Mobile Pre USB Card- Andy Chap Are U there ? I need help !!

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Dino

Post by Dino » Mon Nov 24, 2003 3:09 am

OK. I finally broke down and got rid of the Sound Blaster 16 PCI Card and purchased the M-Audio MobilePre USB. Drivers seemed EZ enough to load. No glitches except I now have an "OE Exception VXD" error. Long story short, I have it enabled and configured correctly. But get this. I have an intermittent Record Problem in Sonar 1.0 It sometimes records and sometimes it doesn't. I've run 100's of Test and yes I have Channel armed, etc... Also, there is suppose to be WDM Drivers with this card and Sonar only wants to force the WME drivers. If I take the check mark off of "Use WME Drivers even when WDM drivers are present", it will not let me. Bottom line= It only records sometimes and the synch is also off. HELP ! I thought the Creative Card was bad ! At least I figured out the proper settings for THAT card. Wave Profiler Sucks ! It's never properly configured any of the 3 Cards I've tried. I want to spend time making music, not tweaking settings for a week without any results. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated


GretscGuy
Posts: 434
Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2003 1:26 pm
Location: Massachusetts USA

Post by GretscGuy » Fri Nov 28, 2003 8:42 pm

Did you insert (or plug in) the card BEFORE installing the drivers?

This can lead to some odd behaviors. If oyu did, unintstall the card and delete it's registry entries (very important) install the drivers. Then plug in and restart. Finish the install process.

This is an odd problem but has happened to me. If this doesn't solve your problem post system info, etc...

Dino

Post by Dino » Sat Nov 29, 2003 1:44 am

No ! I installed the Drivers first and followed M-Audio's directions accordingly. I've uninstalled and reinstalled 100 times. I've now upgraded from 98 SE to ME. Well the intermittent record problem in Sonar has gone away for the moment but I still cannot use the WDM Drivers and I get the following error when I boot up. " An Exception OE Error has Occured at 0028:C006f8A5 in VXD VNET Bios (01) + 000009B1 This was cancelled from 0028:CO24C5D5 in VXD VMM (13) + 000005D5 It may be possible to Continue normally". I press any key and I can start up normally. I don't get it ! Do you ?

GretscGuy
Posts: 434
Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2003 1:26 pm
Location: Massachusetts USA

Post by GretscGuy » Sun Nov 30, 2003 3:40 pm

I can tell you is that in a Windows 9x (including ME) OS, a VNET error is related to your modem. Are you certain that your modem is using a good set of drivers?

I would suggest disableing both the soundcard and modem, reinstalling the soundcard, delete the file AUD.INI from the Cakewalk folder, start Cakewalk, and let it analyze your hardware.

If this solves your problem, your modem is the culprit. Locate new modem drivers and you should be all set. Maybe you are using DSL or cable and don't need a modem in your machine anymore, so much the better!

My advice would be to upgrade to XP or 2000 (if your machine is slower). ME is notoriously big and buggy. I had a machine that came with ME and I swear when I ran W2K on it the machine was much faster and crashed less.

Seeing as you just sprang for a ME upgrade, I'm willing to bet you don't want to go out and drop another couple hundered bucks to go to another OS.

Good luck and let us know how you make out!

Dino

Post by Dino » Sun Nov 30, 2003 9:48 pm

I did the whole Modem uninstall thing. In fact today I packed up the MobilePre USB and am sending it back. I got new drivers for my on board Crystal Card and it is sounding and operating very well to me now. :)
No VXD error. I'm thinking that card did not have the correct drivers designed for it's use. I tried the card on 3 different PC's. One with Windows 98 SE, ME and XP. All had the same problems. I did a Direct X Diagnostics and it reports "Sound Card Does Not Support Hardware Buffering. Sounds will only play back from Software Buffers" Is that just because it was a USB Card ? Dr. Watson kept reporting "If taskbar acts strange, try exing Multimedia Backround Task Support Module" There are many other errors but I would not want to bore you.

GretscGuy
Posts: 434
Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2003 1:26 pm
Location: Massachusetts USA

Post by GretscGuy » Mon Dec 01, 2003 10:52 pm

Glad to hear things worked out for you! SOmetimes a new driver can solve tons of headaches. Update them often!

Dino

Post by Dino » Tue Dec 02, 2003 1:09 am

Well I really am back where I started with the original intergrated card that now works great as far as I can tell. I wanted a card with more bells and whistles and KLR and Quarter Inch inputs but for now, as long as I have no headaches, all is cool. I'm plugging Shure SM-57 directly into Sound Card and I'm getting static and noise while I'm recording but when I playback , there is no noise, it sounds fine. Should I be using a Mixer into the line in, instead ?

