bah!

[ciphergoth]

why does my new microphone record digitally perfect silence?

even if I hadn't plugged it in, I should still get a few bits of noise, not a WAV file consisting of a header and a big collection of zeroes.

Updated: OK, OK, I'll make this a useful entry rather than a whinge. I'm running Linux 2.2.19 with ALSA driver 0.5.11. ALSA reports the soundcard as 'C-Media PCI CM8738 (model 37) at 0x7400, irq 9'

I've tried wiggling all sorts of soft mixer settings, to no effect. I haven't tried with the microphone disconnected yet. I'm unlikely to get a chance to play with it much 'till I get back from Geneva, though.

Comments

Re: More well-rounded answer

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

I don't think *any* analogue problem could result in pure zeroes, could it? I'm pretty sure the problem will be in the digital realm...

Re: More well-rounded answer

[alienspacebat.livejournal.com]

Could do, if the zero was hardwired and below the input threshold of the soundcard. One problem may be power if it's an electret mic. DOes it have 3 bands on the jack or two? Some soundcards dont provide power to the mic.

Try the microphone in a tape recorder or something and connect some other source to the mic input to troubleshoot it