Cannot Record Using Soundblaster X-FI

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zuluwave
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2011/03/22 23:32:39 (permalink)

Cannot Record Using Soundblaster X-FI

I recently installed a Soundblaster X-FI card and now I cannot record an audio track. I have uninstalled and reinstalled Sonar several times without success. Under options-audio, when I attempt to select a driver mode-ASIO, as suggested in the audio hardware guide, the audio options dialog window will not allow me to hit "OK", it just flashes. During the process of uninstall/reinstall, I was able to get the wave profiler to work, however no luck in recording. Also under "Record Timing Master" the Soundblaster does not show up, however for the Playback it does. What the heck do I need to do to get Sonar to recognize the card properly? The soundcard works fine outside of Sonar as well as Sonar playback. Gracias Amigos.
 
Running Sonar 6.2 under Vista (sorry)
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    mxz583
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    Re:Cannot Record Using Soundblaster X-FI 2011/03/22 23:50:17 (permalink)
    Ok it looks like this card is designed primarily for playback not recording (if im looking at the correct card) It also appears that it has software that controls most functions of the card if so you may have to change settings in that.
    What you describe makes it sound to me like the card is available for playback but not input make sure the input is enabled in the drivers tab of the audio options.
    Probably going to have to purchase an audio interface designed for recording
    Beagle will be able to verify that.

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    #2
    57Gregy
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    Re:Cannot Record Using Soundblaster X-FI 2011/03/23 00:30:22 (permalink)
    Go to the Creative website and download and install the latest drivers for Vista, and any updates/patches that might be available for the X-Fi and your OS.
    Sound Blasters are very good as sound cards for playback of mp3s or videos and DVDs, but are not really designed for recording. If it's new, I would suggest returning it and getting an audio interface designed for recording.

    Greg 
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    #3
    chuckebaby
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    Re:Cannot Record Using Soundblaster X-FI 2011/03/23 01:39:42 (permalink)
    it is a new mini flashdrive soundcard..they just came out..did you get it at best buy??ive seen the x-fi go..this is very comparable..im sure it will record,it came with a disc..did you download that or go to the site and download the drivers off their website????greg is right..hopefully they will recognize it since windows may have already made drivers for it,if you havent already done this.it might be hard to understand but keep reading the manual(help) and come back for questions.

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    #4
    Beagle
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    Re:Cannot Record Using Soundblaster X-FI 2011/03/23 08:21:16 (permalink)
    creative has been criticised for their lack of ASIO drivers for Vista and win7. 

    also, soundblasters are not typically the best soundcards to buy for recording - they are designed more for gaming and home theater (that's my opinion regardless of their claims on their advertising).

    if you've checked the creative website and downloaded the latest vista drivers and cannot get your card to work in ASIO driver mode, then just use WDM driver mode.  the only thing you have to be careful of is to make sure that in the OPTIONS>AUDIO under PLAYBACK and RECORDING devices, make sure only the X-fi is listed in both pull down menus as being the one selected, not any other device (including your onboard soundcard).

    if that doesn't work let us know and we'll come up with some more things to try.

    but if you are using this soundcard mostly for recording, I'd see if you can return it and get a "recording" soundcard.  check my website for recommendations.

    http://soundcloud.com/beaglesound/sets/featured-songs-1
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    #5
    zuluwave
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    Re:Cannot Record Using Soundblaster X-FI 2011/03/24 00:18:29 (permalink)
    Thank you all for your guidance, very much appreciated. Tried new drivers (Creative does not have ASIO but Cakewalk specifically calls them out in the HW guide for Creative?). Tried what they had and it didn't help.

    I am actually helping my music-partner out with the problem and the course of action we decided on is to upgrade the PC to Windows 7.  Vista is not a happy place to be anyway. Also a family member member may give her a newer laptop. If so, do you recommend the Edirol USB 1A-UX for a laptop, seems like a simple solution? To clarify, she is a vocalist. I build the tracks in my Cakewalk, then I mix down/export the project into one audio track to give to her. Then the plan is for her to import the music-audio track into her Cakewalk and then create and record a new audio track for vocals. Then later, I import her vocal track into my Cakewalk for the mix. That way we can work separately. 

    Beagle - awesome site!  Sincerely, Thanks everyone.....
    #6
    Beagle
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    Re:Cannot Record Using Soundblaster X-FI 2011/03/24 08:35:33 (permalink)
    I don't see an Edirol USB 1A-UX anywhere.  do you maybe mean the UA-1G or maybe the UA-25EX?  either of those should work, but the UA-1G is pretty limited in what it can do.  the UA-25EX is a much better soundcard, especially for a vocalist.  the UA-25EX already has an XLR connection with a mic preamp.  the UA-1G only has an "electret condensor mic input" which basically is just an input for a "computer microphone" and you really don't want your vocalist recording into a computer mic.

    for the SB soundcard, you can try downloading and installing ASIO4ALL (google it or find a link on my website in the help section), then in SHS go to OPTIONS>AUDIO and change the driver mode to ASIO.  that might work.

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    #7
    zuluwave
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    Re:Cannot Record Using Soundblaster X-FI 2011/03/25 11:35:25 (permalink)
    Beagle-

    Thank you for the advice on the UA-25EX (somehow I mixed up the numbers on the UA-1G).  Looks perfect, in fact I should get one for myself as well.  I have run across the ASIO4ALL site before.  I will talk to my partner and see has far along she is into getting Windows 7 or a laptop before we try it.  We really appreciate the time you have taken to help, thank you. I will post when we finally get this worked out.  Thanks again!
    #8
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