Subject:can't hear input when recording

Posted by: meverat

Date:11/17/2002 10:07:50 PM

I'm using acid pro 3.0

I either put a mic directly into my mic port on the soundcard or I put my four track in between as a mixer. When I click the red record button I can see that an input signal is coming in on the monitor (in fact it's usually clipping) but I can't hear anything through my headphone which are also plugged into the soundcard. If I turn up the recording level and the level on my mixer as loud as I possibly can I can sometime hear the input very very faintly. It can't be because the signal is too low because it does record and the monitor is peaking

Is this a problem with my soundcard, the software, me, or does acid just not have this feature?

Subject:RE: can't hear input when recording

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:11/18/2002 4:45:23 AM

There are two sets of volume controls for your sound card. Under Options / Properties you can select either recording or playback. The recording controls select how loud the signal is that gets recorded. The playback controls adjust playback volume AND monitoring volume while recording. You'll have to adjust both sets of controls to get proper recording and monitoring levels.

Subject:RE: can't hear input when recording

Reply by: meverat

Date:11/18/2002 1:57:57 PM

yeah I know. I can set the recording level. I just can't hear it.

Subject:RE: can't hear input when recording

Reply by: ra

Date:11/18/2002 6:26:55 PM

I can't hear it either. I do when i use my soundblaster soundcard, but not my m-audio usb quattro.
The quattro doesn't give me volume controls.
Any suggestions?

Subject:RE: can't hear input when recording

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:11/18/2002 10:02:43 PM

If it's anything like the USB Duo, you cannot monitor what you record with the USB Quattro unless you use it direct rather than through USB. That means you'll probably need another audio interface since the Quattro would be acting as a standalone unit rather than an external soundcard.

For example, if I enable 24-bit/44.1 kHz via USB, I can record and monitor with the Duo but I will not be able to hear anything else (like the rest of the project) until after I've stopped recording. If I enable the Duo as a standalone unit and hook its S/PDIF up to my Audiophile 2496, I can then record and monitor (with the Duo) while playing back (with the Audiophile).

As far as meverat's problem, he should be able to record and monitor/playback what he hears. It's just a question of enabling the input for recording, which should then be routed to the output. The input is usually disabled/muted by default. For more info, consult this article and this article.

(BTW, meverat, you are not the Tom Sizemore, are you? (Just curious.))

HTH,
Iacobus

Subject:RE: can't hear input when recording

Reply by: ra

Date:11/19/2002 6:38:31 PM

Thanks... Any ideas on an "all in one" solution?
The Delta44 or 66 maybe?

Subject:RE: can't hear input when recording

Reply by: salad

Date:11/19/2002 7:30:32 PM

Good tips mD!
I would recommend a good quality PCI card interface...like what mD's using..the Audiophile. You'll cover just about everything ya need....& then some.

My situation is a bit unique(sort of). I have recently integrated the Quattro into my PC in combination with an external mixer. I'm set up, almost verbatim, as the example in the Quattro manual - pages 14-15 "Using Direct Monitoring", only with an interesting twist.
I have this Fostex 2016 Line Mixer, which is basically two 8 channel mixers in one. At a push of a button, it becomes one 16 ch. mixer.
My keyboard and rack audio outputs feed to the 1st 8 channels with FX loop. This mix goes directly to the Quattro's inputs 1&2. The Quattro's outputs 1-4 go back to the "other separate half" of the mixer(using ch's 9-12). This mix goes out to headphones and/or (amp)speakers........this is getting boring isn't it.
To make long story short: regardless of which drivers/bit depth I use, I can ALWAYS monitor what's coming out of the sound source as well as the program playback using ONLY the Quattro, by using either the monitor button on the Quattro or the "LINK" button on the mixer. It's awesome, but having a 2nd sound card for strictly playback works just awesome also. I was using an Audigy, but wanted my headphones plugged into a more convenient location. This mixer lacked a built in headphone out(Doh!), so I picked up a rack mount Behringer Power Pro headphone Amp.....which also has a Line Out to go to my speakers.
I'm set......now to create some noise!
The only reason I didn't get the Duo, is cuz I didn't need Mic inputs, but did need the MIDI. I think M-Audio should combine the features of BOTH.....& then some. Maybe call it....the Quattrio...Duo..thingy?

Subject:RE: can't hear input when recording

Reply by: meverat

Date:11/19/2002 11:57:46 PM

HA HA HA,

I have no idea why that name came to my head when I was registering


thanks for the links. I'll look into them and see if they can help.

Subject:RE: can't hear input when recording

Reply by: meverat

Date:11/20/2002 12:08:10 AM

Okay

I haven't looked to closely at what those articles say but I think all they are saying is adjusting the recording levels in windows.

I only have two options under recording. Mic and Stereo Mix. I checked all the boxes and these are all I'm offered. It seems like either one will control my input level. It says my sound devices in Crystal WDM Audio. In ACID it says my recording device is Microsoft Sound Mapper.

What I'm doing right now is using a splitter from my headphone jack of my four track and the headphone jack of my computer so I can hear both the recorded stuff and the input unfortunately this cuts the signal so what I would really need is either a better splitter or another mixer. That's if I can't solve my problem.

