Freash meat for the Grinder

CorTezTheK1LLeR · May 22, 2005, 11:43 AM

hi sound freaks!!

I was recently acquired a soundblaster live! card because i wanted (note past tense) to plug my guitar into my pc..however i got no end of grief from the creative drivers..after scouring the internet,I came to the conclusion that these KX drivers were allegedly the bees Knees...

However..I didn't realise I was going to need a degree in sound engineering to understand the user interface...

even browsing this forum has given me a headache...

I'm still no nearer to hearing my guitar..and to make matters worse,just about every game I've tried since installing the card has crashed my pc with a horrible grindy bleeping..

I've lost my temper with my system twice,which has cost me a mouse, 2 keyboards, a pair of speakers and a cracked monitor body!! 00ps!!!

So..After a week of trial and error Im no nearer to understanding whet the heck is happening..and the whole thing is too complicated to even ask a pertinent question...If theres anyone out there who fancies writing a manual for us lesser mortals,please do it..Im sure it will be very popular with us cave dwellers!!

Heres my ancient poxy fist battered set up...

ECS k7s5a m/board
Amd 850 Duron
256meg ram
XP pro corp
Ati 9250 AGP + 256 meg ram
soundbastid live! (kx and dxdiag says its the CT4832 10k1 d800)
KX drivers Version:5,10,00,3537
DX version9.0c

i know its a dinosaur...but im on a limited budget...

I've just read a post about filtering EAX so I'm going to try GTA ViceCity again.Making the buffers bigger has stopped combat flight simulator crashing which made me very happy for a while,but the guitar is still silent..

If theres any geetar pickers out there who can recommend a half decent amp simulator that will work with my crummy set up and these KX drivers I'd appreciate a point in the right direction..I've downloaded about a dozen freebies, and I dont think I can stand another week of trial and error testing...neither does my pc...

heheh! "what a n00b" I can hear you say!!
Dont get me wrong here..the Kx looks very impressive,,and I'm sure I'll grow to love it,once I understand it...

thomasabarnes · May 22, 2005, 07:08 PM

Hi man:

kX is hard to understand how to use when used to using the Creative drivers. However, it's a lot easier to understand now, than it was a year or two ago. Because it's so a complex and versatile driver and software, and a free project, a compact manual with comprehensive coverage is not available, but the kX community has provided various articles, to help us out in the use of the driver and software for different purposes.

I understand your shock concerning the software and driver being difficult to understand. I'm not upset or offended by your comments. I felt sort of the same way at the beginning.

A must read article is A newbie guide on kX's concept or "How to setup your own DSP," found here: http://members.home.nl/nahutec/kxtutor/kxtutor.html and here's the thread on it: http://driverheaven.net/showthread.php?t=55649

Another thread you might find helpful is here: http://driverheaven.net/showthread.php?t=53629 It shows some example DSP setups.

Just stick with it, and you'll get the hang of things. If you encounter anymore difficulties, post for help. The kX driver and software is far better than the Creative stuff for music production. Another thing I've come to believe is that the kX Directsound 3D driver is a good one. I played newer games such as Star Wars Republic Commando using the kX D3D driver and had no crashes, but with older games, I've encountered crashes with the Creative and kX drivers, so I think the problem may be in the games.

As for a good software amp, try Amplitube, found here: http://www.amplitube.com/.

May you find success with using kX. And welcome to DriverHeaven!

ROBSCIX · May 22, 2005, 10:28 PM

A pointer for the guitar anyhow is you need a preamp. You could achieved this with the creative drivers. IT's just KX gives better sound, more flexibility and better effects. If your playing a guitar you may want them..good luck.. Look for info in the threads about enabling the mic, Then change that info to Line_in. You'll basically have to get an external preamp bring the guitar up to line level..plug the ouput into the line_in on the sound card set the system to playback the line and you'll have sound...Then experiment fromt there..fast answer hope it helps..

Tril · May 23, 2005, 01:30 AM

I'll try to help with the guitar. As ROBSCIX said, it is best to have a preamp but you will still be able to hear or record the guitar even if you don't have one. I tried before.

If you want to record the guitar using winmm do the following :
In the mixer, click on the speaker with a red dot. On the bottom left there is a set of two sliders called AC97. Set the level to 0 and unmute the sliders. Then click on AC97 on the left below the speaker with a red dot. In the middle, on the upper section of the panel there is a combo box. Select LineIn from it. Connect your guitar to the line-in. Open your recording app and record. I think that is all you need to do.

