Help the idiot out here... RE: Delta 44

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WATYF1

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*siiiiiigh*... So something got goofed up with my account and now I can't sign in... so I had to set up this temp account just to post this stupid questionl.. but I guess it's appropriate that I have a 0 post count, since I'm asking such a newbie question.

So anywhooo... I've been here for a while now.. but believe it or not, I just finally got my first real soundcard this week.

Up until now I've done mostly crappy recordings using my onboard sound... so now that I've got a Delta 44 I need to know some really basic crap that I'm having trouble getting around.

Here's my setup.. somebody tell me why I can't get my monitors to work right.

SM58 > into Behringer 602A mixer > into Delta 44 ins > recording onto N-Track. I have the left and right mains out of the 602 running into 1 and 2 (ins) on the Delta 44. So now I have stereo ins... (finally.. until now I had always done mono recordings.) BUT.. I can't get stereo playback... When I plug my headphones into the 1 (out) on the Delta 44 all I get is the left channel during playback.. If I plug my speakers in the same way, all I get is the left speaker... if I switch them to the 2nd out, I still only get left speaker... If I switch to 3 or 4 (outs) I get nothing... So... I went back to using my onboard sound for playback, which is still pretty decent (Soyo Dragon mobo), but I can't playback anything I've recorded... every time I try to record something and then play it back, it says, "The soundcard doesn't accept the required format." Now.. this is where it gets weird. If I open an OLD .sng file that I recorded before (which was recorded mono) I get the same error.. and if I open single wav files (which was recorded mono) it opens them as if they're stereo... but I most definitely recorded them mono... what's that all aboot??? It's as if everything now that I open in N-track is read as stereo... What's even creepier is that I changed the recording format back to "Mono" and "16 bit" (just like I used before I got the card) and it still won't play back the stuff I record, or my old stuff... I set everything in N-track back to "onboard sound" (recording and playback) and recorded a few seconds using the silly little PC mic, and it still wouldn't play that back... it's like it refuses to play anything back (in N-track) using my onboard sound, and the Delta only gives me one channel... so I'm screwed.

Also, if I disable my onboard sound and try to use the Delta 44 to playback just a CD or something using Windows Media Player, then I still get just the left speaker... so what's the deal here... I'd like to switch completely over the my Delta 44 and stop using my onboard sound, but I need to figure this playback issue out before I can do that. Any suggestions???

WATYF

P.S... what's the difference betweem MME and WDM??? The Delta has two identical sets of options... ones that start with MME and ones that start with WDM.. which am I supposed to use?
 
do your speakers use one single stereo plug?
if so, get an adapter to split the cable into two mono plugs. plug those mono plugs in out 1 and 2 and voila
 
WATYF1
christiaan is probably on the right track here.
Look in your manual for delta 44 (I know it's a drag :)) there is diagram for typical setup #1

You will see two cables going out of the box to the monitoring system

Also you can connect outs 1&2 to one of stereo inputs on your mixer and connect monitors to the control room outs.

You should use WDM drivers if you are on win 2000/XP.

cheers
 
great... that's what I thought I was gonna have to do... but I was hoping I could avoid having to buy an adapter...

man, I'm cheap...

:D

Fed,.. I know I could run the outs back to the mixer and use that to run the monitors... (big emphasis on the "could") but there are two hindering factors involved in that...

1) I'm cheap (as previously mentioned) and that method would involve buying new cables, which I'm not aboot to do... and

2) I'm "sound" illiterate... in other words... I could take my computer apart, purchase components off eBay, and build it back up from scratch.. all without even falling out of REM sleep... but ask me to run a stereo monitor mix and all you'll get is a blank stare. :p If life was one big computer, I'd be just fine.. :p unfortunately, this whole "recording" thing involves more than just computer parts... (dang it all) :p So I try to avoid any unnecessary difficulties in my recording techniques.

In other words.. I'll just buy the stupid adapter and call it a day. :D

thanks for the help...

WATYF

P.S. I am still curious why it won't let me playback old files that were recorded in mono. I know that getting the adapter will allow me to playback through the Delta, but I wonder why the onboard sound won’t work with N-track anymore.
 
