No Sound Using Line in Mic

CTrap33

Honorable
Apr 16, 2013
12
0
10,560
I've looked all over this forum for problems regarding microphones, but have found no solution.

Here's my problem. I'm using a Shure SM57 mic and an Asus Xonar DG 24-bit 96 KHz Sound Card. I plug the mic into the Line-in slot, but I cannot get any volume when I record. Note, I've also tried the same mic in the motherboard slot and the front panel mic jack.

Honestly, I've tweaked so many settings in the control panel that I might have disabled something myself and caused it to not work. I have made sure the sound card drivers are up to date. I'm on Windows 7, 64-bit.

The sound card is fairly new, and definitely works. The only thing I can think to do would be to remove all sound devices and start back from default settings, though I have no idea how to properly do this.

I have also tested the Mic with multiple cables on my bro's computer, and it seems to work fine.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.
 

technician-ie

Estimable
Sep 26, 2015
4
0
4,510
I take it your microphone cable is an XLR? female XLR to 1/4 inch jack with a minijack adapter attached to it? I'm trying to understand how you are transferring the signal from the mic to the computer...
 

CTrap33

Honorable
Apr 16, 2013
12
0
10,560


This is exactly right. I've tested multiple adapters with the same result each time.
 

technician-ie

Estimable
Sep 26, 2015
4
0
4,510
Ok and you can get a signal elsewhere on different systems with no hassle? if so it sounds to me like it's the actual sound card.. sounds obvious I know but you also tried maybe attaching the card to another system and seeing if it picks a signal up then? also you might have already checked but have a look in device manager and see if the card is showing up working, check that inputs are active.. if that doesn't work and all else fails I would recommend maybe getting at least a 2 input external SoundCard, M-audio Fast Track are for good prices..
 

CTrap33

Honorable
Apr 16, 2013
12
0
10,560
Just FYI, I am using Audacity to test my signal. I've been screwing around and making sure connections were good, and I've managed to get a signal. However, it is very faint and it only seems to be picking up the left side track. In other words, I have two waveforms: the left side is faint with small peaks while the right side is completely flat. Not sure what I did to make this happen.

On another note, I am not getting any signal through my front panel mic jack, nor am I getting anything with my back panel jack (built in mobo sound). I am being sure to make sure I am enabling the correct devices in both Windows device manager and in the Audacity program.

This leads me to believe that it's something to do with drivers, as the sound card was recently installed. This is what my recording devices look like: http://imgur.com/NQnkkSw. I have no clue what the bottom 3 devices are. When I play my guitar, I see no signal when looking at the line in device (the green bars on the side do not "jump").

Also note that I was able to get sound with no problem using a cheap $20 usb mic plugged into my front panel headers.
 

technician-ie

Estimable
Sep 26, 2015
4
0
4,510
Sorry, I haven't been on here in a while, did you ever manage to resolve the problem? my only thought for the audio only showing up on one side would be possibly the adapter is a stereo jack and not mono, I know you said you tried a couple of adapters but ideally you would be far better having a direct connection. This would mean having to buy an external card obviously but it would be worth it in the end.