Subject:Help.... Nightmare on Dellstreet

Posted by: spiderandmichael

Date:12/2/2006 1:17:30 AM

I'm using ap 6.0 on windows XP media center. It records dirty and grainy (slightly distorted) ... Even my email voice greeting sounds dirty. I want to change to XP Home Edition since I've been told that XP media is nothing but problems in pro home recording. I also want to use a PreSonus Inspire 1394, and the salesman/recording tech said 99.9% of all guitar, keyboard (etc.) interfaces available are very unstable on XP media center (if they work at all). Is this true? I really need some help here guys. Will my system be able to handle XP Home and is it the right choice? My system is...Dell xps 400. Pentium D Processor 820 w / dual core technology (2.80GHz, 800FSB). Sound Blaster X-Fi Extreme (D). IEEE 1394 adapter. 1GB dual channel DDR2 SDRAM at533MHz-2DIMMS. 250GB serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/ 8MB cache. Please give it a shot.

Subject:RE: Help.... Nightmare on Dellstreet

Reply by: Chienworks

Date:12/2/2006 5:22:32 AM

You can disable or uninstall all the Media Center features and then you'll be running pretty much straight XP home. I doubt this is your problem though. I suspect your Sound Blaster card is the real culprit. Upgrading to a better audio input device will probably fix your problem.

Subject:RE: Help.... Nightmare on Dellstreet

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:12/2/2006 6:15:22 AM

I have heard the same thing about Media Center from a number of people but I have no personal experience with it. It is best to just avoid it and use XP Home or Professional for any audio or video work.

~jr

Subject:RE: Help.... Nightmare on Dellstreet

Reply by: spiderandmichael

Date:12/2/2006 5:44:59 PM

Thanks Chienworks. I think Sound Blaster might be part of the problem, too (although my last PC had a SB Audigy 2 that sounded much better than the X-FI) That's why I want to interface w/ the ProSonus. I'll do some more checking around on killing the Media features, but I am a PC novice and think I''m better off having a pro like you guys kill the whole system and reload XP Home or Pro if that can be done on my budget. Thanks again for your time.

Subject:RE: Help.... Nightmare on Dellstreet

Reply by: DKeenum

Date:12/2/2006 6:24:39 PM

It is really hard to successfully record without a sound card designed for recording. For example, I use an Echo midiMia.

Subject:RE: Help.... Nightmare on Dellstreet

Reply by: shredheadinstead

Date:12/2/2006 9:55:49 PM

I use a Lexicon Lambda, along with Acid Music Studio. I have Media Center as well. I have no problems.

Subject:RE: Help.... Nightmare on Dellstreet

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:12/3/2006 6:43:22 AM

> It is really hard to successfully record without a sound card designed for recording. For example, I use an Echo midiMia.

What DKeenum is saying (in case you can't read between the lines) is that the SoundBlaster cards are optimized for playback. Regardless of any "claims" that you read on their web site (...and they are in a class action suit because of false claims on their web site about their capabilities) these cards are not good for recording. I'm using an M-Audio FW-410 which you can pick up for $299. Great little interface. Anything from M-Audio or Echo would be preferable to the Creative/EMU stuff.

~jr

Subject:RE: Help.... Nightmare on Dellstreet

Reply by: alltheseworlds

Date:12/3/2006 7:12:18 PM

I second that. It's pointless doing anything else until you ditch the Soundblaster.