[brent_s]

Bruce, if Cruz is having the same problem I had with setting up the Live External under Vista, he has no access to the Input Volume either via REQW or the Windows mixer. The soundcard calibration wizard tells the user to match the I/O levels within 3db (in your screenshot), but you can't do this with the Live External Vista drivers so you're stuck with a major difference in I/O levels...I think mine was around 10db, maybe a touch more.

Anyway, I found this in the "check levels - troubleshooting setting input volume" section of the online help and decided to procede despite the large difference in I/O levels. Seems to produce comparable results to the same Live/mic/cables/adapters used on an XP Pro machine that had I/O levels matched to around 1db at -12db per the wizard's instructions.

Some soundcards do not provide an input volume control (e.g. some USB cards). As long as the signal RMS level is within the -30 to -12dB range when the speaker/subwoofer cal signal is playing everything should work OK. If the level is below -30dB try reducing the meter range to raise the level, but be careful not to reduce the range to the point the meter is overloaded. If the level is above -12dB try increasing the meter range to lower the level.

The problem is in the Live's Vista drivers. Creative hasn't given Vista access to the Input level. My onboard Realtek card allows access to the mic's input level, but of couse, it's not a true line input and is not recommended for REQW use. I was able to calibrate the Realtek card, but haven't tried measurements with it since the Live seems to be working with REQW properly, despite the lack of Input volume control and the large I/O level differences during soundcard calibration.

-Brent