Hi all.  New to Cakewalk/Music Creator 5 LE.  I purchased a First Act 1/4" cable with a USB end to plug directly into my laptop.  The cable came with MC5 LE so I'm learning the software too.  My acoustic doesn't have a built-in pick-up so I'm using an external one that then plugs into the First Act cable (the pick-up works well straight into an amp so I know that part of the equation is working).  My trouble is that I can't seem to get MC5 LE to recognize the sound coming in from the USB port.  My laptop microphone is the only input option I have when chosing an input for an audio track.  I can play and record through the laptop's mic and then mess with it within MC5 but it won't go through the USB port.  Any suggestions on what I may be missing?  Is a configuration thing? Any suggestions welcome.
 
I have several images of the guitar and cabling and input setup screen in MC5 LE but the forum software seems to only want them from a URL as opposed to allowing them to be loaded from a local drive.  I can provide directly to someone if they think it's useful. 
 
Paul

Did any drivers come with that cable? I am trying to find more information on that cable, but keep hitting ad links.
 
Can you give us a quick configuration of your computer (similar to my signature)?
 
Before MC5 can see that input, the computer will need to recognize it. In Windows, if you hit the start button, type "sound" and choose "change sound card settings" you will see hardware your computer recognizes. If you do not see that cable listed, try unplugging and plugging it back in. I would think that some set of drivers was included with it, but looking for more info.
 
Edit: Here is a thread from 4 years ago, and I share the same concerns of exactly what that cable is, etc. When recording into a computer, it is preferred to have an audio interface to stream signals in/out of the computer efficiently.

Thanks for the quick response.  No drivers came with it but when I first plugged it in I got the 'installing device driver' software' message.  No errors popped up. 
 
When I go to 'change sound card settings' and then plug in the cable, it shows up under the 'Playback' tab as 'Speakers Generic USB Device' description and under the 'Recording' tab as 'Microphone Default Communications Device'.  Interestingly, I have a cigar box guitar with a built-in pickup and it works through this cable into MC5.  I think it's just not picking up a signal from the external picup on my acoustic.  Why would that be? 
 
My laptop is Windows 7 x64, 8 GB RAM.  Off the shelf corporate laptop.  internal speakers and mic.

The difference between the guitars could be the level of the signal coming out of the pickups. The cable is not a "pre-amp" as far as I can tell, so the signal may not be strong enough to pass through. Something to test with the external pickup is to first try it out in the Windows sound card window. Click on it there, and select "properties" and go to the "levels" tab and maximize that and see if you are getting any signal in. That properties window is a checkpoint for any signal before MC5 can see it.
 
Do that on the "Recording" tab... select properties for the cable, and on the "Listen" tab check "Listen to this device"... then move to the "Levels" tab and see if you can hear the external pickup by adjusting there.

Also... in windows sound card settings on the "Playback" tab, be sure that your real speakers are "set as default" with that cable plugged in... otherwise Win7 may try to use it as the "speaker" on you.

Good suggestions.  I tried it out in the Windows sound card window only. I selected "properties" and went to the "levels" tab and maximized the settting. I also selected properties for the cable, and on the "Listen" tab check "Listen to this device"... then move to the "Levels" tab and see if you can hear the external pickup by adjusting there.  I can now get a signal in that window but it looks as if the built-in mic and the external pickup are bringing in a signal.  Should I disable my built-in mic?  Also, how do I get MC LE to recognize the new input device.  All it still shows is the MME Devices of my internal IDT mic.
 
 

It looks like Win7 may be trying to use all of your devices at once. Try disabling the ones you will not be using to play... i.e. on the playback, leave only the speakers enabled, and on the recording only the cable input. Again, that window contains what is passed to other software, so with only your speakers doing playback and cable doing recording they "should" appear in MC5.
 
You may have to set up that sound card window before/after each session with MC5. When actually recording, you should not have to "listen to the device" if MC5 works properly for you.

If you have the setup mentioned above, try closing and reopening MC5 if it is still not seeing the cable. It should react to Win7 changes, but in case it does not, try closing/reopening MC5.
 
I need to bolt here for a party, so hopefully I have gotten you close to success. Please let us know if it is working or if you have any other questions.
 
Have a Happy New Year! Be safe and enjoy!

Welcome to the forum.
I have a Dean Markley acoustic guitar pick-up. It has a very low signal level, so low that the digital tuner in my amp can't "hear" it. It's possible that the First Act cable can't hear your pick-up, too.
Eventually, you'll probably want to get an audio interface to replace the FA guitar cable.
 

Is the FA showing up in the available audio devices list in the track input selection window? Disconnect the FA and observe that list.... then , plug it in and see what pops up that is new.
 
Have you checked the FA web site to see if they have device specific drivers there? I don't know why a 3rd party device would show up as default.