MC3 WON'T RECORD AUDIO!!!

What the heck is wrong!!! Only days ago, I was using my normal, everyday USB mic, everyday desktop computer, and everyday Music Creator 3 to record audio.
But now, every time I click record, it WILL begin recording; however, as soon as I click record again (to stop recording, of course), it removes what ever I just recorded.
I'm thinking about making a fresh install the first step, but I don't know what to do short of that/what to do alternatively.
Anybody ever experience that? Is this a unique problem, But moreover, is there a fix??

Any time people say that they are using a USB mic with Cakewalk products....... I suspect the mic first and foremost as the source of problems. 

Although I could be wrong.... 

Something has obviously been changed. Double check the signal path routing.  If all that is good.....restart the computer.... try again..... beyond that.... IDK much about USB mics other than they are problematic. 

The better option is to use a dedicated musical interface and a normal mic. 

There are really no "best for everyone" settings since everyone's computer has different stuff on it; hardware, software, peripherals, etc.
Theoretically, clicking the Wave Profiler button will let your Cakewalk program 'see' what audio devices you have and set itself to the best it thinks the hardware can handle, but there may need to be some additional tweaking to do even after that. Trial and error kind of thing.

Totally possible, at least with 3 RAM slots. 1gb + 2gb + 4gb
Didn't know the amount of RAM could be problematic...
Also, no matter how much I ask, study, and learn, I just cannot grasp the USB vs. PCI debate on sound cards, or most things about sound cards in general.
Like you said, since a sound device is itself a sound card, does it really matter which of the two I choose? And what qualifies as a USB sound card, would they be like USB audio interfaces?

Like you said, since a sound device is itself a sound card, does it really matter which of the two I choose? And what qualifies as a USB sound card, would they be like USB audio interfaces?

 
With MC, a 32-bit program, you won't be able to utilize more than about 4 GB anyway regardless of whether the operating system is 64-bit.
Using a USB mic to record and the stock sound card to monitor means that you are using 2 different sound devices, each with their own clocks and they cannot be synchronized. This leads to all sorts of problems, especially as more tracks are recorded. Each succesive track will get more out-of-time with the previous tracks.
Plus, USB mics almost always have to use the MME driver mode, the oldest, slowest mode available. That means tons of latency and less efficient processing of the audio data.

the "usb conversion box" - what exactly is that?  what brand?  if it's what I'm thinking it's still just as bad as a USB mic except that you can throw it away and still have a mic to plug into a USB soundcard.    except a mic from Singstar xbox is not going to be a good mic either.

the fast track is a decent starter card.  good solid drivers (usually - unless you're on Vista).

the fast track is probably what I would get if I were buying an entry level USB soundcard.  check my website, tho, if you want to check out other options.  there are also some (real) mic recommendations there.

UPDATE:
Okay, so I just learned of something cool and new; I own this little mixing board called the Boss BR-532. I got it for really cheap with an amp I bought for my electric. So I was able to connect the Line Out port of the board to the Line In on computer's sound card, and I can get way better results this way! I now get full stereo (as opposed to was originally mono), pretty much NO noise (at least with the guitar/bass direct input) sound recording!
Plus, I have live control over the sensitivity, input level, and master volume. It's so much better than however I managede to squeak by before.
I'll be buying an XLR mic soon, and this mixing board will become part of my permenant recording setup.

Btw, Beagle, you getting back to me on this thread? I'm still a little wary on what to buy, because I also make videos, and I want to buy a mic that will suit both video and studio recording. Preferable XLR, but I can live with 1/8" or even 1/4".
Thanks!

also - you really don't want stereo for vocals anyway.  you want mono.  a microphone is a MONO instrument, so you want to record in mono.

MC will place the mono instruments in the center of the stereo field so that you have equal volumes on both channels from the mono instruments (unless you pan it).  that's the way it's supposed to work.  if you were recording in MC and getting only the left channel, that means you selected the wrong input on the audio track in your MC project.  that can be remedied by selecting the MONO input and then that will put the mono track in both speakers.

From what I can understand, my mic, when plugged directly into the soudcard's mic input, would only send the Left Channel, and I would have to set the track's mic input to Left only

yes, but that's not a problem.  that's the way it's supposed to work.  your input is a stereo input, so you have to choose left only because your mic is a mono input.

but the project will put the mono mic input into the stereo field and output to both speakers if you choose the LEFT input when recording.

a microphone is a MONO instrument - stereo doesn't mean anything to a mono instrument unless you start changing the stereo field it's put into.  you can do that by panning and adding FX.

So then, Beagle, my next question is; Would I still be better off going for a USB audio interface rather than analog?

what do you mean by "analog"?  no offense inteded here, but I don't think you understand the terminology well.  "analog recording" means TAPE.  there is no other type of analog recording (well, you could use wax, but that's kind of ancient technology!).

My BEST advice to you is to get something similar to this setup:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/m-audio-mobilepre-mk-ii  $150
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/mxl-v63m-condender-studio-mic-with-mogami-mic-cable  $100

there are other combinations, you could choose - that's just one that I know off of the top of my head that should work well.

as far as your mixer you were talking about earlier, you CAN use it even with this setup, but it's not necessary.  if you want to use it, there are things you can do with it to help you with recording, but starting out and only recording vocals I wouldn't recommend it - just use the soundcard (interface) and mic like I have mentioned above.

even if you use your cheap mic and your built-in soundcard, you CAN use that mixer, but it's not necessary.  if you use both inputs and the only thing you're recording is the microphone (mono) then you're going to put the outputs of the mixer into the stereo field, but panning will not work correctly because you're trying to pan a stereo track.  it doesn't work the same as panning a mono track.

so again - my best advice is to get a traditional LD condensor mic and soundcard (usb interface) like I have mentioned above.  if that's out of your price range, then use what you have the way I describe it above (input into the left channel only, record only the left channel and it will send the signal to both speakers from your MC project) until you CAN afford a better setup like I am describing above.

Gauge mics are really nice and low priced as well.   The SM 57 is a good all around mic for vocals but there are better mics at that price range..... see the Gauge mics.... as they are condensors in that price range. 

Some folks here use some inexpensive mics with good results.  So do not think you need to drop a ton of money on a mic to get a good one. 

I'd definitely get a decent USB sound card first..... get by with the mike for the time and then get a decent mic later.  Using a so-so mic with a good interface will be better than what you are now doing..... so get the interface. 

If you get an interface, it should have good preamps and phantom power built in for that future mic. 

I'm using a Singstar microphone.
It's pretty bad, I'd say- sub-decent quality and a horrible amount of background hiss and crud that is the microphone fault. I will admit that I don't really have good conditions for recording anyway, but I'm working on that, and so in my opinion, the mic right now is the biggest problem I have to worry about at the moment.

So to sum it up, would I actully be better off upgrading to a BETTER mic to record vocals (because I'll be need that a TON in the VERY NEAR future) or getting an interface and trying to use this POC*?

*piece of crap

all the hiss and crud you hear in the mic may actually be the sound card you are currently using. 

I would still say get a nice interface first and try the existing mic with it and see if it isn't better.   If you get a better mic first, you are still having to jack leg it through the card you currently use..... 

Some folks here have purchased a condensor mic for about $60 that they say gets really nice results....I do not recall the brand or model. 

 If you are recording acoustic instruments you almost gotta have a condensor to do it right. Plus, a condensor is magnificent on vocals and can be used for many other things as well.