Subject:RE: can't hear input when recording

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:11/20/2002 2:03:38 PM

Try this:

Go to Options>Preferences on the menu bar in ACID and then click the Audio tab. Under Audio device type, select Windows Classic Wave Driver, and then a specific output underneath. Once this is done, you should be able to select a specific hardware input for recording under Record device in the record window.

If everything is routed appropriately, you should be able to monitor what's recording along with playback via the soundcard's output.

HTH,
Iacobus

Subject:RE: can't hear input when recording

Reply by: tomate

Date:5/2/2003 12:21:42 AM

Hi Iacobus
I bought the m-audio duo too and found out (rather late, I might add) that I cant hear input when recording either. The people at m-audio confirmed this but told me that if my software uses ASIO drivers I will be able to enable monitoring via software.
I looked into the SF website and it seems that vegas 4.0 uses ASIO and allows record input monitoring...but Im tired of being sucker-punched by all the software small print. I wanted to know if you or anyone else has tried it out. The DUO was pretty expensive and, before spending another buck on yet another program (vegas 4.0), I want to know if this problem was corrected in the new version and someone was able to hear what he/she was recording.
Thanks!

Subject:RE: can't hear input when recording

Reply by: pwppch

Date:5/2/2003 1:49:35 AM

Vegas supports Software input monitoring during record.

ACID does not.

Peter

Subject:RE: can't hear input when recording

Reply by: tomate

Date:5/2/2003 10:50:50 AM

Peter
have you tested it on the DUO?

Subject:RE: can't hear input when recording

Reply by: pwppch

Date:5/2/2003 1:40:28 PM

Personally, no I have not tested with the DUO.

Peter

Subject:RE: can't hear input when recording

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:5/3/2003 3:36:55 PM

I have an M-Audio Duo too. Unfortunately, the problem stems not really from the Duo, but from the limitations of USB 1.1 audio itself; it just can't handle two simultaneous (i.e. input and output) stereo, 24-bit, 96 kHz streams.

Still, I do find the Duo does have its uses, such as letting me monitor vocals in standalone mode. (I should note I have the Duo's S/PDIF going out to an Audiophile 2496, which then goes out to my hardware mixer.) Also can't be beat as it's mobile, ready to go elsewhere if you need to.

HTH,
Iacobus

Subject:RE: can't hear input when recording

Reply by: salad

Date:5/4/2003 8:25:23 AM

Tomate,
FWIW, the ASIO input monitoring feature does work in Vegas 4.....with the Quattro.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't try to RETURN your USB M-AUDIO product, if possible.

Subject:RE: can't hear input when recording

Reply by: tomate

Date:5/6/2003 11:49:02 AM

Thanks peter SonicPCH, mD and salad. I finally got the duo working on vegas 4.0, but the input monitoring came with intolerable latency and these wierd fx (probably due to USB bandwidth). Reason 2.0 would stop working after a while and the DUO's ASIO drivers would fail. This could only be remedied by restarting Windows XP. I tried everthing, believe me. I went to M-audio's web site and downloaded a beta driver (yeah, I know, pretty stupid) for windows XP, but I thought what the heck? It supposedly has updated ASIO drivers, and these people know what there doing, right? WRONG. If anyone is out there and is thinking about installing this driver (Duo128rc2Beta.EXE): DON'T DO IT!!! Everything went sour. The desktop M-Audio driver manager on the windows taskbar disappeared. After putting it back on the taskbar, the recording input monitoring on vegas 4.0 stopped working and Reason 2.0 has gone bezerk on me. Not only will it not let me use the duo's asio drivers...now will only work with the crappy DX drivers! On top of it all, I can't even switch drivers from the desktop manager to simple MME drivers. I wrote to M-Audio's tech support and driver testing teams 4 days ago with all the details and am still waiting for a reply (its been 4 days now). I'm gonna kill these guys. How the hell can this thing be on the market?
This has been a very grimm and exhausting experience. I can't even start my computer up without thinking "what's going to fail this time?". I think I'm going to go for the OmniStudio with the delta 66. Haven't heard too many complaints with this product, at least not on Sonic Foundy forums. It better work or I'm going to show up on the late night news.
Thanks to everyone for your time and replies. It seems that fellow musicians are more concerned with one's problems than the people who are developing and selling the products we use...
Best regards,
Tomas.

Subject:RE: can't hear input when recording

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:5/6/2003 11:08:54 PM

I, too, found a problem with the Duo's betas. Here's what I did:

-DO NOT install the beta's. Uninstall them if they are installed.

-POWER ON your Duo. Let XP go through the motions. Turn the Duo off once XP says the hardware is ready.

-Install the betas. After you install the betas, turn your Duo back on. Let XP go through the motions again. WAIT at the "Hardware Installation" window. DO NOT click the "Continue Anyway" button just yet. Wait for Windows XP to tell you the hardware is ready for use, THEN click the "Continue Anyway" button. You should then have the Duo available and ready.

Let me know if this works for you.

HTH,
Iacobus