Adjust recording levels for standard sound cards

Adjust levels if recordings are too quiet (causing background noise) or too loud (causing distortion). To get the best sounding results, record audio as loud as possible without clipping. When setting recording levels, watch the meters in the Record dialog box, and try to keep the loudest peaks in the yellow range below ‑3 dB.

Soundbooth doesn’t directly control a sound card’s recording levels. For a professional sound card, you adjust these levels with the mixer application provided with the card (see the card’s documentation for instructions). For a standard sound card, you use the mixer provided by Windows or Mac OS.

Adjust sound card levels in Windows Vista and Windows 7

  1. Right‑click the speaker icon in the taskbar, and choose Recording Devices.

  2. Double-click the input source you want to use.

  3. Click the Levels tab, and adjust the slider as needed.

Adjust sound card levels in Windows XP

  1. Double‑click the speaker icon in the taskbar.

  2. Choose Options > Properties.

  3. Select Recording, and then click OK.

  4. Select the input source you want to use, and adjust the Volume slider as needed.

Adjust sound card levels in Mac OS

  1. Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu.

  2. Click Sound, and then click the Input tab.

  3. Select the device you want to use, and adjust the Input Volume slider as needed.