About your PS

I guess that could be some conflict between Delta and on-board? No?. And I don't think it matters if it's mono or stereo file. As long as application can read that file and as logn as that application "sees" your soundcard output you should here something.

cheers
 
O.K... where the heck am I supposed to find this adapter... ??? :confused:

I went to radio shack... (lol) to see if they had anything like it... and they didn't... (of course) so now I can't think for the life of me where I'd go to get an adapter like this...

let me make sure I have this straight though... I need two male mono plugs that plug into the Delta with one female stereo end to plug the headphones/speakers into.. right???

WATYF
 
Such an adaptor will only be helpful if you have powered monitors that take a line-level signal, and useless for headphones.
As far as which drivers to use, depends on what software you are recording with.
 
WATYF1 said:
[BSM58 > into Behringer 602A mixer > into Delta 44 ins > recording onto N-Track. I have the left and right mains out of the 602 running into 1 and 2 (ins) on the Delta 44. So now I have stereo ins... (finally.. until now I had always done mono recordings.) BUT.. I can't get stereo playback... When I plug my headphones into the 1 (out) on the Delta 44 all I get is the left channel during playback.. If I plug my speakers in the same way, all I get is the left speaker... if I switch them to the 2nd out, I still only get left speaker... If I switch to 3 or 4 (outs) I get nothing...


P.S... what's the difference betweem MME and WDM??? The Delta has two identical sets of options... ones that start with MME and ones that start with WDM.. which am I supposed to use? [/B]
Click to expand...

First of all you should use WDM IF your software supports 24-bit recoding using WDM drivers, Cool Edit Pro 1.2 doesn't for example, it can only record at 16-bit using WDM and 24-bit using MME.

I assume you are using 2000 or XP ?

What you should do is this...

Forget about the adapter.

Plug Delta out 1 and 2 into two channels on your mixer.
Pan 1 all the way left and 2 all the way right.
Plug Control room out L into your left Monitor or left monitor amp input.
Plug Control room out R into your left Monitor or right monitor amp input.
Plug your headphones into the headphone outon the mixer.

Hope this helps...

Nathan
 
Two things I just thought of...

If I remember correctly, your desk has a couple of stereo inputs, might as well use those and forget about the panning.

And, if you're only using one mic for a stereo track, it's not gonna give you a true stereo recording even if you do split it into two with the stereo outs of your mixer...you need to use two mics on the same source simultaneously for that.

Cheers,

Nathan
 
*egad*... I'm getting dizzy...

why is it I can understand computers so easily but can't get this crap for the life of me...

O.K... first off.. I already did plug my headphones into the outs of the Delta (one of em) and a signal came through loud and clear,... but it was only in one ear (left), thus the need for the adapter. I also pluged my speakers (which are powered) into the out of the Delta and it also worked, but again... only one speaker worked. I don't have powered stereo monitors (yet).. I have a nice speaker set-up with sub-woofer... it sounds great, so I have no problems with using it for now... the issue is getting the outs from the Delta to the stereo plug of the speakers.. (or the headphones)

WATYF
 
One more thing... I just wanna record.. stereo.. mono.. I don't give a crap... :p

Should I even be worried about stereo?? I always thought that's what I was supposed to eventually use, but all I'm doing is pluging one mic into my mixer and running the mixer into the computer.. nothing fancy. Do I not even need stereo?? Should I just stick to the mono recordings..??

man, I hate this stuff...

WATYF
 
Read my post again...plug the outputs from your delta into the mixer, plug your headphones and monitors in to the mixer outputs (control room/heaphones out).

Yes you might as well record mono are only using one mic.

No you don't hate this stuff otherwise you wouldn't be online trying to get your head around it :)


Nathan
 
*erp* :confused: *eep* :mad: *drat*

O.K... I plugged the mixer into the soundcard.. why would I want to plug the soundcard right back in to the mixer... I'd need two more cables (which I don't have) :p I was just listening to some test recordings through the headphones... all I did was plug em into one of the outs on the Delta and it sounded just fine. I think I'll try that adapter thing, cause if it gets the sound in both ears, then that's good enough for me... all this control monitor out stuff is to much work. :D I'm lazy, dang it!

