Author Topic: audio help (Read 3738 times)

haunted · « **on:** August 11, 2008, 07:53:53 PM »

I'm trying to hook my guitar up to my laptop and run it through some effects w/ vst...

The problem i'm having is that any input audio device i hook up to my pc (mic, guitar), I can ONLY hear during playback via sound recorder. (this lets me know that I know that it works and it's hooked up right....) When I record it with the vst host, nothing even plays back though..

How can I hook up input audio so it simultaneously plays through output?

It's seemingly a pretty silly and easy-to-fix problem, but i've been working on it for hours, my laptop is being a little bitch.

I'm using freeamp3 as my plugin and a lightweight vst host called VSTHost. And tips w/ vst would be appreciated as well :>

UUD-40 · « **Reply #1 on:** August 11, 2008, 08:13:05 PM »

Uh, shit, i dont know!

Whirlingdervish · « **Reply #2 on:** August 11, 2008, 08:48:59 PM »

you're making a laptop amp?

I dunno much about those, but I'll look around to see what I can figure out.

haunted · « **Reply #3 on:** August 11, 2008, 09:27:22 PM »

Guitar--mono1/4in to mono1/8in adapter--laptop[.. then with VST, virtual studio technology, _apparently_ I can get excellent tone and effects.]--1/8in stereo adapter to audio cables--hefty amp--beastly speakers...

I mean it should work... i'm just having trouble getting past step 1 haha. I've been thinking about it for awhile but I finally went to radioshack today.

Here's a screenshot showing what exactly my VST can emulate.. seems pretty badass. I've read tons of reviews saying that the effects are great too.

there's also tremolo, flanger, eq, wah, compressor, chorus, and pitch shifter w/ the pedals.. and of course there's much more than what's on the main menu.

ps. someone

|iR|Focalor · « **Reply #4 on:** August 12, 2008, 05:09:44 AM »

AHA! At first, I had no clue what you were talking about.

Most sound cards have 3 jacks: LINE OUT (speakers/headphones), MIC, and LINE IN. First of all, you'll want to run the signal through the LINE IN jack. The MIC jack usually won't sound as good.

I have no experience with using that type of PC based preamp/FX software. I've always used external preamping and FX processing for better quality. I'm not sure exactly how that kind of software would function along with the sound card, but typically you want any pre-juicing of the signal along with EQ tweaking to be done BEFORE any modulating effects are introduced into the signal path. That's why I've never been keen on using PC based effects, they tend to sound kind of unnatural, almost as though you were trying to run a wah pedal through the loop jack on the back of an amp, just... wrong. But anyway, off topic kinda...

I guess all you're wanting to do is to get the sound to play out of the speakers. I'm guessing nothings changed with the Windows volume controls since Win98 which is the OS on my music studio PC. You're gonna want to open the volume controls. It should come up as an elongated window with several slider bars. When that comes up, it should probably say MASTER OUT for name across the top of that window. Make sure the LINE IN volume is not muted by unchecking the box below that slider. Click on the top where it says "options" and scroll down to properties. That will bring up another window that says "adjust audio properties for:". There should be PLAYBACK and RECORDING there. Select RECORDING and click OK. That will bring up the MASTER RECORD window. Make sure the volume for LINE IN is not muted there also. I'm assuming that is muted right there, that's probably why nothing is coming through. You'll have to adjust that volume to the right level to get a strong signal while not allowing it to be too strong, otherwise you'll probably get pre-gain clipping (distortion). Then of course you'll have to go back the MASTER OUT window and adjust that volume to prevent any post-gain clipping that will be audible in the speakers.

Sound confusing and annoying? Just wait until you try tweaking volumes for several independant tracks as well as your guitar input.

Hopefully that's the solution you were looking for, sounds like it anyway.

edit:
Just to clarify...
Keeping mute ON in the MASTER RECORD window will prevent the sound card from receiving a signal from that jack. Keeping mute ON in the MASTER OUT window will prevent the sound from travelling to the LINE OUT jack (speakers). So I'm assuming that it's muted from the MASTER OUT window, not the MASTER RECORD window like I thought before, since you said that it plays during sound recorder playback.

