Head Fuck

[rats]

I was drunk and fucking around last weekend and now I can't figure out what I did, so maybe one of youse dudes can enlighten my sorry ass.

I'm using SB Live, and can't record through my line in for some reason. I just get a steady flat line on my wave-o-meter with an occasional spike when I jiggle the cord. Yes, my PC is set to record on line-in. I can however hear the music come over the monitors, and I have decent levels on the level meters down below.

So I try out switching to my little PC mic, and it records fine. Levels, waves, track one great! Too bad I can't record everything with the little fucker!

So I try plugging the mixer into the mic in instead of the line in. No dice. Same thing.

Why!!!!!?????

[Garak]

Go into the windows mixer and go under the Options menu. Open properties, then under "Adjust volume for" click recording. From their you can unmute or chose which input you want to record from and set its level.

[rats]

I know that much.

Thanks for the try, but it's something else.

But what!?

[Kelly Holdridge]

HOLY SHIT

That's EXACTLY what's going on with my computer. Lemme guess, you're able to get sound THROUGH your computer, but not in CEP?

WOW.

I was tweaking my new computer at work, and ran across the "Multimedia" icon in Control Panel (which I hadn't thought of looking at), but while I wrote this post I checked it out: it's set correctly.

WTF?

BTW, Rats? If you have the OEM version of SoundBlaster Drivers (for Dell computers), PLEASE EMAIL ME.

PLEASE. Dell jerry-rigged my driver during a tech call and while the sound TECHNICALLY works ("Does Windows go BLING!? Alright, call us if you have any other problems with your computer..."), I haven't been able to get CEP to register sound.

And thus, why I haven't been around in a while. How's tricks, eh?

[atomictoyz]

Wierd! I have had similar problems, one is the Mult-media controls somehow swapped the recording device to something other than the card I was using, same for the play back. The advanced controls have lots things to change, sometimes it does it because Windows changes it. Another thing is you could have blown the card, I recently did that myself. I replaced the sound card and voila its working. Go through the preferences in CEP and see if its all kosher. The one painful thing you can try is to pull the card, remove the driver and reboot, then reinstall the card and drivers again, if your driver is corrupted it can casue problems. Ive spent as long as 9 hours debugging stuff likes this, it sux because, its never something simple, or consistant for that matter. Right click on the lil speaker icon, oh..advanced controls....why is that muted, I don't remember muting it...mnnnnn. click, click...ok that look right...Shutdown...restart.......right click on the lil speaker icon....advanced controls...what the fu.....
Pull the hammer back....gently sqeeze.....ah...there we go... Shutdown complete :0)
Goodluck

Peace,
Dennis

[Dioxide]

I had the same problem with my card as well I Have the same setup. Now let me see if you installed all the software there should be a bar at the top of your screen when you mouse up to the top. There is a setting in there where you can set what you want to record from (mic, wav, Line in, what you hear etc...) depending on what is selcted is depending on what it record I have been pretty easted using my pewter before too and been like what the hell and realise I was messing around with that. Maybe thts not the solution for you but it worked in my case. Good Luck

[Kelly Holdridge]

Atomic and Dioxide: Thanks for the tip, but I'm WAAAAY beyond that at this point.

MY problem stems from the fact that I have the Dell OEM version of SoundBlaster LIVE! drivers, and when I wiped my drive a while back, I could not find these drivers online. Dell says it's SB's problem, SB says it's Dell's thing. So after nagging Dell for a couple of weeks, they prompted me to modify the regular SB drivers to get the card to "work."

Ha.

Understand that this "regular" SB driver does not have all the bells and whistles that the previous drivers came with. I remember "sound fonts," goofy bullshit surround sound models, etc, but have no way of getting them. That may be the extent of the problem, which is why I'm trying to find other folks who have the Dell SoundBlasterLIVE! CD... it's the only place to find the f&*kin' drivers/software!

No big loss, though. It's time for a good card, anyway, and it'd be nice to get one of these 8-track numbers so I can port my MD-8 crap without four sessions.

All the same... Anybody out there have a SoundBlasterLIVE card that came with their Dell system? PLEASE lemme know, I'll PAY for a copy of the damn CD...

[rats]

Sorry Kelly I don't use a Dell system it's a no-name rig. My SB Live came already installed with no software anyhoo.

I solved my problem but I still don't completely understand what happened. What happened was I was trying to record a little thing I had pre-recorded on a hand-held tape recorder. The tape recorder has an 8 ohm 1/8 inch output on it which would not get recognized by cool edit whether run into the mic input on soundblaster or the line in on soundblaster. So I tried micing the little speaker with my PC mic which worked fine but sounded like crap. But why would it read my mic, but not the tape recorder? So I say, maybe it will work if I run it though the mixer?!

I'm using a Tascam POrta07 as a pre amp/ mixer for all of the PC recording. So I plug the tape recorder into the RCA line in, but it doesn't work still. I can hear it over the PC monitors, it reads a level on the meters in CEP, but it just will not record. Finally I plug it into the 1/4" line in and Presto! It works. That is just plain fucked up if you ask me.

Anyone ever heard of such a thing?

[camn]

whenever I have a signal problem I start at one end and confirm lve connections all the way down. Usually I start at the wall.. but in your case Id start at the TAPE.

1) Play the tape. Confirm there is sound coming out of it.

2)Check you output with a known good amp... make sure it is sending signal

3)check your input with a confirmed good signal... confirm it is recieving signal.

4) Repeat 2 and 3 for how many links you have in the chain..

Now, I cant really visualize your problem here... because you are drunkenly incoherent, but it sounds wierd.

NOw, Kelly... what OS are you on.. and what DELL machine do you have?

xoxo

[Kelly Holdridge]

Heya, Camn. I run 98se on a Dell XPS550 (PIII@550mhz, no o/c'ing).

I'm pretty sure it's either the driver or the electronics on the board, Camn. Lemme play with it a bit and tell you what idiosyncracies I run into (like Rats, I remember seeing spikes on record when I was "testing" the connection by putting the source-end of the patch cord in my mouth repeatedly. don't laugh, I didn't have any feed readily available).