Delta 66 W2k Problems

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I just purchased a Delta 66 and I am having some trouble setting it up on my Windows 2000 system. I am using an Emachine 633ids (633 Celeron, 196 MB Ram, probably 12 or so GBs free, on-board Intel 810 Sound card with the jumper disabled). Two things I've noticed are the 3rd channel seems to be reversed (I have to switch the input and output in comparison to the other three channels) and sometimes the card records clear but most of the time it is really bad quality (worse then a cheap tape recorder) and the play back is extremely slow. Not only is it slow but the pitches are affected as well. You really can't understand what is playing but sometimes you can make out a voice but the pitch is extremely low (My wife's voice sounds lower then James Earl Jones). I have had these problems not only in Cakewalk but also in the Windows Sound Recorder. I have tried the newest driver off of the website as well as one of the archived/use when told to drivers. I have also tried two different cards. When setting up the driver I followed the directions from the M-Audio website on how to set up the card for Windows 2000 and for use with Cakewalk. Is anyone else using a Delta with W2k? Does anyone have any suggestions? Please help. I just stepped up this weekend from the onboard sound card to the Delta as well as finished peacing together my studio but I have spent all weekend trying to get this card to work.
 
I have a Delta 44 running on 2K and it's fine. (well sort of, well get to that later) You have tried 2 cards? Whats that mean? Did you take the first one back? I have never heard of sound quality issues with a Delta. To you have the correct PCI drivers for your mboard? Maybe it can't keep up with speed or something? I wonder if thats using a VIA chipset, I never could get the thing to work right with a VIA chipset board. There are others who use this combination here, be patient and youll get some good advise im sure.
On a side note...since I installed the latest drivers, when I record it picks up my outputs also. Anyone else getting something like this? Know how to fix it?

H2H
 
I really haven't gotten far enough to vouch about the outputs being picked up when recording.

The MB drivers I am currently using are strictly the W2k drivers. It seemed to detect everything ok and Emachine doesn't write drivers for 2000.

I did exchange my card. The first one I got was a return and had been opened. With the problems I was having it seemed strange enough to try returning it. Besides I didn't want to fight with a card that could have been someone else ESD nightmare.
 
I have a Delta44 running on Win2K also. The Delta44 is basically the same card minus the SPDIF so setup is going to be the same.

1) eMachines are junky (no offense) so things could get hairy. It *sounds* like you have an i810 chipset which should be ok...you need to find out who made your motherbord. Find a serial number or something...even an FCC number...we can find out who made it from that.

2) The delta wants its own IRQ. I'm guessing that your machine was setup as an ACPI PC which is NOT optimal. Go to the device manager and expand "Computer". You will typically either see "Standard PC" or "Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) PC". If it is the latter, you'll want to update the driver to "Standard PC" which will give you control over IRQ steering (and everything won't seem to be sharing IRQ 9). WARNING: when you update to Standard PC, it's going to reinstall all your hardware after one or more reboots. Have all of your drivers handy!!!!! WARNING2: during any procedure such as this, you risk really screwing shit up (in rare cases) so be sure to have sensitive data backed up and be sure you're able to reinstall windows if need be.

After your machine is setup as a Standard PC (if it isn't already), and you find us the maker of your motherboard, we can go about assigning the Delta its own IRQ. This *can* eliminate nasty clicks and pops.

3) Slow or fast playback indicates a problem with sample rate. Make sure you know what rate you're recording at and what rate you're playing back at. Open up the Delta control panel and select "hardware settings" and be sure that "Rate Locked" isn't checked. Also be sure that "Reset Rate When Idle" is checked.

4) I'm *pretty sure* that the Delta will only record in 24 bit mode on Win2k. Sound recorder will only operate at 16 bit, and you might have to change some settings in cakewalk. This could account for severely degraded sound.

Yeah, ok...I just verified this. You really cannot use the sound recorder with the Delta on win2k. It will only work in 8 bit mode...but the delta is still working in 24bit so you end up with what is for all intents and purposes...recognizable static. :)

5) Does cakewalk do ASIO? There is a problem with all multi-input/output low latency soundcards and windows 2000 ... well, it was a problem .... anyway, the Delta is only going to allow you to use all available inputs and outputs if you're running an ASIO application until the developers of your application update it to support a new WDM interface....long story short, check for updates and look for any information on running the Delta with Cakewalk on Windows 2000. The Delta works in ASIO mode in n-Track on Win2k, guaranteed...I suggest downloading a trial version of n-Track for testing.

