Hi, Well, the subject line pretty much says it all; I plug a microphone in the mic jack of the on-board sound chip and, when recording, the level is very low. Turning on "MIC Boost" does help a very little, but that's about it; raising "Capture" over 85% yields a sound not unlike an idling car. Looking around on the internet, I could find information about low playback level problems with this card, but nothing regarding recording levels. Anyone has any idea on what the matter might be? See full information below. Thanks, S.M. Card: VIA 82C686A/B rev50 Chip: ICEnsemble ICE1232 ALSA Version: 1.0.10rc1 uname -a: Linux vysotskij 2.6.14-gentoo-r2 #2 PREEMPT Sun Nov 13 10:14:22AST 2005 i686 Celeron (Coppermine) GenuineIntel GNU/Linux -- smassy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx