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anonymous 27 September 2006

I have just purchased a Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2ZS Platinum sound card, and last night had it installed. Everything seems to be ok with it, except with Cubase SX, which is what I bought it to use with. The problem is that I now had no sound at all in Cubase, when trying to play old files or create new ones. I found that I am able to obtain sound by selecting my new soundcard in the "VST Audiobay", as my "Master ASIO Driver". However, when I do this I am no longer able to change the sample rate in either my old files, or any new ones I create. It is set to 48, 000kHz, and I cannot change it. It is set at this rate in the "Project Setup" Menu, and there is no longer an option to change it. There is no drop down menu. Although this seems to be the correct rate for creating a new file with my new card, all my old files play at a sped up rate that I cannot change. This is obviously a big problem. How can I change the sample rate in my old files, and also when creating new ones?

Also, when I change the "Master ASIO Driver" setting to my new card, although I can hear my old files at a sped up rate, and import audio into new files, my mic no longer works. I have a Behringer mic which plugs into a Behringer pre-amp, which now plugs into my soundcard. It used to be plugged into the back of my computer, so I imagine the change of ports is probably the cause of this problem. However, it still works as normal in Audacity and the Windows Sound Recorder. What do I need to do to get it working in Cubase?

Any help would be most appreciated.

Comments

Reggie Wed, 09/27/2006 - 07:29

Oh, that is a bummer of a pick; getting a Soundblaster card for use with a professional audio recording program like CubaseSX. I guess their marketing dudes successfully tricked you into thinking the Audigy is for recording. In fact, it is a big pain in the boot. Part of the problem seems to be stemming from the fact that Windows has your card locked into its own sample rate. For some reason it runs all its sounds at 48K. Go into your control panel-Sounds and try changing the Audio Playback/Record device to your onboard sound or something. Also get familiar with the Creative mixer thingy. It has all sorts of stuff to trip up your recording. If you have the "what you hear" slider up in the record section, you will be recording your metronomes and backing tracks to every track you try to record! Also try the different Audigy drivers in the Cubase setup (I forget where that is right now). The Audigy WDM driver may play nicer for you.
haha, sucker! :lol:

anonymous Thu, 09/28/2006 - 00:05

Thanks for the replies.

I bought the card off ebay, so I'm stuck with it. No way I can return it.

I had a look in the sound options in my control panel, and changed the playback and recording devices to my old card. I then went to Cubase and I was still unable to change the Sample rate.

Whenever I open a track or create a new track, in Cubase, I get this message..."Samplerate could not be set. This may be due to the sample clock being set to eternal sync".

I also had a look in the Audigy settings, and the only other sample rate I am able to select is 96, 000kHz. However, this seems to have no effect on Cubase. It still stays on 48, 000kHz with no option to change it.

What is the "creative mixer thingy"?

Also, can anybody advise me on how I might be able to get my mic working?

Reggie Thu, 09/28/2006 - 06:43

Digi_Snax wrote:
I had a look in the sound options in my control panel, and changed the playback and recording devices to my old card. I then went to Cubase and I was still unable to change the Sample rate.

After you did this, what driver did you select in Cubase's device setup?

You can probably access the creative mixer thingy from your start menu, or maybe from the tray icon.

Your mic is not broken.

Cresta Fri, 09/29/2006 - 07:08

hueseph wrote: Can you take the card back? When you buy your prosumer card (M-audio,Tascam,Echo) you will probably get a limited and legitimate version of Cubase. Say no to crack.

may I add a few lines? :)
With M-Audio soundcard you don't get any Steinberg produtcs: you get Ableton Lite 4 (with free upgrade card for Lite 5), and Reason Limited Edition (no samples, except a bunch of drumkits, but all other stuff do work, including the acclaimed Subtractor).
You may get Cubase LE with Tascam and Edirol products but...
since on 26 c.m. Cubase4 was officially released, all previous versions have been subject to GREAT price drop.
Thanks to this I finally bought Cubase SL3 which arrived to my local detailer yesterday (ordered 6 days ago): I can just say I am on heaven :D

say hello to uncle cuby :lol:

Reggie Fri, 09/29/2006 - 13:56

Digi_Snax wrote:

I'll give that a shot when I get home.