You also mentioned that nothing plays back when using the VST thingy. Not sure what VST is, I guess thats the virtual amp software??? Perhaps you have a volume setting within that program muted or something. Or perhaps you have some other audio program open at the same time. I would think you would get some kind of pop-up telling you that you can't run two audio applications simultaneously though... hmmm.... Dunno. Any of this help?

haunted · « **Reply #5 on:** August 12, 2008, 09:25:56 AM »

yeah I'm already passed doing all that though. XP a lot different than the 98 sound properties but I have an OS98 computer a few feet away from me currently so I'm familiar with it. Absolutely nothing is muted in recording or playback. Everything is at the highest volume as well. I don't have a separate line-in input plug, just the mic/audio input one.

When I plug it in I even get a prompt asking me what I want it to be, external mic, line-in, or take no action.

BUT, I just remembered that people used to tell me to turn my speaker volume down on vent because my shit would always echo. This means that it USED to work how I want it now... I think it changed after a format. Could I be missing a driver or is something not configured in my audio?

jägermonsta · « **Reply #6 on:** August 12, 2008, 09:46:41 AM »

What do you use for a sound card driver? Is it something like Realtek?

I'm not 100% sure of the issue here...

You want to record and have it playback simultaneously? (have the speakers play what your recording while it's recording)

If you have realtek sound I believe there is a setting in the driver settings you enable for the playback.

You can record in Sound Recorder but not in this program?

I had a issue like this with teamspeak last night... Sound Recorder worked but nobody could hear me talking. I had to choose the Input driver within Teamspeak, there were multiple choices but the default one it was on did not work. After some trail and error I found the right one... Perhaps some where in this program you have to choose a driver to use for input.

The Happy Friar · « **Reply #7 on:** August 12, 2008, 09:57:08 AM »

with my crappy realtek I can record/play at the same time as long as the line in isn't muted/volume all the way up.

haunted · « **Reply #8 on:** August 12, 2008, 10:21:08 AM »

i have sigmatel. And no I don't even want to record, I just want to talk in my mic and hear it out of my speakers, that's all. (same thing with guitar)

haunted · « **Reply #9 on:** August 12, 2008, 10:59:33 AM »

Putting a new soundcard card driver on now to see if that does anything.

PANTONE 7717C · « **Reply #10 on:** August 12, 2008, 02:32:28 PM »

SigmaTel : http://www.applian.com/replay-radio/support/faq50_recording.php ??

For some reason I always seem to have trouble getting my mic and/or line-in to work and simply record some audio, especially after a clean OS install. But normally it's a matter of testing and tweaking those settings until you get it right. Go to Control Panel>Sounds and Audio. In the Audio tab, click the Volume buttons under Sound Playback and Sound Recording. Also see the Speach tab and choose Mic or Line-in, I believe you can only choose one.
Btw there is also a nice free program called vituAMP, another real time virtual guitar amplifier.

haunted · « **Reply #11 on:** August 12, 2008, 03:48:57 PM »

Thanks panj. The first link may help me out.. I'll check it out in a little bit. I've managed to get my VST (virtual studio technology, i forget who asked earlier..) to work. But I can still only record then play it back. It's pretty cool, I've managed to get a nice powerful gain / metal setting and tone that I would really enjoy playing with (if i could hear myself actually playing haha)

QwazyWabbit · « **Reply #12 on:** August 12, 2008, 06:15:48 PM »

One problem you might have will be the delay between input and output if you get it to play back in realtime. The codecs in the PC generate considerable delay (more than 30ms) and you will probably have trouble playing with that kind of delay. It will give you a cool stadium effect though.

ReCycled · « **Reply #13 on:** August 17, 2008, 11:01:52 AM »

I have found going directly into my PC for any recording of instruments, a lost cause. The whole signal path is too easily overloaded and prone to distortion. And also trying to get it to give you a live, moniter sound so you can hear what you're playing is a pain. I still prefer dedicated hardware (mixer, digital recorder, separate amplification w/speakers etc) as the way to produce multi-channel recording. Then you can dump the tracks into your PC if you want.
By the way, if you want the best soundcard for a laptop check this one out...

http://www.audio-ideas.com/reviews/loudspeakers/powered-monitors-indigo.html

Author Topic: audio help (Read 3738 times)

El Box de Shoutamente