GretscGuy
Posts: 434
Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2003 1:26 pm
Location: Massachusetts USA

Post by GretscGuy » Tue Dec 02, 2003 12:43 pm

Dino,
There are a few options you could consider. I am assuming you are going directley into the 'mic in' jack on your soundcard.

You could get a decent small mixer used for a good price. Some models I would consider are the Tascam TM-D1000 (I own one), Mackie 1402, etc... By ading a physical mixer you will benefit from the mixer's mic preamps (a mackie or tascam preamp is light years ahead to whats on your soundcard), the ability to record more than one microphone at a time, and less repatching.

I like the TM-D1000 becasue it's digital and has lots of onboard effects that sound pretty good. Plus if you get a PCI-822 card it will send 8 tracks of audio back and forth to your pc. You can automate it via midi and allow it to function like a control surface as well. All this for about $300.00 on ebay.

I have a Tascam DM-24 and MOTU 2408 right now, but my TM-D1000 rig served me well for a long time.

If you have a laptop, take a serious look at MOTU's 828. It's a pretty slick interface that allows you to send audio via FireWire. Very good and solid.

There are lots of choices out there. Just think out what you need and ask around. You'll end up with a great system!

Dino

Post by Dino » Tue Dec 02, 2003 2:39 pm

Thanks for all of your Mixer Suggestions because at this point my Crystal Sound Card is working fine. I laid 10 individual tracks using Sonar and all sound perfect with no pops or crackles and all tracks were in Synch. I was wondering if I could use my Tascam 484 Cassette Porta- Studio as a Mixing Board ? Would that work ? It has 6 Channels. I'm just recording Audio, no Midi. Guitars and Vocals, but multiple tracks of each. Thanks for all your help.

Dino

Post by Dino » Tue Dec 02, 2003 2:49 pm

Here's another question. I'm running out of space on my internal Hard Drive. I have a WD USB 120 Gig External Hard Drive. I know I can copy the Sonar Folder to the External HD and direct it to the folder but I tried it and probably because I have USB 1, the transfer rate is slow and causes dropouts. Do you think if I upgraded to USB 2.0, it would work fine ? btw, it's a USB 2.0 External Hard Drive. Thanks for ALL. I'm wondering if USB 2.0 is fast enough for Audio. After my last experience (MobilePre Card) with USB, I have my doubts.

GretscGuy
Posts: 434
Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2003 1:26 pm
Location: Massachusetts USA

Post by GretscGuy » Wed Dec 03, 2003 12:25 am

Well, you could always store your projects on the external drive and move them onto your local drive when you needed them.

I have heard good things about usb 2.0 drives but am running FireWire myself. It's more established and I feel more comftorble with it. Not saying I am right, just saying what I do!

Dino

Post by Dino » Wed Dec 03, 2003 3:37 am

OK thanks but back to my Mixer Question. I have a Tascam 433 4 Track Cassette Porta Studio, could I use that for a mixer ?

GretscGuy
Posts: 434
Joined: Sat Oct 18, 2003 1:26 pm
Location: Massachusetts USA

Post by GretscGuy » Wed Dec 03, 2003 5:58 pm

I'm not sure exactley what the 433 is. I owned a 424 years ago, so I'll assume it's similar.

I used the mixer in my 424 for a while with great (for the time) results. This was pre USB and digital consoles were very expensive.

I built a cable that had two rca jacks that went to a stereo 1/8" mini plug. I recentley saw this cable made by Monster. They sell them at Radio Shack and I beleive Hosa makes one as well. You want to use a decent quality cable.

Plug the RCA jacks into your Tascam's Line Out jacks. Plug the 1/8" plug into your soundcards Line In. This will allow you to send multiple signals to your computer. Set Cakewalk to record on a stereo track.

Important to note - you will be able to send multiple signals (such as a guitar player and bass player) to your machine at the same time. You will NOT be able to monitor and mix on your 4-Track. You can use Cakewalk's internal mixer to mix tracks. Monitor through your PC speakers or buy an additional cord and run it into the back of your amplifier and listen through your home stereo.

Hope answers your question.
Good Luck!

Dino

Post by Dino » Thu Dec 04, 2003 4:33 am

OK. Thanks for the Mixer advice. Firewire has to be better than USB, I'm sure. I know for a fact USB 1.0 doesn't cut it for Audio. I had the M- Audio MobilePre USB card up until 3 days ago. I sent it back. I tried to get it to work on 3 different PC's with 3 different O.S.'s (98SE, ME & XP) with no success. It was a disaster latency wise and the software caused my PC to get VXD error messages at startup. Checked all. Irq Conflicts, Disabled On Board Card in Bios. Nothing worked. Two weeks of hell. :) M-Audio needs to upgrade driver or come up with a new card. Have you heard anything about that card ?

Dino

Post by Dino » Thu Dec 04, 2003 4:35 am

ooops, but you know THAT story already. Sorry for the repeat !! :)

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