sigh....

Lakedemon · Jun 17, 2004, 05:06 PM

so, that means I have to buy a hardware mixer.....

Damn....

I was hoping I could do it with the soundblaster and the kx drivers....

My purse already bled to death when I bought the tube amp, the cabinet and the power attenuator....

TravelRec. · Jun 18, 2004, 02:46 AM

Hi!

Please be more specific and say what you want to do and whatÂ´s wrong with it. KX is able to mix everything and nothing - it depends from the software you also use... DonÂ´t be so fast with giving up it all!

Greetings!

TravelRec.

Lakedemon · Jun 18, 2004, 10:19 AM

Well, basically, I want to record 2 streams at the same time
through the line in and the mic in of my soundblaster live!
And I really don't want to buy new hardware for that.

The previous post should have been in the thread "Recording 2 streams.." (I made a mistake and created a new thread when I wanted to reply)...
In this thread they said I should use a mixer...

Lakedemon · Jun 18, 2004, 10:21 AM

As for software, I use Cubase SX and the Kx-drivers, of course.

Btw, I can't manage to install the driver for the AC97 on my A7V8X motherboard (Asus).
Could the Kx drivers be the reason ?

(I thought maybee I could use the ac97 on the motherboard and the ac97 on the soundcard to record the 2 streams...)

Doug W · Jun 18, 2004, 12:43 PM

You could also accomplish the same thing by hitting Radio Shack and rigging up some sort of Y cable. You would have (2) 1/4" or 1/8" mono connectors, (whichever you have), on one end and the other end would be your 1/8" stereo connector.

The wire from the tip of one of the mono connectors would be tied to the tip of the stereo connector and the the tip of the other mono connector would tie in to the Ring of the stereo connector.

Then the sleeves of both mono connectors would be tied to the sleeve of the stereo connector.

But I think a mixer is an investment you won't regret for recording.

**dj_stick** · Jun 18, 2004, 07:30 PM

with the ac97 on your motherboard, does the board provide a digital out header? if so connecting to the soundblaster is simple and you can record two stereo or 4 mono channels (far cheaper than a mixer)

Lakedaemon · Jun 19, 2004, 11:36 AM

With some trouble, I managed to set up the AC97 on my Asus A7V8X (Audio option) :
Had to change the Bios and make a brand new installation of Windows XP...

So I can record through the Ac97 of the mobbo
and through the AC97 of the soundblaster.

Now, my first question is :

Can cubase record at the same time the soundblaster stream through the kx-asio driver
and the motherboard stream through some other route ? if yes, how ?

Or, do I have to route the motherboard AC97 with a wire to the Soundblaster live value?

In that case, my Motherboard has a digital s/pdif out
(6 channel audio, probably to use with 6.1 hp, there are 2 "holes" where you can plug something)

And where in the soundblaster value should I plug the wire ?
On the back of the sb, there are the 2 outs for the hp... the line in, the mic in and a digital hole (don't know if it's a out or a in)....on the inside of the comp, there are various analogous/digital cd/in....
Now, which one should I use ?

Any advice on the matter is welcome.....

There is still something that bothers me though....
If the soundblaster can only record one stereo in.....How is it possible that wiring the ac97 of my motherboard could make my soundblaster record 2 stereos in ?

I'm lost there.....

Lakedaemon · Jun 19, 2004, 01:15 PM

Mmmmh, after a lot of google-research, I learn that Cubase can't use more than 1 asio driver...

That means that I can't record at the same time my soundblaster with the kx-asio drivers
and my mic with the asio4all driver developed by this guy :/
http://michael.tippach.bei.t-online....l/install.html

Damn.....Cubase sx sucks......
what's the deal....how come it can't record from 2 sound cards at the same time.....
Will we have to wait for cubase sx 7 for that ?

Bah.....

After a bit more reflexion....
The soundblaster live can't record 2 ANALOG stereo streams at the same time
BUT can it record 1 ANALOG stream and 1 DIGITAL stream at the same time ?
If so, that would clear my aforementioned confusion....

Any advice welcome...

**dj_stick** · Jun 19, 2004, 05:58 PM

connect via digital methods, the ac-97 codec (there should be an s/pdif header on the m/b) to the cd_spdif header on the card. you can then use CD s/pdif in the DSP as your second input

Doomsayer · Jun 19, 2004, 07:03 PM

Yes, the point is that you can hook up your onboard AC97 as another input to the SBLive. You'll have both inputs routed independently to ASIO as a result.

