Direct Show says SBLive is not stereo

  • Thread starter Thread starter dctoms
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dctoms

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When I start up Sonar, I get a Directshow Audio message that says "Your sound card does not support stereo, default set to mono." From then on, the pan controls in sonar do not function correctly: the mix gets softer as I pan hard left or right, but plays at the same level through both monitors.

I can set pan values for a track, export to WAV or MP3, then play through Winamp or Windows media and hear the correct pan.

Also, the pan controls function properly in other software (appleton or winamp) and the Creative Diagnostic procedure finds no errors with the card.

I tried reinstalling the SB drivers with no success.

I am using SBLive value.

Any suggestion on how to fix?
 
Are you using WinXp? You need to dump the Creative drivers and roll back to using the ones supplied by Microsoft on the Windows CD.
 
Switching drivers eliminated the Mono message, but didn't fix the problem.

With only the Microsoft drivers installed, playback becomes crackly and distorted. Also, when I pan hard right, I get no sound. But when I pan hard left, I get sound out of both sides.

I put the Creative drivers back on and playback improved and the Direct Show message came back.

Are there any ways to get around this? There are about 15 driver files associated with the card. Does that sound right? Is there a list of the exact files I should have to operate correctly?
 
Here's a couple of ideas.

First off, I'm guessing the Creative drivers were MME, while the Microsoft drivers were WDM. You probably should have tried using the MS drivers in MME mode before going back to Creative.

Another option is to try the KX Drivers. These are drivers written by 3rd party independants and are not supported by anyone. So it's at your own risk. However, many people have had good results with them.

The final option is to dump the SB Live and get a real sound card.
(Sorry, my conscience requires me to do that. :D )
 
BTW, did you install the MS drivers by rolling back? Or did you just do a fresh install of the drivers?

Not sure it makes a difference, but I would recommend using the roll back method. I think this will insure that none of the Creative stuff is being used.
 
I have few thought on this case. First, if you realy like Creative's driver (because some people love to tweak the card using it's AudioHQ application), then you may check the version of the driver you use. Go to Creative's site, and download the latest driver. This is what I do with my SBLive!.

Anyway, in many cases, Microsoft driver gives you better performance (lower latency). If you concern about this, then go for microsoft's driver comes with your Windows XP CD.

Just like you, I ever had crackle noises. If your mother board used VIA chipset, then download the latest driver/patch (4in1). Most crackle and noises can be solved then. If it's not, then try to move the card to anyother PCI slot, because your card might have problem of IRQ sharing with other device installed in the system.

Hope it helps,
;)
Jaymz
 
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