[PlanetCCRMA] detailed envy24control documentation?

[Paul Coccoli]

On 12/29/05, D. R. Evans <doc.evans@gmail.com> wrote:
> I had tried all the sources you mentioned, and they simply made me
> question my sanity and/or grasp of English.
>
> I agree that the manual is the best source, but I found it impossible
> to map with any coinsistency between the software being described by
> the manual and envy24control. Bits of it made sense, but much of it
> didn't.
>
> So let me please start with a very simple question: whast _exactly_ is
> one looking at when viewing the "Digital Mixer" bars on the "Monitor
> Mixer" tab?
>
> My basic problem (apart from simply not understanding any of this,
> despite having tried very hard -- and I do have a Physics PhD so I'm
> probably not a complete idiot, although it may seem like it) is that
> the "Digital Mixer" is showing lots of signal, and yet when I try to
> record in ardour, the audio level is very low. So somehow although
> there seems to be plenty of signal wherever at the point where the
> "Digital Mixer" is sampling, most of it isn't getting passed to
> ardour. So I'm trying to build a precise map in my head (or on paper)
> of how the signal gets from the hardware input [IN3 on the 1010LT] to
> ardour, and the various gain and mixing options at the various points
> along the path, and I'm finding that I just don't seem to be able to
> build such a map with the info available.
>

The monitor mixer window is showing you the levels to the on-board
digital mixer.  All outputs and inputs are routed, inside the card, to
the digital mixer.  If you get a good signal on the HW In 1 meter in
the monitor mixer window, for example, you should get a good signal in
ardour.  Are you sure you're looking at the right meter in the monitor
mixer?

All the gain stages in hardware are controlled on the "Hardware
Settings" tab.  Typically, I have all the ADC levels maxed, and all
the IPGA levels at the minimum, since that gain control is ampliflying
the signal and adding noise.  If you really have a good signal going
in to your card, you shouldn't need to add any gain with the IPGA
controls.

How low is the audio level in ardour?  And by audio level, do you mean
the level of the recorded signal, or of the master playback channel in
ardour's mixer, or what?  What is your sound source, and how do you
have your hardware levels set?

This is all from memory, as I'm not at home right now, but I think I
got it right.

By the way, I am by no means an authority on any of this.