O no, not again!

[Pedullist]

Got the Terratec.

And I'm pissed....I feel exactly like when I bought my Audigy.

First impression: the Terratec sucks major eggs. Headphone output adds a high pitched note to the sound (no, it's not tinnitus). One of my cdplayers crackles and beeps. The other seems to be OK. Latency...can't get it any lower than 20ms

So I got my Audigy still connected, for the soundfonts.

I'm even thinking about sending it back...this is pure bullcrap.

I'll install the SONAR demo to check out the latency using ASIO. I'll keep you informed, Bluesmeister.

 

[Pedullist]

Well, I don't need another Audigy experience...(two years of mailing/calling/chatting with customer support). The Audigy is running pretty stable lately. Screw the bad latency. It works. It doesn't beep and crackle. Doesn't sound as good as the Terratec (it sometimes didn't crackle, and then - I must admit - it was awesome), but I just CAN'T STAND NO MORE BULLSHIT THAT KEEPS ME AWAY FROM WHAT I LIKE BEST: MAKING MUSIC!

Grrrrrrrrr!

It's back in its box, tomorrow I'll send it back to the company.

Glad I've said that...now I'm back to full-of-nonsense again

 

[guttadaj]

Aren't you jealous of my Turtle Beach Santa Cruz now?? 10 msec latency and no crackles...

Sorry things aren't working out smoothly - it's really frustrating having to sometimes spend more time wrestling with or trying to figure out technology than making music. I feel your pain...

 

[Pedullist]

You know...I'm spoiled with this zero ms soundfont utility by Creative. I just discovered that I can't stand any latency at all...

Recently I bought a whole bunch of Sonic Implants drumsamples, and lately I improved my keyboard skills enough to program my drumpatterns in real time. So it's rather annoying to have to deal with such a thing as latency.

I have only two softsynths I often use, and I can program them at 20ms (with the new Creative drivers, it's the same as Terratec...surprisingly)...OK, I have to switch it back to 100ms when I'm mixing but that isn't too much of a deal.

It's a shame about the awesome soundquality of the Terratec. It still hurts to see the box on the floor, waiting to get sent away....

 

[James Argo]

...One of my cdplayers crackles and beeps...

It cried waiting for you to play Homerecording.Comp CD's Vol 2

 

[BluesMeister]

Don't Panic!

Got the Terratec. And I'm pissed...

Woah! Slow down baby, let's take a look at this step by step.

Headphone output adds a high pitched note to the sound.

That's a real tricky one that Pedullist. Have you tried:
a) a different pair of headphones?
b) moving the card to another slot?
c) downloading the latest driver from Terratec?
My EWX24/96 doesn't have a headphone output.

One of my cdplayers crackles and beeps. The other seems to be OK.

I get crackling through the speakers/headphones when I select External synch at the Terratec control panel with no signal, that is before I press the CD play button. Then the crackling disappears. I've absolutely no idea what causes it - it sounds like it could be some sort of digital distortion. I stress that the crackling is only audible with no signal.

Latency...can't get it any lower than 20ms

Have a look at Martin Walker's SOS review of the DMX. Here's a quote from the review:

I managed a reasonably healthy 25mS latency from NI's Pro 52, but a rather poor 45mS using the MME drivers. However, with latencies of 4mS available to Cubase, Logic, and Sonar owners, who needs MME?

Personally I wouldn't recommend the Terratec DMX 6Fire. My money's on the EWS88MT or the Echo MiaMIDI. Read the SOS review.

I'm even thinking about sending it back...

Can't say that I blame you Pedullist. I'd be really pissed off too. Maybe it's time to upgrade to HS2004XL or <gasp> Sonar?

--
BluesMeister

 

[Pedullist]

Thanks for your help and efforts, Bluesmeister.

My daily work consists of testing, so I already know how to test things like these. My point is: testing for money (my work) is annoying enough. At home I'd like to have a PC that does what it's supposed to do.

So I already tried everything you've said (8 hours of wasted time). Up to changing around every single part of my setup (harddisk/cdplayer configuration/bios configuration). And of course I used the latest driver (the one on the CD was already out of date)...different headphones....different headphones on different speakers......different cables for the cdplayers, different cables for the speakers. At one point I minimized the noise a whole deal, but it was still there. The Terratec customer support didn't know what to say, because I already tested every possibility.

I've read about the beeping sound on the headphones before. Other people didn't know what to do with either, talked to customer support for weeks, and have finally sent the package back also.

The weird thing: the chipset on the card is the same that's your card, Frank. The only thing that's really new is the frontbay....so I assume it's the frontbay.