But you're saying that I don't even need to record stereo? (now on to another topic)... I mean.. I've only got one mic... I just want to record a vocal track onto N-track... so do I just need mono? When I record my guitar, I use the pezio pickup and the mic and just pan them to opposite sides... so I guess when I record my guitar I could use stereo, but I don't really need it for vocals... is that right??? (I think my brain is going to melt)

WATYF
 
O.K... WAIT!!!! I've got something...!!

Since I don't need stereo... I did this.. let me know what you think.

I took the left channel out of the mixer (I think that's what you use for mono) and ran it into the soundcard (in #1) and then I ran a cable out of the Delta (out #1) and ran that into the stereo aux return of the mixer. (left channel).. so now I've got sound going to the card and coming back from the card and then I plugged the headphones into the mixer and I can hear what I record in both ears...!!!

BUT.. and there's always a "but"... NOW I hear everything that goes on.. the whole time.. whether I'm recording or not.. I hear noise in the headphones... because I've got the headphones plugged straight into the mixer and so whatever gets inputted into the mixer goes straight to my headphones... so I'm not sure sure that monitor setup is gonna work.. because before it has a chance to go to the Delta, it goes striaght to the headphones... technically I could use this set-up (cause I can hear what I record loud and clear), but on top of hearing that, I'm gonna hear the feed straight from mixer also...

this sucks. :p

WATYF
 
I know this might sound very, very stupid but in the Delta software mixer, do you have your wav outs panned correctly? Channel 1 (Left) should have the little slider hard left and Channel 2, (Right) panned hard right. Try doing this whilst playing back through your phones.

This might fundamentaly explain why you are hearing only the left channel. If not, sorry for complicating things.
 
Well.. for those who care... I got it to work...

I ended up getting the adapter... plugged two monos into the Delta outs and converted those to one stereo,.. now I can change back and forth between my headphones and speakers with no problems.. monitors are loud and clear... everything's workin' good...now if only I had some talent... :p

WATYF
 
Thats good news, nothing more frustrating than having new gear and then cannot get it to work properly.
 
WATYF1 said:
*erp* :confused: *eep* :mad: *drat*

O.K... I plugged the mixer into the soundcard.. why would I want to plug the soundcard right back in to the mixer... WATYF
Click to expand...

Because you have a handy volume control for your headphones and monitors on your desk then.

You should try using the channel inserts instead of the main outs also to recod into the Delta...and set the output in the Delta sofware to 'Monitor Mixer'

Nathan
 
O.K... I'd like to actually understand what you're sayin' here... :p so I'll give it another try....

I have no idea what "channel inserts" are... heck,.. I don't know what the "Monitor Mixer" is either... :( But I think I understand what you're saying... right now my levels coming out are raw. The only way I can lower them is the lower the outputs in the computer... so I just turn the level down on the "volume control" panel of the 'puter... but you're saying that if I run it back to the mixer, I could turn it up or down from there, which sounds like an idea... sooo...

what the hell are these channel inserts??? I don't see those on my mixer.. remember.. all I got is a little Behringer 602A 4 channel. And what is the "monitor mixer"? I do have "control room out" and I think you're supposed to use that for monitors.. so maybe that's what you're talking aboot...

P.S... what the hell good is that Delta control panel????? I've made every change to that thing that I can think of and it doesn't do a d@mn thing...

look at this pic... it's got four levels on it and a main... I've got activity goin' on in two of the levels. The 1st and the 3rd (not including the main)... but they're all muted... yet I'm still getting sound in and out..?!?!? I unmuted all the levels and messed around with the levels and not a single thing changed... anywhere??? what exactly does this mixer do??? anything???

man I hate this stuff... :p
 
Well.. I think I'm gettin' the hang of this... (not really) :p

I did this instead...

Re-installed my old 6 channel onboard audio... (which was pretty decent to begin with) and plugged the speakers into that... then plugged the headphones into the stereo adapter that I plugged into the outs of my Delta... so now I can go from listening to my mixes through headphones, to listening to my mixes through speakers with just the click of a button... :) that's quite convenient..

WATYF
 
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