Recording level from Sennheiser PC130 headset is low with Asus P5AD2-XE mobo.

[rmaciag]

Hi,

I wonder if anybody else experienced a similar problem.

I have a custom PC built around Asus P5AD2-XE motherboard.
The case is CM Stacker.
I connected the mobo to the front panel audio connectors but
this info is not really relevant here
(as the "symptoms" remain the same whether I use front or rear audio connectors).

Recently I have bought the Sennheiser PC130 headset to use with Skype and
to listen to music late at night when my girls are already asleep.

From the start the recording level from the mic was very low.
I tried adjusting the volume via standard Windows XP adjustments as well as
via C-Media control panel.
I also upgraded the C-Media controls / driver.
With the volume set at max I was just able to hold a conversation via Skype.

Not knowing what was wrong I tested the headset with the IBM laptop.
It worked absolutely fine even at mic volume not set to max.

Then I read that one of the BIOS updates for P5AD2 was supposed to
"improve audio jack sensing function".
Without exactly knowing what that BIOS problem was I went ahead and
upgraded the BIOS from ver 1002 to 1005.
The initial outcome was a bit of a disaster as BIOS stopped recognising
one of my RAID arrays.
Once I had fixed some BIOS setting that got "lost"
during the update I was able to boot Windows.
I tested the headset and the sound remained great but the mic stopped
working all together !
Luckily the Windows prompted me to upgrade C-Media interface again !
With this upgrade in place I was able to record the sound with the mic
but the recording level remains very low.

Could anybody point me in the right direction in order to fix this problem ?
I am brave enough to experiment but clearly some essential knowledge is missing here.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Robert

[Flibb]

Is there a mic boost option someplace? On my soundcard the mic channel in the mixer has the option to add +db gain? You would only get this on the mic, not on line in.

[Agent]

Do you have "mic boost" checked ?

Double click the mic in the system tray
Click options in the top left hand corner
Properties
Recording button
Ok
Make sure the microphone has a check under it, then click advanced
Check the +20db boost box

Other than that, get another soundcard, oboard

[rmaciag]

I am currently working on the laptop.
On the laptop I can get to the point (via Recording Controls) where
I see an empty box labeled "1 MIC boost".
Is it the place that you refer to as "system tray" ?
Sorry for being ignorant here.
On my PC at home I was able to get to the same point but
I could not see any advanced options mentioning "boost".
I will try again this evening.
The C-Media chip onboard of P5AD2 was supposed to be a decent performer
so it is a bit dissappointing that something like "mic boost" feature appears to be missing.
I guess the mic boost is a soundcard's feature rather than
a part of BIOS or Windows
(i.e. it cannot just "appear" or "disappear" or
"sit somewhere quiet waiting to be discovered").
In other words if I cannot find it then it simply does not exist on my system.

Robert