Tried it and it didn't make any difference.

I still don't think we are on the same page. Could you be a little more specific what you did exactly? this quote really makes me think we aren't on the same page:

I did indeed forget to change the default sound card back to my old one in Cubase.

The default sound card should be selected in cubase as "audigy WDM" or "audigy MME" or something. In your windows control panel, under Sounds, you should change the windows soundcard to your old one for playback and recording. So your recording software has control of your Audigy, and Windows has control of the crappy onboard sound device. Also, you should find the Creative™ retarded mixer thing (AudioHQ?) by now.

anonymous Fri, 09/29/2006 - 20:09

Here's the deal...I just like to write and record songs. I'm not into all this technical sound stuff at all. The problem is that it is never as simple as just recording something. I always run into these problems, so then I have to try and get around them. Some I am able to, and others I get stuck. The Cubase manual is generally not very helpful to me, so I have to ask people who might have experience with similar problems.

So as for not being on the "same page", keep in mind that I know very little about any of this stuff, and am just trying to follow what people suggest as best I understand it.

So since I had my new card installed, the only way I have been able to get sound in Cubase is to select my new card as the "Master ASIO Driver". This limits my sample rate to 48, 000kHz.

So what I did is I selected my old card as the playback and recording device in my windows control panel, and then tried playing my old tracks in Cubase. It made no difference. Still stuck on 48, 000kHz. So then I changed my "Master ASIO Driver" in Cubase back to my old card. Now I once again was left with no sound.

And when my new card is selected as "Master ASIO Driver" in Cubase, I get this "Samplerate could not be set. This may be due to the sample clock being set to eternal sync" message, whenever I open an old track, or create a new track.

If this problem is fixable then chances are that all I have to do is change some simple settings, but I simply do not have the knowledge to figure out what settings I need to change, nor have I found the Cubase SX manual of any use.

But my biggest problem is getting my mic to work. I am recording an album, and had done most the tracks, but with my old card I was getting some interference in the sound. That's why I got a new one. If I can get my mic working with my new card, and the sound quality has improved, then I am willing to just discard all my old files and re-record the tracks.

So although I'd like to get my old files working properly, my number one priority right now is getting my mic working.

Once I again, I'm sure all I have to do is change some basic settings, but I do not have the knowledge to figure out which ones, nor can I find any helpful information in the Cubase manual.

anonymous Fri, 09/29/2006 - 20:27

Oh, and the new card is listed as "SB Audigy 2 ZS ASIO [A000]" in the "Master ASIO Driver" list in Cubase. There is also an "SB Audigy 2 ZS ASIO 24/96 [A000]" listed in there, which seems to have exacly the same effect.

And I found the Creative Mixer thing. It really wasn't helpful to me in getting these problems solved.

hueseph Fri, 09/29/2006 - 21:29

The problem is that Creative cards ONLY record in 48k or "96"k mode. You might be able to get around this by downloading asio4all or kxasio. I no idea why I'm even giving you this info as I don't like to support people who download software. Now if you did actually go and spend $600 on your Cubase then my apologies. On the other hand, after spending that kind of money on your high end software, you should have considered a more appropriate card. As it is, I think you're pretty well stuck with your problems and if you did download a crack, you deserve it.

Now if you do intend to go legit, let this be a lesson to you. Research first, then buy. If you want to go legit right now, there is Crystal Audio engine which supports 16 tracks of audio and works with vst effects. There are plenty of free options out there that are pretty incredible for the price or lack of any price.

hueseph Fri, 09/29/2006 - 21:33

Cresta wrote:
may I add a few lines? :)
With M-Audio soundcard you don't get any Steinberg produtcs: you get Ableton Lite 4 (with free upgrade card for Lite 5), and Reason Limited Edition (no samples, except a bunch of drumkits, but all other stuff do work, including the acclaimed Subtractor).
You may get Cubase LE with Tascam and Edirol products but...
since on 26 c.m. Cubase4 was officially released, all previous versions have been subject to GREAT price drop.
Thanks to this I finally bought Cubase SL3 which arrived to my local detailer yesterday (ordered 6 days ago): I can just say I am on heaven :D

say hello to uncle cuby :lol:

Nice dude. Congrats. If I could guarantee that it would work on my Mac, I would get it but, I'm stuck waiting for Cubase 4. Still another week till it's released on this side of the Atlantic.