Doug W · Jun 21, 2004, 10:14 AM

So assuming your onboard AC97 has an SPDIF connector, you connect an SPDIF cable from the onboard AC97 SPDIF out to your SPDIF in connector on the SBLive. You set the line in and SPDIF out levels from the windows mixer for your onboard AC97, then your onboard AC97 will appear as a stereo input on your SBLive controlled by the CD digital in sliders. (the SBLive has more than one SPDIF inputs and outputs-I just use the SPDIF in as an example, you could use others)

If you use the Line in or Mic in on your SBLive, then you have another stereo input controlled by the SBLive mixer-(4 independent mono inputs in total). You can send these to 4 separate ASIO inputs.

You choose your ASIO sound card in the ASIO control panel. It is part of the ASIO top secret inner workings that Cubase or any ASIO compliant sequencer can only use one ASIO card.

vr6racer · Jun 21, 2004, 01:09 PM

i also have a a7v8x and this ideia is quite usefull..

but canÃ* use also the outputs of the MB?

i would be thinking in using one output and the microphone to use with my headphones...

how can i select witch input from the board to output to spdif?

thanks in advance..
ricardo

**dj_stick** · Jun 21, 2004, 04:09 PM

of the motherboard has spdif IN, perhaps using one of the AUD_EXT connectors, the pinout is available on he net or with hwinfo.hlp in a creative installation

peate · Jun 21, 2004, 05:23 PM

I always thought you had to disable your onboard audio if you had a sound card.
I've got a Gigabyte 845pe with built in inputs. So all I do is enable it in the BIOS, install the drivers for it and hope there's no conflict? I know it's got a digital out and I've got a Live Platinum 0060. I connect to any digital in and away I go with 4 mono inputs? That's too cool.

Any precautions or tips I would appreciate, I also use N-track studio and those Asio channels confuse the hell out of me. I don't need all 16. I couldn't use Asio before I upgraded my PC so now I'm testing it out.

Thanks for the great tips you guys always come up with.

Pierre

Doug W · Jun 21, 2004, 06:19 PM

You don't have to disable the onboard sound, it is just often the case that onboard sound is sucky. The best thing to do is try it out and see if it stutters on you. If it doesn't perform for you, I would suggest a trip to Ebay, for a second Creative Labs card. You could pick one up there for under $20 US. Cards I have used successfully with KX are:

CT4670
CT4830
CT4780
SB0090

I also use nTrack and have some text files concerning the whole business of setting up KX with 2 sound cards and nTrack. If you want them as an email attachment send me a PM.

Doug

Lakedaemon · Jun 22, 2004, 02:18 AM

Mmmh, you wouldn't believe how hard it is to find a
"2 mono female jacks to 1 stereo jack" wire
on the june the 21st in France
(a national day for music, alll music shops are closed and the other shops suck)....

Now, I have one more question.....(one more ^_^).

The soundblaster live! 1024 that I doesn't have an outside "digital in".
So I guess I'll have to use an inside "digital in" (nothing wrong there)
The ins and outs (shematics) of my sb live (CT4830) are :

Tad in (4 pins) CD in (4pins) Aux in (4pins) PC speaker (2pins) CD_SPDIF (2 pins)

Digital out

Line in_______________________________________AUD_EXT (lots of pins)

Mic in

Speaker out 1_______________________________________ J13-2 (10 pins)

Speaker out 2

And on my motherboard, there is a SPDIF1 whose pins are :

SPDIF1's pins

SPIDF in | Ground
---------------------------
+5V |
---------------------------
SPDIF out | Ground

I know that a CD in's pins are :

CD in's pins :

Right Audio Channel | Ground |Ground | Left Audio Channel

So......I'm assuming the only way to connect the mobbo's AC97 to the sb live
is to plug a wire from the SPDIF1 to the CD_SPDIF.

But the CD_SPDIF pins are :

UNKNOWN | UNKNOWN

So..... where do I plug the SPDIF out and where do I plug the GRound ?
(I'm assuming I don't have to plug the +5V, right ?)

Well, I'm amazed at the amount of stuff you can learn by surfing the internet/speaking to music dealers/prowling shops in 2 days....
Didn't know that that amazing world of Sound cards/Mixers/Mics/wires existed before.....