Btw, I've thoroughly tested SONAR 2.2. Can't see anything that's really better (or useful for me), and with the Audigy I don't really need the ASIO support. With any driver (ASIO,WDM,MME) the latency of the Audigy is around 30 to 50ms and I have to set it to 100ms during mixing. The latency when using soundfonts is 0ms. I like that. I'm used to that now...

 

[BluesMeister]

My daily work consists of testing, so I already know how to test things like these.

Fair enough, I take your point.

The Terratec customer support didn't know what to say, because I already tested every possibility.

I'm not overly confident in Terratec's customer support. I have dealt with them on a couple of occasions and I haven't been satisfied with their responses. The first occcasion I dealt with Terratec support was with someone by the name of Stacey Curtis who seemed to know a thing or two.

The weird thing: the chipset on the card is the same that's your card, Frank. The only thing that's really new is the frontbay....so I assume it's the frontbay.

Well on the strength of your experience Pedullist, I would have to agree.

Perhaps it's an earthing problem in the front bay or un-shielded cables. Unfortunately I'm no expert in electronics - that's more your field. It's odd that Martin Walker's review didn't mention any noise problems using headphones. Perhaps he didn't use them at all during his review.

The latency when using soundfonts (with the Audigy) is 0ms.

Does the Audigy have on-board RAM like my old AWE64Gold, or does it use system RAM for soundfonts? One of the big selling points with GigaStudio is that it has disk-streaming to improve performance and I presume this helps to reduce latency. VSampler also has this facility for huge sample sizes. Did you try VSampler3 with the DMX 6Fire? I realise it doesn't solve the high-pitched note issue, but it may improve the latency. Plus, you could ditch the Audigy.

I'm still clutching at straws, Pedullist, but I suspect you'll only be satisfied if you return the DMX 6Fire and get something different. I'd seriously consider the Echo MiaMIDI, or if your budget can stretch a lot further, an RME Hammerfall.

--
BluesMeister

 

[Pedullist]

It's already back to the company I ordered it from...(it was really hard to do, because it sounded soooooo damn good, between the crackles and the beeps)

After buying lots of new equipment the last months I've decided to wait a while before trying a new attempt on the soundcards. Let's make some music first. And mix a few (about 10)...

I shall take a look at those two you mentioned.

Thanks, Bluesmeister...(I was really pissed, but I'm happy now....thanks for popping by and support me I appreciate it!)

 

[BluesMeister]

Thanks for popping by and support me I appreciate it!

It's the least I could do Pedullist. I'm only sorry we weren't able to solve the problem.

So do we HS users get the option of a download for the upgrade to HS2004? Or do they want more money from us?

--
BluesMeister

 

[Pedullist]

I don't know...I definitely prefer download (those FedEx guys always visit my house when I'm not at home...then they send the package back.... then you have to mail the guys, and they send it again....tiresome procedure)

Have you asked yet?

If it's a download I can see myself buying it. It looks like this is the new version of HS2002, perhaps they fixed a few bugs

(btw, read my Hey Pedullist thread...instead of a card, I bought a new guitar! )

 

[rvf263]

So do we HS users get the option of a download for the upgrade to HS2004? Or do they want more money from us?

--
BluesMeister

I saw this while surfin around and thought it may help.
http://musicmall.com/cmp/home_studio.htm


I'm gonna upgrade to HS2004 from GTpro next week. I can't wait!
And I won't forget: READ THE HELP FILES!

 

[Teacher]

thru personally experience when dealing with a windows machine its best to format and reinstall everything after every H/W upgrade...if not the OS acts funny...at least for me...i use XP pro and its never failed...its just a bitch doing

Well, I don't need another Audigy experience...(two years of mailing/calling/chatting with customer support). The Audigy is running pretty stable lately. Screw the bad latency. It works. It doesn't beep and crackle. Doesn't sound as good as the Terratec (it sometimes didn't crackle, and then - I must admit - it was awesome), but I just CAN'T STAND NO MORE BULLSHIT THAT KEEPS ME AWAY FROM WHAT I LIKE BEST: MAKING MUSIC!

Grrrrrrrrr!

It's back in its box, tomorrow I'll send it back to the company.

Glad I've said that...now I'm back to full-of-nonsense again

 

[James Argo]

thru personally experience when dealing with a windows machine its best to format and reinstall everything after every H/W upgrade...if not the OS acts funny...at least for me...i use XP pro and its never failed...its just a bitch doing

I would be very carefull to post this comment...

But from personal experiences in my own setup, gotta say the same thing Damn right, Teacher !!!

 

[moskus]

I agree! Re-format before you blame it all on the card...

If I didn't do that, I wouldn't use the lovely Inca88 today...