E1505 Soundcard Question (Sigmatel9200)

I just received a Dell Inspiron E1505 as a replacement to the Inspiron 6000 that was destroyed. Long story, thank you CompleteCare Warranty.

All that said, I'm happy w/ the E1505 except for one thing. The laptop has the Sigmatel 9200 sound card. I cannot use this laptop for any audio recording. Can I use a different driver to fix this problem? Or should I have gotten the Audigy built-in?

 

You should be able to input at the mic/line level input?

Try one of the USB/Firewire adapters for lower S/N and flexibility.

 

lower s/n? with my 6000, I did not have to have a separate adapter. i just recorded from the sound card itself...

 

So your saying you can't do this from your mic input? Is the mic level turned on in the sound panel?

The 3rd party digital input card was just a suggestion. Motherboards are notorious RF generators so best to feed audio in a digital format other than analog audio signal.

If you can't hear or detect any noise at your analog mic input then your good to go.

 

I did not have to use a mic before! I just selected the "what you hear" from the recording input and it recorded from there

 

This is different from your first post but I think you need a built in or third part "sound capture" program that will record the sound of ANY playing source. Are we on the same page now?

 

Doesnt the 1505 come with one..? I look at my taskbar and it shows a microphone icon that talks about audio capture...

I missing something?

 

ok, i have an audio capture program. i use cdwav. however when i try to record, there is no signal going to the program.

 

Now we talking! I haven't used your program but mine gives you two onscreen meters. When playing CD or streaming iTunes, ect. the meters are set with sliders to a non clipping or no distort level. Once all set I click on the record button.

If you hit record and nothing records then you need to check that the program can "see" the source. Not having your stuff in front of me leaves me at a disadvantage.

Anyone?

 

exactly right, only the source is not "see(n)"

 

Mysticales, that's a soundblaster program, I think it's just for taking quick voice recordings. I uninstalled it.

 

Ok, look for program sttings and look at what codec its looking for, AC97 on my old machine. When you hit the right ones you should see your record indicators come to life with a playing source. It's been a while and my old notebook is dead so I can't be much help here. Also RTFM or online help for your program.

Good Luck!

 

still no luck...

 

yep, same problem here...

tried looking at the sigmatel site, they can't offer driver downloads due to licensing restrictions. Dell has a new driver available since 12th April this year, but it doesn't address this issue.

There is usually a "what you hear" option in the record tab of the standard windows volume control, but for the sigmatel the only options are "line-in" and "microphone" Since there is no line-input on the dell, that's not much use!

If i find a solution i'll be sure to let you know...

 

Just fixed this on my 1505. Found this on the dell forum:

 

I pluged my headphones in the wrong plug, and i get this:

 

I get that too, but now after the fix above, this is what my volume control looks like this:

 

Nice one, schmoken!

Will give this a try when i get home this evening!

Cheers

 

Do we all need to do this?
I have the Audigy option, just wondering if I still need to do this regedit or if this is only for people who dont get that option?

 

Well, first off, don't go thinking that I'm a Dell audio expert!

But I would say if you want to listen to your line-in source but can't, take a look in your registry for those keys.

Always back up your registry before tinkering around in there.

This solution isn't perfect:
The line-in source is LOUD! And the volume slider is in the recording section of the volume control. At the lowest setting, it still is much louder than the system sounds. And it uses the microphone slider no matter what you pick at the audio system event popup window shown above.

My XM radio has an adjustable ouput so that part is solved for me.

 

theonlyone23, your issue isn't a line-in issue is it? I don't think that solution above fixes your problem. I have an e1505. When I open windows' recording volume control panel, I see two things: volume sliders for the mic and the line-in. There should also be a slider for "stereo mix", which would allow you to record whatever is going through your soundcard (voice chats, streaming audio from the internet, etc.) regardless of its source. On my e1505, the stereo mix slider is not there. I can only record things from the mic and the line-in, and nowehere else. That's undesireable. Does schmoken's tweak fix that or is it for something else?

 

Maybe the 'fix' I found isn't relevant to theonlyone23's recording problem. It allows the line-in source to be played dynamically.
My line-in gets routed back out of the line-out to a small stereo along with the regular system sounds.

No stereo mix sliders here before or after the fix...

 

Does this apply to Audigy software users or nah?

 

I guess if you can listen to music from your line-in jack, then no.

 

Hey, here's a post from the dell forums that's worth reading: Someone chimes in eventually and recommends Total Recorder. Hope that helps. The other workaround is to plug your headphone out into your line-in. Not a very elegant solution however.

 

exactly what i'm looking for...thanks for your help! stupid DELL!!

 

same here. gotta find a way to record w/out using line in! I just want to "record what I hear"

 

Ill have to try to see if my line in is working then.

 

cool...but it's not a "line in" problem...it's a "recording off the board" issue...

 

anyone ever figure out how to record?

 

top that. anyone?

 

Well, I did some more digging. I found out my old program, I suggested way back, does not work on my Dell but fine on my Gateway laptop. From what I'm picking up, Dell has stuck us with no options other than the mic or line in option. I cannot pick up analog from my CD or itunes playback or the "what you hear" function. It's looking more and more like a registry hack mentioned earlier.

I'm still searching the web for a work around.

 

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_audio&message.id=27922#M27922

Can't remember if i linked back to this or not - does it help at all?

 

It seems I didn't paste the entire piece off of the dell forums at the above link...

 

this still does not worky

 

Thanks for the registry hack idea, but that only enables the line-in option, which doesn't address the original problem. I have an M1710 with exactly the same problem. For my main use, I have need to grab whatever I'm hearing on the speakers and capture it to a sound file. There is currently no way to do this, even after doing the registry edit.

It really annoys the hell out of me that Dell's flagship laptop product is purposefully crippled because someone decided we shouldn't be able to easily record whatever it is we're hearing on the speakers.

If anybody has further info on how to open this basic feature back up, please let us know!

 

(I don't know if cross-board posting is allowed. If this is breaking a rule, feel free to mod me with my apologies, but this is great info.)

Check out this thread. I just used the replacement .ini at the bottom of the second page of the conversation to reinstall my drivers on an M1710 and it worked great & fixes several of the complaints I've had about the dumbed-down Sigmatel functions as released by Dell.

 

Could it be just as simple as a freeware record-what-you-hear program?