Quote:
Originally Posted by bluepilot
You don't say what Behringer you are using. Personally I use a UMC202HD. You can control the signal levels and they aren't expensive.
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Apologies for the delay in responding. If I look at the top of the Behringer it says it is a UCA222, if I look at the rear of the unit it says it is a UCA202 (?). If I connect the unit up to my Windows laptop (W7) and run up the Audacity software it says the audio levels cannot be controlled by the software and that I must use the W7 audio level controls. This is correct and works - I can control the input audio levels.
However, if I connect it up to my iMac running macOS High Sierra then again the Audacity software says it cannot control the audio levels and that I must use the Mac system mixer to control the incoming audio levels. But, when I go to the system mixer the controls are 'greyed out' and no control over the incoming audio levels is possible. Is this correct operation? I have asked this question on a Behringer user forum and the response was that this behaviour is correct (as daft as it appears).
For logistical reasons I want to use the iMac and not the Windows laptop.
So, given that when I have everything up and running on the iMac and I can see the levels on the Audacity software meters are 'hard over' and the monitored audio is sometimes distorted I came to the conclusion that I need to (sometimes) reduce the audio level going into the Behringer.
I do ask myself - if the audio input levels were controllable from Audacity whether the Behringer was connected to the W7 laptop or iMac, how is this being achieved? Is the Audacity software talking to the Behringer via the usb cable and controlling some sort of amplifier/attenuator on the input of the ADC inside the Behringer? I think this very unlikely, and given that even the supposedly correct W7 operation says to use the W7 system audio controls I think it very likely it is just simply controlling the level of the incoming digitised audio coming up the usb cable where overload distortion will have already occurred in the Behringer.
Sorry if this all seems a bit jumbled! I just want to transfer these tapes once, in as best quality as I can with minimum 'faffing'. I think the Xenix 502 looks as though it will do the job, I cannot find any sort on manual for it on-line prior to purchase and I do wonder how the 2 RCA phono inputs (track inputs) pass through the input level controls?
Thanks to all for your replies and I look forward to reading any further feedback or suggestions.