2496 Help!

[Shockadelica]

I installed my new Audiophile 2496 today. Everything went OK except there is a lot of popping and static coming from it without anything even being hooked up it. The only way I know this is because it registers on the "H/W In 1/2" meter in the Delta control panel even after I disconnect all the cables.

Question 1: What could be the cause of this? I don't even know where to begin to look.

Also. I will be using it (hopefully) with HS2004XL. The problem is no matter what settings I use on the Delta control panel I can't get anything to register in HS. I followed the instruction manual for HS on how to set up a track to record but no matter what settings I use and no matter how hot the signal I get nothing. So far the only sound I've heard with this set up is the noise from question 1. Which leads me to:

Question 2: What setting do I use on the Delta and/or HS? I'm using the RCA in and out connections between the 2496 and my mixer.

I would appreciate ANY help ANYONE could give me. this was supposed to be a day where I lost track of time and stayed up all night recording music. Now it looks like I'll be going to bed early.

 

[DonF]

My first guess would be that you might have a defective unit. The noise coming in HW 1/2 without anything connected is definitely not right.

One thing to check: Do you have the Master Clock set to "Internal Xtal"? (You should, unless you have a signal coming in the S/PDIF input). That setting is on the "Hardware Settings" tab in the Audiophile control panel.

You should also check to make sure you don't have a resource conflict; the AP should have its own IRQ.

I don't know anything about HS2004XL, so unfortunately I can't help with your other questions.

 

[tmix]

DonF is right.

Normally (unless the unit is defective) pops, clicks noise can be attributed first to bad clocking choice or sample rate match ups.
Make sure your card is set to what don said (it is on the M-Audio applet) make sure in your recording application your timing master (both recording and playback) is set to deltas wav in wav out and not the digital ins or monitor mixer.

Sometimes pops etc can be attributed to buffer settings, but since you actually have not recorded anything yet that wont apply to the live input you are monitoring.

Tom

 

[Shockadelica]

One thing to check: Do you have the Master Clock set to "Internal Xtal"? (You should, unless you have a signal coming in the S/PDIF input). That setting is on the "Hardware Settings" tab in the Audiophile control panel.

I checked and it is set correctly.

You should also check to make sure you don't have a resource conflict; the AP should have its own IRQ.

What is an IRQ and how do you check it?

Thank you so much for responding, this is really bumming me out.

 

[Shockadelica]

Re: DonF is right.

Make sure your card is set to what don said (it is on the M-Audio applet) make sure in your recording application your timing master (both recording and playback) is set to deltas wav in wav out and not the digital ins or monitor mixer.
Tom

I played with it a little this morning and recorded a few seconds of really crappy guitar. I had the AP set to wave in/out like you said but the only way I could hear it during playback was to change the setting on the AP to 'monitor mix'.

And I can't get the metronome to play through the AP at all. It only lets it play through the computer speakers.

PS-Thanks for helping me out. I really do appreciate it!

 

[DonF]

OK, at least we're getting somewhere.

Is the guitar really crappy because the AP is not working correctly, or because of your playing? I mean, is the noise you wrote of in your original message still there, or is it gone?

As for not being able to monitor through your AP without setting the output to "monitor mixer", I think that's just a matter of spending a little time with the control panel (mixer and patchbay pages) to really learn how it works.

The metronome: if it uses MIDI, you should be aware that the AP does not have an onboard MIDI synth, unlike most SoundBlaster clones.

The way to determine which IRQ the AP is using depends on your operating system.

 

[tmix]

Shock,
After you experiment a bit, if you still run into questions feel free to post again.Or if you want, you can email me direct at:
tmenikos@academicplanet.com
I ,as many other here ,am very familiar with M-Audio products.
I am sure if it is just a matter of learning or experimenting, you'll get it worked out in no time.

 

[Shockadelica]

OK, at least we're getting somewhere.

Is the guitar really crappy because the AP is not working correctly, or because of your playing? I mean, is the noise you wrote of in your original message still there, or is it gone?

It was beacuse of my playing! I just threw together a few measures to get something down. The noise is still there though. The same as it was yesterday.

The metronome: if it uses MIDI, you should be aware that the AP does not have an onboard MIDI synth, unlike most SoundBlaster clones.

So I would have to hook my POS keyboard up between the mixer and AP via the MIDI connections in order to monitor the metronome through the mixer?

The way to determine which IRQ the AP is using depends on your operating system.

Windows XP. And what is an IRQ anyway?

 

[DonF]

The noise is still there though. The same as it was yesterday.

If the settings on the control panel are correct, it sounds to me like your AP has a problem. Can you return it to the place of purchase? (You might want to contact M-Audio's tech support first.)

So I would have to hook my POS keyboard up between the mixer and AP via the MIDI connections in order to monitor the metronome through the mixer?

Yup. Either that, or connect your soundcard output to the mixer and monitor that.

Windows XP.

Don't know XP, but if it's similar to Win2K, you right-click "My Computer", then choose "Manage", and navigate to "System Information", "Hardware Resources", "IRQs".

And what is an IRQ anyway?

Interrupt Request. It's the way a device tells the CPU that it needs attention. There are a limited number of IRQ lines into the CPU, so they are a very scarce resource. In recent versions of Windows, devices can share IRQs; but this may not be ideal for time-critical devices. So you might want to try to finagle things so your AP has its own IRQ assigned. Usually this would involve physically moving the card to another slot in the mainboard.

 

[Shockadelica]

OK I've done a little more experimenting and I've been able to determine that the noise might be coming from the AP outputs. I recorded a single track of guitar and during playback there was noise during a measure of the song where there is no guitar. I backed up to just before the silent part and listened again and this time the noise wasn't there, leading me to believe that something may be wrong with the outputs. The question is could this be caused by something other then faulty RCA jacks?

 

[DonF]

[The noise] registers on the "H/W In 1/2" meter in the Delta control panel even after I disconnect all the cables.

This tells me it's probably not coming from the outputs. Might be a defective chip or bad solder joint on the board.

 

[Shockadelica]

If the settings on the control panel are correct, it sounds to me like your AP has a problem. Can you return it to the place of purchase? (You might want to contact M-Audio's tech support first.)

Yeah I email tech support last night and am still waiting for a response. Thankfully, you have been of tremendous help to me!

Yup. Either that, or connect your soundcard output to the mixer and monitor that.

That's what I've been wanting to do but for some reason I can't get the metronome to play back through the mixer. I could hear the guitar alright but no metronome. I have a feeling I'm going to end up sending this card back for a replacement.

The good news though is I'm beginning to figure out HS2004. I'd be doing alright if I could just figure out how to eliminate the noise and get the metronome to play back through the soundcard and out of the mixer.