Music Creator 4 Problem - Cannot have more than one input assigned with m-audio delta 1010LT

All,

Here is a trouble report I placed on the m-audio support site. Not response yet, but since it is just as probable this is a Cakewalk Music Creator 4 problem, please give this a look and tell me what you think..... I've reinstalled drivers so much and tried so many combinations from Cakewalk (changing driver types and re-profiling) that I have no clue what could be causing this!!! M-audio Delta stuff is supposed to be pretty solid. This is running on a year old Lenovo desktop PC running WinXP/SP2, Athlon X2 CPU, and 1GB RAM...

Sirs,

I have an crazy problem with my new Delta 1010LT card when using the latest Calkwalk Music Creator 4.

Would like to mention that my first attempt at installing the card was done *using the instructions in the manual that came with the card*. These instructiions said to install the card, let Windows find the hardware, and point the Windows to the install CD to locate the WDM drivers. Well, that didn't work, Windows couldn't find the drivers ont he CD. So then I went to the webstite and downloaded the latest Delta 1010LT drivers. That install went fine, although I did have the card in the PC when the install was started. On later reinstalls (mentioned below), I removed the drivers, removed the card, and re-booted between re-install attempts. I wanted to mention this because although the website driver instructions say to not install the card until after the driver installation runs, I was initially following the instructions in the manual. I purchased the card last week from B&H photo/video so I'm pretty sure this is fresh product.

Anyhow, upon installing card with latest driver from you web site (dated 12/07), installs seemed to go fine each time. On re-boot after running driver install, windows sees the new hardware, ID's it and I OK it to install the drivers.

Now the PROBLEM - When using Cakewalk Music Creator 4, all input/outputs show up in Audio options as selectable, but I can only select one input at at time! In other words, even though I have 6 inputs, I cannot select seperate inputs (or more than one input at a time). For instance, if I select Input 1 as my mic input for one audio track, I cannot select Input 3 for my line input for guitar for a different audio track. If I select one a time, it will work but the *both* tracks will have to be using the same input! This is weird!! If I choose more than one input driver to use, no inputs are selectable in the Cakewalk application!

Calkwalk sees the drivers as available as WDM and ASIO, but can't seem to talk to more than one at once! Have tried AISO and WDM on both latest driver (installed first) and old driver included in box. Of course, as long as I'm using one input (and one output for monitoring) it works, but that kind of defeats the purpose of purchasing a card with all the I/O!!

Have tried reinstalling drivers with older version that came with Delta 1010T card, moving to other PCI slot and reinstalling twice - all with same result.

Any suggestions as to what is up? Please help because I'm at my wits end! I bought a real sound card and software to try to avoid these kind of problems.

Note that I cannot use the Ableton 6 Lite included with the card to rule out Cakewalk as the culprit because the demo version - you guessed it - limits you to one input at a time!!!

Thanks for any guidance you can provide.

Dean

Beagle,

Thanks for the fast reply. Yes, my guitar comes in as a stereo input from the pre-amp as input 3/4, so that would probably explain it. Please tell me this limitation is written up in the manual somewhere! I was up until 3AM last night pulling my hair out to understand what was wrong.

IMHO, The MC4 application should warn you about selecting more inputs that it can handle. This would avoid the confusion. MC4 allows you to select all available input drivers (in my case all 6)...So why doesn't it warn you that it is impossible????

I guess I'll be returning the copy of MC4 to Best Buy. Time to look for something a little more advanced.

Thanks for the help!

Dean

Beagle,

I noticed that another person in the forums had the same problem with MC4 and a m-audio Delta 1010LT a month or so back. So I'm not the only one who missed this two channel limitation. Note you can have like 128 'tracks', but are evidently seriously limited on simultaneous channels for recording. I looked over the cakewalk website and I could find no mention of the limitation there anywhere. But hey, No complaints for a $40 piece of software, but again, the application should warn you at least, or not even let you try to set more than two simultaneous channels so you don't go off on a wild goose chase like I did. I like to get some sleep now and then!

I will check into the upgrade paths directly via Twelve Tone. Home Studio or Sonar 7 should do the job, I hope....

Again, if anybody can find this limitation in the documentation or on the software box, let me know. If this limitation isn't documented somewhere, I doesn't reflect well on Twelve Tone.

Thanks again for the support!

Dean

Dean,
I'm sure S7 is great, but SHS6XL packs a lot of bang for the buck.
Probably one of the best deals around. (only slightly biased, very happy user)

Dean,

I'm the other person who had the same problem. I have a Delta 1010LT and I couldn't have more than 2 inputs selected (1/2 or 3/4 etc..) at a time. IT IS A LIMITATION of MC4 and your are right, it's not written anywhere in the manual. In fact, it's my only complaint since I already spent the money and it didn't do it (and like you, no real complaints for $40).

Anyway, I just upgraded to Sonar Home Studio 6 XL for $129 and it's great. It allows me to select all or just a few of my Delta inputs - NO PROBLEM - no limitations this time. I can have a drum machine (which I haven't got to sync yet - but that's another problem on another post) and with my drum machine input in stereo, I can play my guitar input along with it and as many other inputs as my Delta will allow me.

So, for the $129 extra, it's definitely worth it. You'll be able to take full advantage of you Delta 1010LT.