FUZZTX
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Blue Icicle & Latency Issue With Head Phones *Noob Alert*
Hey, First post here and total noob to digital recording. I just bought Music Creator 5 and the Blue Icicle, which is a xlr/usb mic adapter, and having a slight delay in my headphones. I read the Cakewalk FAQ, which suggests to try the asio4all driver. I downloaded it and now I can't get any audio to come through my headphones, so I can't confirm that this fixed the delay issue. Any suggestions? Thanks and I appreciate any feedback.
post edited by FUZZTX - 2010/11/28 21:40:20
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57Gregy
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Re:Blue Icicle & Latency Issue With Head Phones *Noob Alert*
2010/11/28 22:20:36
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Welcome to the forum.
Tell us about your computer; how much RAM, what OS; is it a 64-bit OS? What sound card are you using?
I think you will not get good performance with any USB mic (despite those who may say that they do).
They can usually be made to work in MME driver mode, but you still end up using 2 sound cards at once (the Icicle will be seen as a sound card) which will cause synchronization problems, not to mention the latency..
At Guitar Center, the Icicle lists for $59. For an additional $50 you could have gotten a USB audio interface with more inputs and control options and no possibility of synching problems since all of your sound, in and out, would route through the interface.
After you installed ASIO4All, did you close and re-open MC? You would then need to go to Options>Audio and select the ASIO4All drivers, and deselect all other drivers.
Make sure you set up each track's inputs and outputs, since some of the settings could change with the installation of ASIO4All.
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FUZZTX
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Re:Blue Icicle & Latency Issue With Head Phones *Noob Alert*
2010/11/28 23:07:55
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Hi 57Gregy,
I have a Dell 15r, Windows 7 64 bit OS, 4G RAM, I am not sure of the sound card, but believe it may be made by Intel.
I did close and reopen MC after installing and selecting the ASIO4All and still had the problem with not being able to monitor through head phones.
Using the MME driver mode I am able to select the output of each track and set it to headphones. But, with ASIO4All the only option for output available says something like "no item installed".
I may see if Sweetwater will exchange the Icicle. If so, do you have a USB interface you would suggest? I don't want to spend too much right now, so the extra $50 you mentioned sounds reasonable.
I sure appreciate your help!
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Beagle
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Re:Blue Icicle & Latency Issue With Head Phones *Noob Alert*
2010/11/28 23:19:38
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you can't use ASIO for USB mics because ASIO only allows ONE soundcard at a time to be used. since the USB mic is considered a "soundcard" (yes, it's one way, but still a soundcard) then you can't use your onboard soundcard to hear anything if you're using the USB mic in ASIO mode.
change to MME driver mode and you can probably use both at the same time. although you're likely going to have sync problems because, again, you're using 2 different soundcards and they don't have the same clocks, but one of them has to be the master.
greg's advice of getting a better setup is best. I have soundcard recommendations on my website.
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FUZZTX
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Re:Blue Icicle & Latency Issue With Head Phones *Noob Alert*
2010/11/28 23:25:36
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Thanks, Beagle!
Thanks for the info. I am going to look into a new setup as suggested and will check out your site for your recommendations.
I am also in Fort Worth, BTW!
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57Gregy
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Re:Blue Icicle & Latency Issue With Head Phones *Noob Alert*
2010/11/29 00:04:27
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That Beagle's on the ball. I forgot about the "1 sound card with ASIO" thing. I guess I never thought of ASIO4All as a true ASIO driver, but it plays one on TV.
I could never get it to work on my system when I had a Sound Blaster.
Since you have a 64-bit OS, I have to mention that MC 5 (or any other MC version) isn't 64-bit compatible. So you may get some problems with it's operation or proper functioning of some of it's plug-ins, since they are 32-bit apps. If it's working now, you may not have to worry about it until something happens.
There is also a Music Creator 5 update for Win 7 in one of the stickies at the top of the page. You might want to grab that.
Good luck!
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Guitarhacker
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Re:Blue Icicle & Latency Issue With Head Phones *Noob Alert*
2010/11/29 07:57:57
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Yeah, the advice to return it, and pony up another $50 or so to get a "real interface" is advice worth taking seriously.
Most of the people here are all using an external interface (aka soundcard) that connects via USB ...BUT.... it is specifically designed to work well, and they do. Latency drops to the inaudible level and you can create your music without that sort of problem.
Your computer's factory card can co-exist peacefully with an ASIO based USB interface.
My website & music: www.herbhartley.com MC4/5/6/X1e.c, on a Custom DAW Focusrite Firewire Saffire Interface BMI/NSAI "Just as the blade chooses the warrior, so too, the song chooses the writer "
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Beagle
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Re:Blue Icicle & Latency Issue With Head Phones *Noob Alert*
2010/11/29 10:28:55
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FUZZTX
Thanks, Beagle!
Thanks for the info. I am going to look into a new setup as suggested and will check out your site for your recommendations.
I am also in Fort Worth, BTW!
Cool! there are actually several of us in Ft. Worth and the metroplex and we have a DFW Users group, if you're interested. we just met a little over a week ago for a "preamp shootout."
