soundblaster Midi solution?

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CounterToAttack

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Hey kids. long time away.. and its come to this

pee-d off with no midi playback or connectivity (Delta66 + omni i/o) so im gonna get a soundblaster Live! Platinum 5.1 (i dont have any money for higher specs) but heres the thing, should i get it with the Live Drive which has Midi connections amongst others or should i get something different for connecting? and if so what would you recommend? its just i am a very poor student and at the moment on ebay the cards with the drive are going for about £75 and the cards individually are going for between £20-£25. is it worth paying about £50 for the live drive? or is there a cheaper/better alternative?

..maybe one day when ive fixed every bug and instrument ill record a song ...*akkk*

Regards
Richard
 
With the Delta OMNI Studio for recording audio the Live Drive is really pointless. You get the identical PCI card if you get the MP3+ or XGamer bundles, which were about half the price of the Platinum bundle.
 
are you saying that i should merely connect midi instruments through the omni i/o ? in which case do i simply need a midi to TRS cable, to plug in the back of the box ? - and then playback midi through the soundblaster

Richard
 
Sounds like you might be confused. You can't get a MIDI-to-TRS cable, they don't exist, since MIDI data is performance information that tells a MIDI-savvy device what to play, it is not the actual sound that such a device plays.

All I'm saying is that the LiveDrive will be almost useless for you since the only connections you need, with the Delta present for recording audio, is the Live's MIDI ports and the Line Out. Both of these are present on the versions that don't have the LiveDrive (though I think the MIDI interface-to-SoundBlaster gameport adapter thing is not included, but you can get one of those for $25 or less).
 
I'm really curious about this too...My pc has both the Delta 66 (w/ Omni i/o) and SB Live. The Delta seems to handle to audio and the SB handles the midi.

I can only hear the midi when my headphones are plugged into the SB and can only hear audio when I'm plugged into the Omni. How do I hear both at the same time?

- Plug the output of the SB into the Omni?
- Get an external mixer?
- Punt?

Sorry to add my own questions to the post but I think they will be helpful to the orginal poster as well. Thanks!
 
The audigy bundle is cool. It has an internal drive with midi connections right on the front of your box. Plus digital, 1/4 inch headphone and mic, RCA and Optical. Still half the price of the external drive.
 
I have a delta 44 and a SB Audigy with mixing board. The delta can't play Midi at all. It's not a MIDI device. The SB can play MIDI and digital audio together. I suggest you use the delta as your recording device. Mix with the SB. And play back the mix with your delta.
 
Blakmore said:

I can only hear the midi when my headphones are plugged into the SB and can only hear audio when I'm plugged into the Omni. How do I hear both at the same time?

- Plug the output of the SB into the Omni?
- Get an external mixer?
- Punt?
Click to expand...

Well, punting won't work. Either of the other options you suggest will work, though the first isn't a great idea because then you'll eat up two of the Delta's outputs. A mixer is the best solution but then, you probably got an OMNI so you wouldn't have to buy a mixer... in this situation a simple line mixer that will take four or more inputs can be a cost-effective solution.
 
Blakmore,

I have the identical setup - Delta 66/Omni Studio and an OEM Soundblaster Live (strictly for listening to tunes/MIDI)

Your first suggestion is the best on only answer you need. Simply take a line out feed from the SB and route it into Ins 3 + 4 on the Omni...you will be cookin in no time. Works great.

Cheers,

Cuzin B
 
Cuzin has nailed it on the head. It took me a while to figure this out (as simple as it seems!), but just go out from the Soundblaster and into the Omni. You need a stereo cord, preferably 1/8th-inch (to go into the Sounblaster) into a 1/4-inch (to go into the Omni).

It really works just fine. Then, discover (if you haven't already) the magic of SoundFonts, and you'll be off to the races!


Fab
 
Thanks Alchuck, Cuzin B and Fab4ever. I'm glad it was a simple solution.

Btw Fab, I never heard of / tried Soundfonts. Not much of a midi guy, but since I've started using Cubase I'm coming around to the power of midi...
 
I don't understand the logic of running the SB out and back into another card when it can already play MIDI and audio together?
 
Hugh,

The Delta/Omni combo has no MIDI capabilities so in order to capture the sound (audio) of the MIDI notes during playback - you need to capture MIDI sound output (which happens internally in the Soundblaster) and reroute that output into the Delta and record it. One cable does it all. Quite common actually.

Also - Soundblaster cards, while good for listenting mp3's or playing games, are not very desirable as a digital recording devices for multitracking etc....Get a professional quality soundcard ASAP.

Cheers,

Cuzin B
 
I already have a delta card and the SB audigy. I used to render my MIDI by playing it out through a cable and into the delta card until I realized it is not necessary. You can simply select the output of your SB card as a source in your recording software and rerecord MIDI as wave. This gives the cleanest rendering because the wave output never leaves the soundcard making it susceptible to RF noise.
Also, if you go the cable route you should still go through a mixer because SB output is stereo and intended for powered speakers, not direct recording.
 
Hugh,

Well - I will have to try this. I have had my Delta (with Omni STudio) plus a Soundblaster for over a year and I have never been able to select the output of my SB as a source and re-record as a .wav. At least not in the apps I use. What recording software are you using?

As far as the "mixer" goes - if you have Omni Studio - you have all the mixer you will ever need. No problem to grab a feed from the Soundblaster and plug it straight in to the Onmi Studio.

Cheers,

Cuzin B
 
I use cakewalk. This technique is listed in cakewalk help section. Someone was talking about a free program called Total Recorder on another thread, which they were saying would record any audio stream in the computer.

The cable solution does work and I don’t mean to over generalize this point because it may be hardware specific. I just don’t like the redundancy of connecting two sounds with a cable when they are already connected via the system bus. In fact, I can send MIDI sounds out through the delta card with my setup. I am not sure if this is because of the advanced Wavetable synth or if the SB audigy chipset allows for internal MIDI streaming.

Which SB card do you have Cuzin?
 
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