B08Q1V77NR/ref=sr_1_1?crid=UWN33AQJ2CMP&keywords=m-audio+duo&qid=1656341737&sprefix=m-audio+duo%2Caps%2C130&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/BEHRINGER-Audio-Interface-1-Channel-UM2/dp/B00EK1OTZC/ref=sr_1_2?crid=ELIPTK3ZXNL3&keywords=behringer+u+phoria+um2&qid=1656341814&sprefix=behringer+upho%2Caps%2C110&sr=8-2

Howard-Vigorita wrote on 6/27/2022, 10:56 AM

You might consider a usb audio interface with it's own input jacks for line, instrument, and mic and dedicated speaker outputs and level knobs. Ones I have from Focurite and rme are pretty good and can operate as mixer/preamps with or without a computer. Also have great flexibility with Vegas if you select the driver in Vegas Audio Device preferences... then you can select the input you want for each audio track with the Record Input icon. I did a kind of tutorial/review video once on mixing with an rme that illustrates it's functionality: https://vimeo.com/448757781 ... if you open the read-more description field there are chapter links that'll let you jump to the audio hardware setup and recording to Vegas from a hardware reverb unit.

the Focusrite units don't have the generalized internal routing flexibility of the rme but can internally mix the stereo image, have more dedicated knobs, come in more variations, and are generally less expensive than rme... I have a Claret+ 4PRE which looks like its similar to the more cost effective Scarlet 4i4.

VegasMan wrote on 6/29/2022, 4:09 PM

Thank you everyone. I appreciate it. I've already ordered a USB input recording device and it should arrive in a couple days. Thanks again.