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FUZZTX
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Re:Blue Icicle & Latency Issue With Head Phones *Noob Alert*
2010/11/29 10:52:34
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Beagle
FUZZTX
Thanks, Beagle!
Thanks for the info. I am going to look into a new setup as suggested and will check out your site for your recommendations.
I am also in Fort Worth, BTW!
Cool! there are actually several of us in Ft. Worth and the metroplex and we have a DFW Users group, if you're interested. we just met a little over a week ago for a "preamp shootout."
That sounds like fun! Thanks so much for all the info and advice! Sweetwater is allowing me exchange the Icicle and suggesting I get the M-Audio MobilePre which seems a bit much for what I needs, but the M-Audio Fast Track is more in my bidget. Anyone have any experience with the Fast Track or know if it will solve the issues I am having?
post edited by FUZZTX - 2010/11/29 10:54:16
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57Gregy
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Re:Blue Icicle & Latency Issue With Head Phones *Noob Alert*
2010/11/29 11:10:33
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Lots of folks on these forums use the Fast Track and other M-Audio interfaces with good results. I see that it is compatible with Win 7 64-bit, so that's good, too.
Plug in your guitar or mic, monitor with speakers and/or headphones, it has phantom power if you use a condenser mic.
It should work well for you.
Once installed, go to the M-Audio website and download any driver updates for it; the drivers on the disk may have been written months or even years ago, and updating the driver is essential. Make sure to get the driver for your system.
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Beagle
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Re:Blue Icicle & Latency Issue With Head Phones *Noob Alert*
2010/11/29 11:22:47
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FUZZTX
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Re:Blue Icicle & Latency Issue With Head Phones *Noob Alert*
2010/11/29 11:56:05
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Thanks, guys!
57Gregy, the features you pointed out are exactly what I am looking for. I think I will go with the Fast Track. I will let you guys know how it works out!
Thanks!
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FUZZTX
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Re:Blue Icicle & Latency Issue With Head Phones *Noob Alert*
2010/12/05 21:52:47
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Hey guys, I went ahead with the M-Audio MobilePre and it seems to have fixed my issue with delay in monitoring, however I now my recordings have a stuttering type effect to them.  I'll search the forum and see what I can find and keep working on the problem. But, if anyone has any advice I would greatly appreciate it.
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Beagle
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Re:Blue Icicle & Latency Issue With Head Phones *Noob Alert*
2010/12/05 21:59:10
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you may have your latency set too low.
are you using WDM or ASIO driver mode? what is your latency reported in the OPTIONS>AUDIO
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FUZZTX
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Re:Blue Icicle & Latency Issue With Head Phones *Noob Alert*
2010/12/05 22:21:46
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Hi Beagle,
I was using MME. I read your post and switched over to WDM and it fixed the stuttering. I suppose I will just stay in that mode since it is working. Latency is showing 8.7msec.
Using ASIO driver I get no signal. I downloaded ASIO4ALL, but think I am doing something right. This is a whole other issue I understand, though.
For now, I guess it's ok to stay in WDM until I learn more about this program in digital recording, true?
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57Gregy
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Re:Blue Icicle & Latency Issue With Head Phones *Noob Alert*
2010/12/05 22:32:51
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If you're getting 8.7 ms latency in WDM with no problems, that's good.
However, go ahead and delete ASIO4All from your computer now.
Then go to the M-Audio website and download/install any updates for the MobilePre. Grab their true ASIO driver while you're there, if you want to. You must delete ASIO4All from your computer before installing the M-Audio ASIO driver.
As I wrote, you don't have to use the M-Audio ASIO driver if you're getting good performance, but ASIO4All must be deleted first if you want to use M-Audio's ASIO driver.
Did I mention that you should delete ASIO4All from your computer before trying another ASIO driver? :-)
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FUZZTX
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Re:Blue Icicle & Latency Issue With Head Phones *Noob Alert*
2010/12/05 22:55:15
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HAHA! Thanks, Greg! I went ahead and removed ASIO4All and updated my m-audio driver. I can't seem to find the m-audio asio driver on their site, but will look for it later.
I will stick with what I have for now since I am getting decent results.
I appreciate ya'lls help!!!
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Beagle
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Re:Blue Icicle & Latency Issue With Head Phones *Noob Alert*
2010/12/05 23:09:25
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m-audio's drivers include ASIO and WDM. they're not separate - you won't see "ASIO drivers" listed on their website. just use the latest drivers from their site for your operating system, make sure ASIO4ALL is deleted from your system, and change to ASIO driver mode and it should work.
of course if WDM works fine for you that's OK too. it doesn't matter as long as it works and as long as you get low latency.
however, you can probably get a little bit lower than 8.7msecs with ASIO without stuttering.
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FUZZTX
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Re:Blue Icicle & Latency Issue With Head Phones *Noob Alert*
2010/12/05 23:15:47
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Thanks, Beagle!
I should be good to go then with my drivers. I will try a few recordings in ASIO mode and see if it works out better!
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