Hey
I'm new to all of this please have patience with me
I just got a video capture card and can't seem to get audio to work at all
with it.
Generally speaking, it is good to mention the specific
hardware in question. Futher, mention of how this video
capture card inputs audio to the system (for example, an
internal socket or external minijack) might be relevant too.
I have an integrated soundmax digital audio card, which means I
have no idea how to connect the audio leads from the capture card to the
sound card.
Which sound input the capture card can use, depends on the
versatility of the software included. Typically that
software has some kind of configuration menu where you might
be able to choose the audio input. If there is none, it is
likely the capture card manual specifies which input it
"needs".
So I think I need to buy a sound card with the imputs on it. Am I right?
No your onboard sound should be sufficient for this. Since
we dont' know which method the capture card uses, nor what
cables were included (or that you otherwise have available),
we can't directly advise. Generally speaking, if your
capture card has an output jack on the back and a 1/8" to
1/8" miniplug cable that came with it, you would connect
that to the motherboard audio-input jack on the back (often
visually identifiable by it's blue color but might be
labeled as well as illustrated in your motherboard manual.
If the capture card instead has an internal pin-header
socket, and a cable with (usually 4 pins) plugs for this,
obviously you'd connect one end to the capture card and the
other to the motherboard's sound input jack, typically it's
labeled "Aux In", that might be printed on the board next to
the (usually white) 4 pin socket, and also should be
illustrated in the motherboard manual. If for some reason
you had already used that Aux-In socket, it might be
possible to instead route the sound input to the "CD In",
usually black, socket. This would be less common and it may
be necessary for the software you use with the capture card,
to be reconfigured to use this CD-In instead.
No matter which input you need, do use, confirm that the
appropriate input in the software is selected. Sometimes
the software words things poorly or in a non-standard manner
and so it can be a matter of trial and error to find which
corresponds to the connection you used.
And
if so can I just put the new sound card in and go?
You could certainly put in a new sound card if you want one,
though it should not be at all necessary for the capture
card, would instead be the kind of thing added if you had
other gripes with the onboard sound such as poor sound
quality or a lot of CPU overhead playing games.
If you add a sound card, you have the same scenario, hooking
up the jacks and then configuring the capture card (or 3rd
party if you chose 3rd party software) for the appropriate
input type. Also if you add a sound card you would either
have to disable the onboard sound (jumper or setting in the
bios setup menu) or possibly assign the primary sound device
in (windows?) Control Panel- Multimedia (or Sounds And ...).
It is also good to mention the operating system you are
using in the initial post, and in this case perhaps the
specific motherboard too since it is the onboard audio being
considered.
Will it be OK to use on
top of the integrated sound?? And also what soundcard is best? I have seen
some on ebay for as low as $6 (Aussie)
wendy
You're not much better off with a low-end sound card than
with integrated audio. Presuming you had only considered
the sound card due to addition of the capture card, try the
onboard audio as it should work fine with it.
"Best" sound card is relative, there's a wide spectrum
ranging from barely (if any) better than onboard, then
various multi-channel cards, some with joystick input/midi,
a few with hardware gaming 3D sound, and then incrementally
more inputs, outputs, digital tricks and moving up further
the audiphile cards where cost can be no object.
You'd need to define exactly what features and uses you had
for the card, and the budget, to determine what's
appropriate. With gaming and higher sound quality being
the two most common motivators to replace onboard audio, if
you have neither of these concerns then you may as well use
the onboard audio.
