Audio just does not sound right

I just transitioned over to a windows machine to broadcast my feed. I am using proscan, and I am feeding the audio from the 996xt's record out jack. Thats the same port that i used for the past 2 years while feeding from Nicecast on my Mac and it sounded amazing. I just started with ProScan and I am getting a faint hissing noise on my feed, and the audio is way over modulated, just doesn't sound right. Additionally I monitored my feed from a scanner feed application and i need to turn my volume down to almost 1/4 just so it doesn't blow the speakers out. I tried adjusting the "Source Client" capture and brought it down to -20dB. That did nothing to effect the quality of the audio that the feed is outputting. Is there any suggestions on how to go about adjusting the output quality and levels? I was thinking maybe it had to do that it was broadcasting in mono at 16 kbps so i switched it to stereo at 32 kbps and that did not have any effect either.

Beyond frustrated at this point and may go back to using the Mac with Nicecast if i cant sort this out. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Perhaps this link will help
Setting up your Broadcasting Station - The RadioReference Wiki

Most likely the Windows Mixer controls needs attention. This is what I would do in a nut shell.
1. Tune the scanner to a NOAA channel or a trunking control channel for constant audio
2. Turn down the scanner volume to around 40%
3. Go to the ProScan Audio Control -> Monitor & Test tab. Click the Loopback control. Select Source Client. This will pump the audio from the scanner to the local speakers.
4. Adjust the ProScan Source Client Capture Left or Right used channel to 100% and the unused channel to 0%
5. If using the Mic input, adjust the Mic level to around 10 to 20% and turn off the Mic boost if on
6. If using the Line input, adjust the Line level to around 80 to 100%
7. Adjust the scanner volume to the point where you hear clipping and then back off a bit

ProScan said:

Perhaps this link will help
Setting up your Broadcasting Station - The RadioReference Wiki

Most likely the Windows Mixer controls needs attention. This is what I would do in a nut shell.
1. Tune the scanner to a NOAA channel or a trunking control channel for constant audio
2. Turn down the scanner volume to around 40%
3. Go to the ProScan Audio Control -> Monitor & Test tab. Click the Loopback control. Select Source Client. This will pump the audio from the scanner to the local speakers.
4. Adjust the ProScan Source Client Capture Left or Right used channel to 100% and the unused channel to 0%
5. If using the Mic input, adjust the Mic level to around 10 to 20% and turn off the Mic boost if on
6. If using the Line input, adjust the Line level to around 80 to 100%
7. Adjust the scanner volume to the point where you hear clipping and then back off a bit

Click to expand...

I would suggest to build an audio pad to drop the level of the audio going into the computer. You might even have to add a series capacitor to block any DC bias voltage that might be coming out of your scanner.

Using the mic input is not a good selection. This is a high impedance and it doesn't like high audio level inputs.

The line input is a much better selection with any amount of audio being jammed into it.

As said above, you need to keep the gain settings low to get clean audio.

Good luck with your project. Let the group here know how your progress is going.

Okay so I figured out what 80% of the problem was, a cheap piece of crap USB Sound Card that I was using for the input. The reason I was using that is because i bought 5 of them and had planned on running different instances of Pro Scan so I could record all of of my scanner, however I may decide not to do that now due to the poor quality. I ended up plugging the scanner directly into the computer now in the 'line in' jack. It sounds a lot better now, but I still want to make some minor improvements to the audio. Now you say build an audio pad, what exactly is that? My biggest concern at this point is the faint hum, however it has improved with the new configuration. My question to you, when I was broadcasting using my Mac computer there was no hum at all, so I have a hunch that maybe DC interference is not the cause of hum. However, you may know better then me.

Coolant113 said:

O My question to you, when I was broadcasting using my Mac computer there was no hum at all, so I have a hunch that maybe DC interference is not the cause of hum. However, you may know better then me.

Click to expand...

Did you change the power outlets of either the computer or the scanner? If they were both on the same outlet before and now they are not you could have caused a ground loop.

ak4fn said:

Did you change the power outlets of either the computer or the scanner? If they were both on the same outlet before and now they are not you could have caused a ground loop.

Click to expand...

Nope there plugged into the same power strip.

Coolant113 said:

Okay so I figured out what 80% of the problem was, a cheap piece of crap USB Sound Card that I was using for the input. The reason I was using that is because i bought 5 of them and had planned on running different instances of Pro Scan so I could record all of of my scanner, however I may decide not to do that now due to the poor quality. I ended up plugging the scanner directly into the computer now in the 'line in' jack. It sounds a lot better now, but I still want to make some minor improvements to the audio. Now you say build an audio pad, what exactly is that? My biggest concern at this point is the faint hum, however it has improved with the new configuration. My question to you, when I was broadcasting using my Mac computer there was no hum at all, so I have a hunch that maybe DC interference is not the cause of hum. However, you may know better then me.

Click to expand...

I don't hear the AC hum. Did you fix that?

Question why broadcast in stereo. Both Left and Right appears same traffic which is using double bandwidth.

Coolant113 said:

Okay so I figured out what 80% of the problem was, a cheap piece of crap USB Sound Card that I was using for the input. The reason I was using that is because i bought 5 of them and had planned on running different instances of Pro Scan so I could record all of of my scanner, however I may decide not to do that now due to the poor quality. I ended up plugging the scanner directly into the computer now in the 'line in' jack. It sounds a lot better now, but I still want to make some minor improvements to the audio. Now you say build an audio pad, what exactly is that? My biggest concern at this point is the faint hum, however it has improved with the new configuration. My question to you, when I was broadcasting using my Mac computer there was no hum at all, so I have a hunch that maybe DC interference is not the cause of hum. However, you may know better then me.

Click to expand...

I would suggest that you do a search on the Internet to find out just what an audio attenuation pad is and does. You should find in your search just how they are constructed and how to figure out what components are needed to build one.

Reading it from one of the sites can explain it better than what I could do for you to understand it. I tend to talk too technically and might be over your head. Being in the field for so many years, you tend to get that way.

jim202 said:

I would suggest that you do a search on the Internet to find out just what an audio attenuation pad is and does. You should find in your search just how they are constructed and how to figure out what components are needed to build one.

Reading it from one of the sites can explain it better than what I could do for you to understand it. I tend to talk too technically and might be over your head. Being in the field for so many years, you tend to get that way.

Click to expand...

Great.... You tell him what he needs and then tell him to go figure it out.....:roll:

ProScan said:

I don't hear the AC hum. Did you fix that?

Question why broadcast in stereo. Both Left and Right appears same traffic which is using double bandwidth.

Click to expand...

I messed around with the setup a little more I believe I have corrected the humming noise, not sure how but it seems to be gone. In regards to the stereo broadcast, I did that when messing around with the settings before I figured out that the external sound card was the problem. I will be switching it back to mono later on today.

I really appreciate all the comment and trying to correct this problem. I am a "techy" kind of guy but this just was a little over my head.