Recording to AP-8 at different volumes

[mikepmarkey]

I'm trying to have my AP-8 play segment 7 on a loop, quietly, and then play one of 0-6 when triggered.  I'm sure I'll have problems with the triggering later, but for now my question is about the volume.

I normalized 0-6 in Audacity (maximum amplitude -3 dB).  For 7, I ran the Amplify effect and cranked it down to -10.  When I play back seven on my computer speakers, I can barely hear it. 

However, when I play back on the AP-8, 0-7 all have the same volume.  I've also tried turning down the volume of my computer for #7, but that doesn't help either.  What am I doing wrong?

On top of this, there's always an audible series of clicks in track seven that aren't there in the sound file (they'd be obvious in Audacity, and it doesn't matter if I re-record or switch to a different sound, it's always at about 3 seconds into segment 7).  Why?   ???

[livinlowe]

Mike-
When you run the amplify effect on audacity, its the same thing as adjusting the gain control on the left side of the screen under the 'mute' and 'solo' button. So when you say you cranked it down to -10 db, thats the same thing as adjusting the gain controller to -10 db. So, yeah, when you record that sound file onto the AP-8, its going to be alot quieter than the normalized tracks. When I am recording onto my AP-8, I always adjust that gain controller until the sound coming out of the AP-8 is free of background noise, isn't making my speaker sound god awful, ect. I find this is different on every sound that I try to record, so there is no 'one' standard.

As far as the clicks, I don't know what that could be. Maybe someone else can chime in on that.

Hope this helps
Shawn

[mikepmarkey]

"So, yeah, when you record that sound file onto the AP-8, its going to be alot quieter than the normalized tracks."

But that's the thing-- it's not quieter at all.  I have no idea what's going on here.   :P

[JonnyMac]

There are two things that may be getting you: the ISD chips have a bit of an AGC (automatic gain control) that may be boosting your volume a tad; you'll need to continue to experiment.  The bigger problem, however, is that the ISD chips don't have a great signal-to-noise ratio, which means if you do get a low volume recording to play it will probably be noisy.

If subtle volume control is a requirement of the project you may need to switch to an MP3 player.  We have lots of information on the Rogue uMP3 and have used in many projects.

[mikepmarkey]

Thanks for the input.  I will continue to experiment.  If I can't work it out, I'll reconsider the project or look into an MP3 player.