Will my soundcard not work with REW?

I've been trying for a few days to get REW to calibrate my soundcard correctly, but I keep getting this graph after the soundcard calibration no matter what I do:



Because my laptop is extremely cheap (I picked it up at a Black Friday sale last year at Best Buy), I'm starting to think that maybe my soundcard is not able to work with REW. I have tried to include all of the important information on this single screenshot (Device Manager in top left, DirectX Diag Sound tab top right, sound card properties bottom left, and REW sound settings in bottom right):



If there is anything else anyone would like to see, just let me know and I'll post it. Please help me calibrate my soundcard so I can check the frequency response of my room. I just got a PB12-Plus/2 and I want to get the most out of it but I'm confused why this isn't working for me. Any suggestions would be much appreciated...

Thanks!

[JohnM]

That looks like some sort of EQ preset is being applied, best see if there is a Realtek control panel where effects or equaliser settings can be turned of, maybe something in a Realtek programs group or something in the Control panel.

[brucek]

Any suggestions would be much appreciated...

You're using the mic-in rather than a line-in. REW requires a line-in. Most users of laptops purchase an external USB soundcard so that a line-in is available.


See the HELP FILES:

A soundcard (internal or external) which supports full duplex operation (simultaneous replay and recording) with line inputs and outputs. Inexpensive soundcards are typically adequate, a reference measurement is used to remove the soundcard's frequency response from the measurement. Examples of USB soundcards which have been found to work well are the Soundblaster MP3+, Soundblaster Live! 24-bit USB External and the M-Audio MobilePre-USB. Note that microphone inputs are NOT suitable and should not be used.


brucek

brucek wrote:

You're using the mic-in rather than a line-in. REW requires a line-in. Most users of laptops purchase an external USB soundcard so that a line-in is available.


See the HELP FILES:

A soundcard (internal or external) which supports full duplex operation (simultaneous replay and recording) with line inputs and outputs. Inexpensive soundcards are typically adequate, a reference measurement is used to remove the soundcard's frequency response from the measurement. Examples of USB soundcards which have been found to work well are the Soundblaster MP3+, Soundblaster Live! 24-bit USB External and the M-Audio MobilePre-USB. Note that microphone inputs are NOT suitable and should not be used.


brucek

Thats what I was afraid of. So, in other words, my soundcard will not work with REW? Or do I just need to plug it in somewhere else?

[brucek]

Or do I just need to plug it in somewhere else?

Some of the newer laptops do offer a line -in capability. You can refer to your user manual for this.

Either way, the mic-in setup is not suitable. You need a line-in. An external USB soundcard is very inexpensive...

brucek

Okay, so now I'm trying this on my Desktop computer, which has an internal SB Audigy2 ZS. I followed this guide, post #3, http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/spl-meters-mics-calibration/5294-feedback-my-radioshck-sound-level-meter.html#post40694, to set everything up. Here is what I am getting for my soundcard calibration now:



I'm concerned about the noise toward the upper end of the graph... is that normal or am I doing something wrong?

I'm actually starting to wonder if maybe it is my cable that I bought to use with the SPL meter's Analog output. The tag on it says "1/8" mono miniplug to RCA phono plug". Is that the right one?

[brucek]

1/8" mono miniplug to RCA phono plug

The cable to do a soundcard calibration will be different than the cable used with the SPL meter.

The soundcards line-in and line-out are usually stereo. So you need to 'break out' this signal into its left and right channels before connecting the line-out to line-in.

This requires an adapter such as these:




Depending on the adapter used, you require a different cable.

For the SPL meter, you require an RCA from the Radio Shack meter. Then the adapter determines the other end of that cable.

brucek