MC3 Newbie Audio Input Setup (help needed)

Newbie issue. When I first run MC3, the wave profiler comes up and I get a dialog with the following:

==== Realtek AC'97 Audio (1 in, 1 out) ====
11025 Hz: OK
22050 Hz: OK
44100 Hz: OK
48000 Hz: OK
88200 Hz: not available
96000 Hz: not available
176400 Hz: not available
192000 Hz: not available

Is the above OK?

I'm trying to run this on Acer Aspire 5000, with it's vanilla sound setup.

After this, when MC3 starts up I see a dialog "No MIDI Outputs Selected". If I go and select MIDI Devices, I see only Microsoft MIDI Mapper, which the faq says cannot be selected.

If I click OK and exit the dialog, I have no audio input devices. If I click on a track and select 'I'nput, I see a two-item menu:

None
Realtek AC'97 Audio (1 in, 1 out) > (but no menu item shows up beneath this)

So I cannot select any input. If I look at the driver details under Control Panel | Hardware, I select the Driver Details and see that wdmaud.drv is listed. (I've seen some other posts about MME and ASIO, I believe), but not sure how to select or change the driver to enable these.

Any help suggestions appreciated.

TIA,
ice

Can someone help me out here with my configuration.

I was able to play Tutorial 1 through the MIDI output fine.

I skipped Tutorial 2 as I'm not recording MIDI at this point.

In tutorial 3, I am interested in recording digital Audio. As indicated in my original post, for 'I'nputs (for an audio track) I see only TWO options:

NONE
Realtek AC'97 Audio (1 in, 1 out) >

But after the '>' there is no sub-menu to select (i.e. the mouse hovers, but no sub-menu gets displayed). I cannot select an audio input. Is there something that I need to configure on my laptop's sound setup?

Again, any advice appreciated.

TIA,
ice

Thanks for your responses Beagle. I am already running in MME driver mode. This is getting frustrating. I only want to lay down some guitar tracks.

Is there any place I can email a screenshot of this issue where Cakewalk tech's can view this problem? It seems like it must be some configuration thing they can recognize asap.

Again, appreciate the help.

Tks,
ice

no problem, ice, i'd have gotten to that eventually, but it's not realtime tech support on user forums!

glad you got it to work!

Have you opened the Windows Volume Control and checked the Advanced Tab to make sure you have enabled recording on the "line" in of your soundcard? Right click on the speaker/volume icon in the systray. Open the "audio" tab, then select the Sound recording "volume" button to open the recording control button. When you get there, make sure Line In is selected and the volume is at max.

Let us know what you find....

Yes, that was it. Thanks for the tip sjfoote and beagle. I am using the 'mic' input as it turns out. The advanced button only allows for a "mic boost", which I don't, in fact, need. I am getting plenty of signal and will have to turn it down even more when I hook up the pedalboard, which has a pre-amp in it.

I didn't even think to look for the 'record' section of the sound control applet. Once I found it, the record volume was set to 0, so that's why no signal.

Thanks for the help. Now onto other things like getting some drums, voice and bass parts.

One last quick request for advice - should I consider purchasing an Edirol, or similar device, so that I can handle the XLR inputs of my microphone, for example? (i.e. how else to get that input into the computer).

Also, beagle thanks for the tip regarding the sound card. Actually I am just using MC3 to lay down musical 'ideas' for a band. We have an alternate recording studio option for the real deal. So what I have, I think, will have sufficient fidelity to just communicate my musical ideas (I hope). If you still think there's an issue, then please let me know. I am running on a notebook and not a desktop. If I were to have to purchase a sound card, I'm guessing that a desktop would be the best environment for that.

I'm learning...

Thanks again all,
ice

If I were to have to purchase a sound card, I'm guessing that a desktop would be the best environment for that.

Not necessarily. A laptop can provide a great environment for DAW, but the choices of sound devices are much more limited. I don't know what model you are talking about for the EDirol for your mic inputs, but yes, you'd probably want to get a good preamp for your mic - and for quality recording - you'd want a Condenser mic (LD for vocal) and that requires phantom power.

for lappy - choices are USB or PCMCIA (possibly firewire, but most laps don't come with firewire unless it's an apple). PCMCIA sound cards are expensive, but really good! the EMU 1616M comes with a breakout box that has mic inputs and phantom power...sweet! But it costs around $500, I think (maybe more).

USB devices can be OK - go for the USB 2.0 if you can afford it, but there aren't that many actual USB 2.0 devices available.

make sure you get something that has 24bit A/D conversion (most do these days, but not all) - and soundblasters will work, but I wouldn't spend money on them if you plan to spend money on recording. they're designed for gaming, not recording.

most usb devices come with a preamp and a lot of them have phantom power and several have MIDI I/O available for you to connect a keyboard or drum machine up.