Hard2Hear:

Installing new drivers resets the mixer. Did you reset your Monitor Mixer and Patchbay/Router settings?

Slackmaster 2000
 
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Ok, I've got some checking to do. One thing I have noticed is that Cakewalk is set to 16 bit and the option is greyed out (can not change it). Any thoughts?

Thanks for your help
 
Are you using a limited version of Cakewalk? Make sure it can do 24bit. In n-Track, I can't change my bit depth either but it's locked in at 24bit.

Oh shit, don't bother downloading and trying n-Track because I just remembered it will only record at 16bit unless you register the 24bit version ($50). So that won't work for troubleshooting.

However, if you end up having to upgrade cakewalk or buy a new version...and it's more than $50 or so... you might just buy n-Track instead. It's become very advanced. http://www.fasoft.com

Slackmaster 2000
 
Why yes I guess I am. I am currently using Guitar Studio so I guess that qualifies as a limited version. How does N-Track compare to full out Cakewalk?
 
It's probably a little better. Why's it so cheap? n-Track is written by the should-be-legendary Flavio Antonioli...a one man show. This means that every release has its quirks, but it also means that you get REAL support. Just a few weeks ago I found a couple bugs and the next day he uploaded a new build with fixes. Also, the messageboard at fasoft.com is an excellent resource for n-Track discussion.

n-Track never ceases to amaze me...it's often AHEAD of big name applications in terms of feature support.

Off the top of my head:

- ASIO
- VST plugins / VST Instruments
- DX plugins
- MIDI piano roll editor
- Synch to video
- Volume/pan/aux automation
- Automated punch in/out
- Live input processing
- Basic wave editing (much better than Vegas)
- Full featured mixer & unlimted aux bussing
- Transparent windows
- Simple per track volume, pan, send/return and EQ.
- Free updates

The interface is similar to Vegas Pro, but a little nicer looking. Some of it's very intuitive, and some of it's a little hard to figure out at first....like any app. And there are some quirks like any app.

Check out http://www.fasoft.com and download a trial if you're interested...you can at least get a feel for how it looks. You will be impressed. At 50 bucks for the 24bit version, it simply can't be beat...and to tell you the truth, I like it better than even Vegas!

Slackmaster 2000
 
Here is what I have found.

The Motherboard is labeled as a Cognac 20000731.
The chips are an Intel FW82801AA and an Intel 810 FW82810. It uses a Phoenix BIOS but I'm not sure which version I am currently on. I haven't seen anything within the setup or on boot.

You were right on with the ACPI PC and IRQ9.
 
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Does anyone use Guitar Studio with the Delta?

Well things don't seem to be getting better. I changed my system from ACPI to Standard PC and everything looks good. My Delta is now the only thing showing on IRQ 11. I still haven't been able to find any other drivers so I am still using the W2k drivers. If anyone has any ideas on where I could find some drivers that would be appreciated.

M-Audio's tech support was not much help. He did believe that it was a problem with a Cakewalk setting though. That's a problem, I'm pretty sure I would actually have to purchase a product in order to get tech support. Also he said that you can not record more the two inputs with Guitar Studio. In other words the Delta 66 was a waste of money and I was better off with my standard sound card. Does this make any sense.

I did try the demo for N-Track and after playing with it for a little while I was able to do a decent recording but once I got up to 3 or 4 tracks the sound started stuttering.
 
The Win2k drivers are the correct drivers. They were updated on March 5.

In n-track, did you set it up for ASIO? You have to go into preferences and select wave devices, then chose M-Audio Delta66 ASIO for both input and output.

I want you to do something for me...

http://www.sesa.es/dskbench/dskbench.htm

Go there and download dskbench. Run dskbench from a command prompt and record all the results (takes a few minutes to run).

I'm pretty sure I know what we're going to find, but do it anyways. It only takes a bit. If you have any trouble running it let me know.

