Bits, bytes and drivers

[getuhgrip]

I've got a C-Port card and breakout box. This is purported to be a 24/96 setup. I'm using PG Music's Pro Tracks which supports 24/96.

After getting the software loaded and installing latest drivers yesterday, I started to explore some of the settings and realized I don't know what half that shit means!

To be a little more precise, what are all these different drivers: MME, ASIO and GSIF? And what drivers should be selected in Windows media for REC and PLAY? (Win98SE)

Next, there are several diffent clock settings. When I set 44.1 and went into Power Tracks, I set up 24 bit at 44.1 and got a message saying that "at least on of your devices not capable of current settings. Try selecting a lesser bit depth...."
What's up with that? Is something not compatable, or do I just have more tweeking to do?

When I select 16 bit and hit the record button, my pre in the C-Port goes dead. What settings should I be using to make sure the software and hardware are on the same page?

Situation Number 2.
I tried importing a downloaded song to use as a test track. One song got the message, "driver could not complete conversion.", while another song loaded right up!
Ok, I know that songs from the internet are recorded at different levels of quality: 96, 128, 192, 320 and so on.
What does this number really mean? Is this a "bit per second" spec?

Another message told me that the wav device couldn't play this format. Again...what gives? Are there different "types" of MP3?
Is there a singular type of audio file that I should try to convert and use across the board?

I've downloaded some "books on tape". I had hoped to be able to edit them into CD sized pieces. These are 16k (whatever that means) and quite lenghthy. Shouldn't I be able to load them as a track and cut them into burnable chunks? If so, what numbers should I be aware of? Time vs bit depth?

I stayed up late last night pouring through pages of material and these questions remain a mytery. Neither STA's (c-port) or PG Music's websites really shine any light in these areas.

Help!!!!

 

[dachay2tnr]

To be a little more precise, what are all these different drivers: MME, ASIO and GSIF? And what drivers should be selected in Windows media for REC and PLAY? (Win98SE)

A driver is a standard which determines how your software will communicate with your hardware. In this case, essentially, how your recording program talks to your sound card. MME = multimedia extensions, which is an older Microsoft standard. WDM = Windows Driver Model, a newer Microsoft standard that allows the communication to take place directly between the software and the hardware, without have to run everything through Windows. ASIO = a standard developed by Steinberg (Cubase) - probably to get around the limitations of Windows MME standard. Don't know what GSIF is.

Next, there are several diffent clock settings. When I set 44.1 and went into Power Tracks, I set up 24 bit at 44.1 and got a message saying that "at least on of your devices not capable of current settings. Try selecting a lesser bit depth...."

I'm guessing here, but it sounds like you might have an integrated sound card on your MOBO and then installed the C-Port. The integrated card most likely does not support 24 bit. See if there is a way to disable it in your recording software, or, if not, disable it in Windows or in your BIOS.

 

[DonF]

Sorry, I can't answer all your questions, but I think I can answer a few.

What does this number really mean? Is this a "bit per second" spec?

Close. It's kilobits per second. So an MP3 encoded at 128kbps has 131072 bits, or 16384 (i.e., 16k) bytes, for each second of sound. By comparison, a 44.1kHz stereo WAV file has 176400 bytes for each second of sound, or about 10 times the amount of data. The average casual listener will not discern much difference between a 128kbps MP3 and a 44.1kHz WAV file.

The beauty of MP3 encoding is that you can determine the quality vs. bitrate tradeoff yourself. If you are creating a file for streaming via the Internet, or for a casual listener, 128kbps is probably OK. If you are archiving your music, and you want it to sound good, 320kbps might be a better choice. (Few people can consistently hear a difference between a 44.1kHz WAV and a 320kbps MP3.)

Are there different "types" of MP3?

Yes. In addition to the bit rate, there are two different encoding schemes: one uses a constant bit rate (CBR), and the other uses a variable bit rate (VBR). CBR has the same number of bits for each second of audio, while VBR varies the bit rate according to how complex the waveform is at a given moment. When you encode using VBR, you specify the minimum and maximum bit rates you want to use, and some encoders also allow you to specify a target "average" bit rate.

I suspect that the MP3 files giving you problems are VBR. Installing a newer version of Windows Media Player (spit!) should give you a more recent MP3 codec, which might handle the VBR files better. [edit] The codec is used by any program that reads MP3 files, not just WMP. [/edit]

HTH

 

[getuhgrip]

The codec is used by any program that reads MP3 files, not just WMP. [/edit]

Ok, that makes sense. Gawd, I hate the idea of "upgrading" from WMP 7.1! But if that's what it takes to get these files read properly, than so be it.

I didn't think the size of a file would make the difference between being read or not. But when you bring that nasty word "CODEC" into it, that changes things.

dachay2tnr, I'm not gonna say this board doesn't have an onboard chip until I check. I didn't think it did though. Frankly, it's been a while and I don't remember what board is in this machine. I would love to find that it did. Disabling in CMOS would be easy to deal with.

If a program (like Pro Tracks) sees a conflict with drivers or other settings, do you suppose it would just shut down the signal from the pres as I described?

When we talk about these different drivers and bit rates, do you guys have any suggestions as to what I should be using?

Thanks a bunch.
Rick

 

[getuhgrip]

Not what I had hoped to find, but as I suspected, there's no onboard sound chip on this board.

The later WDM drivers don't come up as an available option.

GSIF apparently stands for Giga Sampler Interface. Guess I'll do search to see what the significance of that is.

Are there any other system or BIOS settings that may be causing a conflict between hardware and software?