You can also record with ASIO, AC97 is connected directly to ASIO in 02 and 03. That bypasses the mixer. It is also connected to ASIO in 00 and 01 by going throught the mixer. I never recorded AC97 with ASIO so I'm not sure about the specific steps to take to make it work but I'll tell you what I think is right. You need to go to the AC97 section of the mixer. Select LineIn in the combo box. If you use ASIO in 02 and 03, you don't have to touch any other settings in the mixer (I think). If you want to use ASIO in 00 and 01 you have to set the AC97 record sliders to 0 and unmute them.

If you don't want to record but only hear what you play, you must first set AC97 to LIneIn with the combo box. You then go to Ins 'n' Outs in the mixer. It's the green icon with arrows above the record icon in the mixer. Unmute and raise the volume of AC97 in the lower left. You also have to raise the master volume.

I think that's all you need to do to use your guitar. If it's not loud enough even when the volume is high, that means that you need a preamp. As a temporary solution you can use a gain filter in the DSP to raise the volume but I would not recommend that as a permanent solution if you want to record with good quality.

See, it's not so hard. Once you know how the mixer works, it's not hard to understand.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CorTezTheK1LLeR

If theres any geetar pickers out there who can recommend a half decent amp simulator that will work with my crummy set up and these KX drivers I'd appreciate a point in the right direction..I've downloaded about a dozen freebies, and I dont think I can stand another week of trial and error testing...neither does my pc...

What's an amp simulator?

CorTezTheK1LLeR · May 23, 2005, 04:37 AM

wow..thanks for the tips there folks...I really appreciate it..I've been up all night fighting with the GUI again..so i'm going to sleep a while before i try again..

LOL amp simulator..thats me being a n00b...I just wanted to hear my guitar as it was meant to be heard..I'm originally a drummer (yeh yeh I know all the jokes!!)..I learnt by picking up the other band members axes in ciggy breaks..

..And i was a bit premature when i said expanding the buffers enabled flight sim to work..its fine for a while then crashes..ho hum I'll get there..

ROBSCIX · May 23, 2005, 10:26 AM

Amp simulator is a external unit that models the sonic characteristics of Specific models/brand of amps..kind like a preamp but with the added modelling characteristis...similar to NI's guitar rig..amplitude..others. This is what I will be doing soon..piping the guitar through PRE into my York ville AP 512..unless I can p[atch it direct and just turn up the gain, the use KX to get some distroted tones and cleans..but I want to figure out how I can do real time Direct X effects for the guitar..I think I have the issue solved but I have to wait to try it out. Think about how cool it would be the options would be limitless....guitar with some nice overdrive and OZONE for the TUbe sparkle..add some stero chorus and some waves truverb.....Can't wait...SO your saying that you can still play without a preamp..hmm, I guess you need the pre though to get USABLE levels for recording.....

DOn't worry so much as he explained KX is intimidating only because most people are used to the fisher Price interface of Creative labs...KX is so powerful and functional that it takes alittle bit of work to get to understand what your doing..but Your well rewarded given the sheer number of effects and patching capabilities....You could make 100's of effects presets for your guitar and save them as shortcuts in a folder on the desktop..point and click..or take it a step further and mapp the presets to hotkeys or a midi controller...your only limited by your imagination. good luck...

Maybe guys who use th guitar with KX should start sending in effects patches for others....man I love these drivers...

CorTezTheK1LLeR · May 23, 2005, 11:55 AM

well..the dsp screen shots are the way to go for newbies thats for sure..although...once I had set up the basic configuration, I did the kx speaker test, and silence..so back to the net for a trawl...hang on!..Im getting the usual clicks as I select shortcuts and such!..hmm..try an mp3..yes it works!..try combat flight simulator..fine for about 10 minutes..then the pc crashes..and still no joy with my guitar..Im thinking im going to have to forget my guitar now, and go back to my old soundblaster 128..I cant do without my games because Im in a clan.. and Im in danger of losing my team place because I havent flown for more than a week now..Ive made all the buffer settings as big as they can go,I've tried filtering the EAX,but it still crashes...
Thanks for the help you all gave me..I'll just have to save up for a guitar amp and a tascam 4 track..