Can't record audio in SX3

L

lasagne

I fancy Fancy
I've just bought SX3 but am having a bit of trouble setting it up. I have an Edirol UA20 sound card. I'm trying to record audio but can't work it out. I can get audio into it by recording through the soundcard into another program (say, Audacity) saving it as a wav, then importing into Cubase, but that's time consuming and crazy. Also, I couldn't record vocals this way because the UA20 doesn't have phantom power and I want to record vox with a condensor mic.

Also, I've recorded midi into Cubase, and it plays back OK, but when I try to bounce it down onto an audio track, it just doesn't record. This is obviously part of the same problem.

I know this is to do with the audio settings, but I've tried every combination and nothing seems to work. Please don't tell me to read the manual - I've read the instructions but I just can't figure it out.

And if you're wondering - it's a proper copy, bought and paid for with my hard earned cash, and I'm going insane trying to get it working.

I'd really appreciate any help.
 
You may not have selected the correct driver. I would say that you need to read the manual a little more closely and take in what it says. Maybe go through the quick start guide with a demo project. Basically, the problem you are having sounds excruciatingly basic. If someone just gives you the answer, you will just be back with a hundred other questions. ACTUALLY reading the manual and not just a quick skim though will give you a TON of knowledge and starting points to efficiently using Cubase.

Once again though, your problem is most likely ...

1) select the correct driver...
2) properly assign its inputs and outputs.... ( hint: this may be the only step you need to do)
 
Thanks for your reply xstatic. I've had the software for a week or so. I haven't just found the problem and immediately asked for help. I've had loads of problems which I've figured out by trial and error and reading the manual (clever me).

I'll do as you suggest and check the drivers and inputs and outputs, which I've already spent hours doing. I use a Zoom standalone for recording vox and acoustic guitar, which I can then save to wav and import into Cubase no problem - except it is a bit time consuming. So I only really need to record electric guitar and bass straight into Cubase, and also transfer my midi recordings to audio.

The next step I guess is to spend a few more hours changing every setting and testing it, shouting and swearing and punching my desk, then throwing the pc out of the window and taking up a normal hobby, such as stamp collecting, or possibly masturbation.
 
Check to be sure that your VST connections are set up correctly i.e. Channel one input is set to IN 1 L (or whatever) and that's where you actually have signal present. That used to happen to me quite a bit. To avoid, I made connection presets... 1 mono, drum machine, etc. that define the connections so it's always the same. I do the same for outputs... Tannoy monitors on 1 & 2, Mackies on 7 & 8
 
When I open the mixer there are areas to the left (mono in, mono in 2 etc) - the mono in bar goes up when I talk into or tap the mic (forgive the lack of technical terms), but the audio 1 bar still doesn't move - this is the track that's armed to record.

I think the mono in ones are the busses - is this right ? I presume you have to link the bus to the track, but I'm lost.
 
Ooops... just re-read your post... do you have monitoring enabled for "Audio 1".... it still should be recorded as a track..
 
OK, I found out how to monitor, but it makes no difference either way. A signal still goes to the mono one part, but not to the track one part.
 
lasagne said:
I'm not sure what you mean - how do I 'monitor enable' the track ?
Click to expand...

click the speaker icon on the mixer channel strip for the channel you are recording to.
 
Make sure you go to the Edirol site and download the latest ASIO driver and have that driver selected in your devices menu within cubase. Then, make sure the correct inputs are active in "vst inputs" and that the input is routed to the correct channel on your mixer.
 
I hate to be a tool and drop a RTFM, but setting up connections & monitoring is pretty clearly covered in the Cubase docs... We can all make "try this, try that" suggestions, but without being there it makes things difficult.

The BASIC signal chain in Cubase looks something like this:

Audio Card Input -> Cubase Input Channel -> Mixer Channel

Audio Card inputs are defined in the VST connections screen
You then choose that audio card input for your Cubase input channel
When you create a track, you specify the Cubase input channel.

If you're not getting audio recorded, it's probably something in this chain.

Agree with the others on drivers too... make sure you're current. But since you're already seeing meter activity on the input channel I suspect that may not be the case.
 
Some progress ! I downloaded the latest driver from Edirol. Now I can record audio, but on track one only. Still the bar on 'mono in' goes up when I record, but not on track one, but it still manages to record and playback OK on track one. But if I try to record on track 2, the bar on 'mono in' still goes up, but not the one on track 2, and nothing is recorded. If you see what I mean.
 
This is why I suggested that you pay closer attention to the manual. So far it looks like every one of your 5 or so questions in this thread are clearly covered in the manual. Trial and error may work, but if you are randomly changing stuff than for every problem you finally solve you may be creating three more. If however you would just properly utilize the manual and actually take in and apply what it says, you would already be up and running with no problems.
 
I think you may be confusing me with an idiot, which I'm actually not. I did follow what the manual told me to do, and it didn't work for me. It's still not working properly for me, but good enough for now, in that if I create a blank project and create a new track each time, it works, otherwise it doesn't.

Let the negative rep commence.
 
OK... correct me if I'm wrong... are you saying that if you create a new project and then add tracks everything works, but if you open an existing project and try to add tracks it doesn't work?
 
Also... in looking through ALL your previous posts here in the forums, it looks like you had problems with audio and the Edirol in October 2005 that you solved. Could it be related?
 
It could be related, and yes, if I add tracks one by one I can record audio, but if I open a project template, I can't.

I was a bit hasty before - maybe i am an idiot, but for now, opening a blank project and adding tracks one by one is fine.

Thanks to everyone who helped.
 
I very rarely start out with a project template, and when I do it's a template I created myself with all my vst connections defined the way I like 'em.
 
Let me correct myself here, without details of course as I'm away from my studio computer... in the vst connections dialog, you can save configurations - my templates if you will. I have things like 1 Mono (In 1 L), 1 Stereo, Drum Machine (Mono - In 1, Mono - In 2, Stereo L-R), etc. Also do the same for outputs with things like Tannoys (Out 1 & 2) and Mackies (Out 7 & 8). Current settings are saved with the project.
 
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