Slackmaster 2000
 
Timer Check = 1002 Should be near 1000
CPU Check = 50.23% Should be near 50%
CPU Index = <Relative to Pro 200 MHz> = 3.131315
Open = 0ms
Write = 11817ms 21.66 MB/s, CPU = 2.49%
Flush = 40ms
Rewin = 0ms
Close = 0ms
Block Size = 13072, MB/s = 8.33, Tracks = 98.99 CPU=1.49%

Block Size = 65536, MB/s = 6.69, Tracks=79.56, CPU=2%

Block Size=32768, MB/s=3.48, Tracks=41.36,CPU=1.79%

Block Size=16384, MB/s=1.75, Tracks=20.76, CPU1.76%

Block Size= 8192, MB/s=.88, Tracks=10.46, CPU=1.74%

Block Size= 4096, MB/s=.44, Tracks=5.2, CPU=1.70%
 
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Hmm...I'm not seeing anything...are you sure you attached it right? Maybe a copy/paste would be more reliable.
 
I didn't see the attachment either so I was editing while you were viewing.
 
Hmm very interesting. The numbers are a little low but still acceptable. I was hoping that they'd be much much worse.

Ok, your CPU is fine and you've got enough memory. Your hard drive checks out. Before we start looking at the motherboard or performing a bunch of "tweeks" that don't make a ton of difference...let's look at your soundcard and software.

Let's have you match my Delta and n-Track settings and see what you get. You should *definately* get well over 3 or 4 tracks.

Close down all applications. Open the Delta control panel and set your ASIO buffer to 2700 samples per buffer. Click "Done". Now open n-Track and select File->Preferences->Wave devices. Select the M-Audio Delta ASIO for both input and output. You won't need to play with buffers in n-Track because it'll use the 2700 value you set in the Delta mixer. Close n-Track and reopen it, then check to make sure your settings stuck.

Now play with it. I use these settings and was just playing a 15 track 24bit/48Khz number with several high quality DX effects. No problem. It stutters a little when I adjust settings or cue to a new position, but playback is basically fine. That's on a Celeron 500 w/164MB and a Maxtor 7200RPM HD.

Slackmaster 2000
 
Ok, I didn't have to change any settings so that's good (depending on how you look at it). I recorded 3 tracks of about 2 min. each. When I went to start the fourth track I got the error "The playback buffering you have selected will probably use too much memory and degrade the program and system performance. Try to adjust the buffers to consume less memory. for example decreasing the preload buffers and disk loading parameters. Are you sure you want to continue with the current buffering scheme?"

I tried changing what looked like would be the correct settings but not being able to make much of an educated guess I didn't get very far.
 
You know, I got that same message in a song once and could not for the life of me get rid of it. I ignored it...in fact I think I might have found out how to turn it off... anyways, ignore that message and keep recording. Let me know when it starts to stutter.

You can't actually adjust your buffers in ASIO without doing it from the Delta control panel. You can change them in n-Track, but it ignores the changes and reverts to the soundcard settings.

Slackmaster 2000
 
I couldn't get past 3 tracks. It started studering as soon as I went back to play it. I closed the four things out of my systray and proceded to record one more track which studerd and seemed to maybe distort a little (poor quality in general). Everything else was closed.
 
Ok damn.

You're sure you increased that ASIO buffer to 2700??? The only reason I ask is that the March 5 drivers default it to 100 which only allowed me to record about three tracks before puking.

Anyways, can you list as much of the hardware in your machine as you can? So far everything seems to check out fine. Also if you could, take a screenshot of your IRQ settings (with all the devices showing please).

How long have you been running Windows 2000 on that machine? Any major problems?

Slackmaster 2000
 
Hardware:
Generic Nic
Modem that came with the Emachine
Yamaha CDRW
USB Scanner
Parallel Printer

I have been running W2k since Christmas when I got the machine. The only real problem was when I was trying to use the video driver from the windowsupdate site. It conflicted with something and would just keep rebooting. I found the Intel driver and I have not been having any problems until now.

As far as the Delta driver, I also tried one of the older drivers and even though I tried to switch it back I'm not sure that it did. What version does yours claim to be in Device Manager?

I have not been able to get the attachments to work so I will type in the IRQs latter.
 
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