**dj_stick** · Jun 22, 2004, 02:23 AM

Code:

CD_SPDIF In connector pin assignments

Pin	Description	I/O
1	GND	-
2	SPDIF	In

Copyright Â© 1998-2000 Creative Technology, Ltd.

Code:

UD_EXT connector pin assignments

Note

ADC stands for Analog-to-Digital Converter

Pin	Name	Description
1	VCC	+5V power supply
2	VCC	+5V power supply
3	GND	Ground
4	AC97CLK	24.5 MHz clock output
5	GND	Ground
6	GP_SPDIFIN#2	SPDIF input signal
7	GND	Ground
8	GND	Ground
9	SPDIFO#3	SPDIF Out signal
10	GPO1	General Purpose Output #1
11	GPO2	General Purpose Output #2
12	GND	Ground
13	GPO0	General Purpose Output #0
14	GND	Ground
15	GP_SPDIFIN1	SPDIF Input signal
16	GND	Ground
17	SPDIFO#0	SPDIF Out signal

18	GND	Ground
19	SPDIFO#1	SPDIF Out signal
20	GND	Ground
21	GND	Ground
22	SPDIFO#2	SPDIF Out signal
23	GPI0	Digital Input (GP Input 0; Reserved)
24	GPI1	Digital Input, (GP Input 1; Reserved)
25	OUTMIDI	MIDI Output
26	GND	Ground
27	INMIDI	MIDI Input
28	GND	Ground
29	KEY
30	KEY
31	ADCSDO2	I2S audio data input.
32	GND	Ground
33	ADCSDO1	I2S audio data input.
34	GND	Ground
35	ADCSDO0	I2S audio data input.
36	GND	Ground
37	I2SCLK	I2S serial bit clock.

38	GND	Ground
39	I2SFS	Frame sync.
40	GND	Ground

Copyright Â© 1998-2000 Creative Technology, Ltd.

Lakedaemon · Jun 22, 2004, 02:24 AM

Blessed be dj_stick !

**dj_stick** · Jun 22, 2004, 02:25 AM

i hope those pinouts help you

Lakedaemon · Jun 22, 2004, 02:28 AM

/me rejoices !

**dj_stick** · Jun 22, 2004, 02:32 AM

more here

Doug W · Jun 22, 2004, 09:23 AM

So Lakedaemon, what is the French equivalent to Radio Shack? or dj_stick, how about the Australian equivalent?

Lakedaemon, it occurred to me that your 2 gizmos you use to input to your cards might be stereo outs instead of mono outs. I don't think that should make any difference as long as you are not using a pan on one of the gizmos. I guess if one or both of them have stereo outs, you could buy stereo connectors for them and then tie the:

tip and ring of one to the tip of the sound card in jack
tip and ring of the other to the ring of the sound card in jack

but that seems like a lot of monkeying around and is probably not necessary.

Lakedaemon · Jun 22, 2004, 12:22 PM

Well, I butchered one internal cd cable into 2 wires and successfully connected
the SPDIF out of the AC97 to the CD-spdif of the sb live!

After a little more fiddling with the Kx-driver and the AC97 configuration, I finally got what DJ-stick promised me (yay him) : I can now record 2 stereo streams with the sb live!

If I buy (enough fiddling for now) 2 custom made "2 female mono-jacks into 1 stereo male jack" wires,
I should now be able to record 4 mono streams with the sblive !
Weeeeeeeeeeeee

Well, all this stuff made me aware of what I'll need if I want to upgrade my recording chain in the future :

I'll need a high end sound card
with at least 3 mono inputs (1 line in, 2 mics ar least) and phantom power (for the mics)
and better mics

As far as I know, the new emu 1820m soundcard seems like a good choice for that
Well, now, if only I could find a lost wallet with 1000â‚¬ in.....

I thank everyone for all the great advice. This is one hell of a nice forum with knowledgeable guys.
Now, back to music !

TravelRec. · Jun 23, 2004, 12:41 AM

Hi Lakedaemon!

I only want to ask: Have you seen the converter project that IÂ´ve started a while ago? Maybe this is useful for you. With this method IÂ´m currently recording 10 mono channels with only one card - but you need some electronics knowledge... look here .

Greetings!

TravelRec.