i've tried everything i can and cannot get a flat signal. i cannot mix on a device without a flat signal. i know it's not a flat signal for the following reasons:

1) the tone will not stay put.
2) i can sometimes get the same tone that i get on the neutral card in the laptop.
3) i generally do not get the same tone that i get on the neutral card in the laptop.

i cannot continue mixing until i consistently get the same tone that i get on the neutral card in the laptop. the reason is that i am unable to determine what the mix actually sounds like, and mixing is consequently entirely pointless.

so, i'm going to put this aside and jump ahead to creating the front end for aleph-1. that's a no mixing project. hopefully, by the time that's done, whatever's interfering with the signal will have stopped interfering with the signal. if not, i'll have to keep waiting.

it really seems like i'm dealing with an external mixer. i know that's insane. the only other option is that i'm dealing with some kind of electro-magnetic interference. i've ruled out a failure in the device. i've ruled out any patch cord problems. i've ruled out a driver issue, or at least escalated to the point that i don't know what else to do if it's a driver issue. the amp may be a little variant, but it's not the cause of the problem (the device has a headphone out, but i prefer not to use it because it gets very hot, and i'm not getting consistent tone out of it). i have no further leads. but i cannot do anything until the problem is fixed.

building the front-end for aleph-1 should take about a week. there are a few more front-ends to build should the problem continue beyond that point.

again: if i am dealing with an external entity, i cannot accept this. i give up, for now. but, giving up means giving up altogether rather than accepting a degradation in mixing quality.

if i was running a live sound system or something, i wouldn't care. somebody on the dance floor isn't going to care. somebody watching a rock show isn't going to care. but, a permanent document is another issue. there is only document. it is eternal. it will be as perfect as i can make it, or it will not exist at all.

even if the sound were to stabilize in this flat, gross mess that i've been stuck with for the last few hours, and even if i can mix the gross mess out of it, it's not useful - because it's not the actual sound of the actual file. if i can't get that, i'm not doing anything at all.