Ignoring your vulgarity :) I think that line signal is the problem. I'm pretty sure that the audio card is looking for the lower "mic" level (it is a mic jack I think). You may be better off getting a 1/4"-headphone converting jack and plug straight into the card (you can get a pack of four or five audio jack converters for a couple bucks at best buy,radio shack, circuit city etc.etc.etc).
I'm not a big audio geek so don't take this as infallible. I'll look it up in the catechism and see if I can get you a better answer:)
Ok found my problem. I was trying to record from 2 channels but when your vcr isn't stereo that can be a problem. Everything is working. Thanx.