Horrible Sound

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Luckypph

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Lets get the "I'm a newbie" out of the way so I can open the door to sounding dumb if needs be.

I have a live feed I run and have been for a good bit now. I run into horrible sound quality and am not sure how to fix it. I use a Radio Shack Pro96 with a 3.5 Aux plugged into the Line In slot on the back of an ancient computer. If I plug the jack all the way in the feedback is extreme to say the least and drowns any vocal out. I pull it just about half way out and the feedback is gone however the vocal quality is low and almost echoish hard to hear/understand even kind of like its over amplified to an extent. All that said what do I need to do to fix it and if options are available Id like to know them. Really don't want to spend a lot of cash on this, rather just pull the plug if it gets into some of the ideas I have heard to this point.
 

leaf

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Lucky, I'm a radio noob too, but the peeps on this board are very helpful so I'm sure someone will chime in . .

My 2 cents would be.. Are you sure this is a feedback loop? Does it only happen when you open the microphone, or just whenever you plug the scanner in to the computer? I would identify if it is mic/speaker feedback first.
 

W8RMH

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Sounds like a bad cable or bad jack or both. Also the key words here may be ancient computer and ancient scanner.

The best feeds use a scanner with a Record-Out jack which has a stable audio output, instead of an external speaker or headphone jack .
 
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SCPD

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I pull it just about half way out and the feedback is gone however the vocal quality is low and almost echoish hard to hear/understand even kind of like its over amplified to an extent.

BAD Cable - Just replaced two doing the same thing. There are a few PRO-96 feeds that sound good. I am running a PRO-197 using the Speaker jack on the rear and it works fine. But you might look into a C-Media USB External Sound card for vastly improved audio.

Another suggestion is cut you scanner volume back to 1/4 to 1/3 and drop the level on the PC mic or Line to 15 to 20. Don't use Amplification and be sure your sound effects are turned off. Let your listeners turn their volume up rather than blasting audio at them.

The C-Media USB card is a good cheap alternative to on-board or an old audio card. cost between 12 and 30 bucks.
 
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Welcome Lucky, you also might want to try to update your Bios and the Drivers on your older computer. Also make sure your Pro 96 has the latest firmware as well.. The jack should be pushed all the way in. The settings in your feed should be set to MONO. maybe reread the wiki, you might be overlooking something. Here is a link Setting up your Broadcasting Station - The RadioReference Wiki . Good luck!!
 
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