Cresta Sat, 09/30/2006 - 10:16

@Digi_Snax: with that soundcard you won't go much far.
BTW it also seem that Cubase is not the right choice for you, since you wish to rec only audio and haven't any knowledge about MIDI, rewiring and so on... I suggest Crystal as well, or Audacity (which can be patched freely to use even VST plugins) both freeware, or Samplitude 8SE, which is 60$ but amazing and pro (the sound engine is the same 32bit of its bigger brother Sequoia).

hueseph: tnx tnx :) now I am happy like a baby with a new toy :lol: since I can finally use all the free stuff that was bundled with my soundcard (Ableton Live 5 Light and Reason 2.5 Adapted), and I am totally in love with the advanced functions of Cuby :oops: (where is the guy which invented the feat "play track order"?? I want to offer him a beer!!!)
But let's come back IT: you have a Mac? hmmm... this is the best time to switch to PC :) For what I can see on the Cubase forum, Steinberg published a patch for Mac 3 days after the major 4 release;
the best platform for Cubase is PC.... I suggest you to wait till a really stable version, or (far better) switch to PC :)
and.. are you sure you need Cuby4? the Studio4 is the "son" of SL3 (since there is not SE version) and it is already "too much" for home studios :)
Btw, if you need further info... just tell me, and also feel free to contact me by email :)

anonymous Sat, 09/30/2006 - 17:15

Well see I didn't buy Cubase. I don't like downloading stuff for free that I feel I should be paying for, but considering all I do is record music for my own entertainment, I'm not gonna go out and spend hundreds of dollars on a recording program. I got Cubase because I used to use Audacity but the sound was HORRIBLE. However, back then I had a cheap mic, no pre-amp, and my old card. So that might actually be worth a shot.

To the people who commented on me downloading this software, please understand that all I do with it is import a beat, record vocals over it, import some samples maybe, and export it as a WAV file. You can hardly expect me to spend hundreds of dollars to do this. Like I said, I only dl'ed Cubase because my free Audacity program sounded horrible.

I appreciate the advice on fixing my sample rate problem, and possible other programs to look out for, but can we please drop all that for now and can anybody make any suggestions for how I can get my mic working in Cubase, based on the info I have given?

hueseph Sat, 09/30/2006 - 17:36

Cubasis should be fine for you. I think the only limitation is that you cannot save you work. So you have to do all of your tracks in one session, then export to wav.

The thing is, no software is going to make your recording sound better. It just doesn't work that way. If you can't find a way to make a decent recording with what you have at hand, you will never be able to make a decent recording.

anonymous Sun, 10/01/2006 - 01:00

The thing is, no software is going to make your recording sound better. It just doesn't work that way. If you can't find a way to make a decent recording with what you have at hand, you will never be able to make a decent recording.

Best advice I've been given in here. In that case I'm gonna go back to Audacity. I know this would sound utterly insane to you guys, but I always preferred Audacity to Cubase anyway. Like I said, all I do is basically record my vocals, so the simpler the better as far as I'm concerned. If I ever wanna get more technical I'll just import my Audacity recordings into Cubase and fiddle with them there.

Better still I just tested my new mic, pre-amp and soundcard in Audacity, and the problem I had with static and interference appears to have been cured. So right now everything is looking lovely as far as I'm concerned. I've got pretty much a full album to re-record, and now have to familiarise myself with Audacity again, but everything else is settled for now.

Many thanks for all the tips and replies.

Cresta Sun, 10/01/2006 - 03:30

Digi_Snax wrote: I used to use Audacity but the sound was HORRIBLE. However, back then I had a cheap mic, no pre-amp, and my old card. So that might actually be worth a shot.

without a good mic, a good preamp and GOOD soundcard, you will EVER get horrible results, even with a state of the art software.
The quality of a sound engine is important only when you start mixing, editing, mastering (equalizing, filtering ecc).
I edit everything in Audacity: fast, powerful, flexible, freeware....

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