Adjusting Mic Levels in Windows 7

I'm converting some cassette tapes to digital format for my mom...just running audio from the tape deck into the mic input, and using Goldwave.

It's clipping a little bit, and I'd like to adjust the gain on the mic input (it's already all the way down on the tape deck)...for the life of me, I can't find where to do that, neither in Windows nor Goldwave. A little help, please?

For me:
Right click volume icon in system tray > Recording devices > Select your input, click properties > Levels tab

If you're running Realtek motherboard sound, which is pretty common, there's a separate program you can use to change those settings. On my machine, it's in the system tray as "Realtek HD Audio Manager".

You'll probably get somewhat better quality on an X-Fi or a Xonar -- the Realtek devices aren't known for stellar performance. They're just very cheap and compatible, which is why motherboard makers use them. However, if you're coming from cassette, unless it's a top-grade player, you probably won't notice any difference anyway.

If it's commercial music, I personally wouldn't think of it as piracy to download digital versions, although the RIAA vehemently disagrees with me on that.

Excellent, thanks, guys! The right-clicking worked.

Malor, I tried the Audio Manager, but nothing I could find in there seemed to work, much to my confusion.

...and nah, not worried too much about audio quality. She just wants them for nostalgia (some old recordings my sisters and I made of ourselves), and possibly to play for my nephew (some old, obscure children's tapes that, to my knowledge, aren't available anymore).

Well, I said it worked, but I guess the song I tested it on must have been a quiet one...still getting some clipping, and the mic level setting is at 9 (out of 100), with the "mic boost" turned completely off.

Might be a problem with the deck...the levels it's showing me are maxing out, as well.

Edit: Belay that, I think this tape I'm working on was recorded with the levels too hot...my ears are hearing the clipping, but a closer look at the level display in Goldwave tells me the mic adjustment did what it was supposed to.

There's an outside chance that my mom didn't dub these tapes under the supervision of a trained sound engineer.

There's an outside chance that my mom didn't dub these tapes under the supervision of a trained sound engineer.

How dare she!