Soundblaster Live! 24-bit USB External Setup

Re: REW

I guess you mean the SoundBlaster Live! 24-bit External USB card.

• Ensure in the Creative Speaker Settings that the "Digital Output Only" box is not checked.
  
  
  
• Ensure CMSS is off (green CMSS LED off - push the button on the front of the unit to turn it off if it is on).
• Select Line In/Mic In as the Rec source in the Creative Surround mixer.
• In the Creative surround Mixer Source panel ensure Wave is not muted, Line-In/Mic-In is muted.
  
  
  
• Ensure monitoring is off (click the + by the Line In/mic In symbol in the Source panel and ensure Monitor is not checked in the Advanced Controls dialogue this pops up (or run the Creative Device Control program and ensure Enable Monitoring not checked).
• In the Creative Device Control program set the Output Audio Quality to 48kHz, 16 bits and ensure you select 48kHz as the sample rate in REW.
  
  
  
• In the Creative EAX Console make sure Audio Effects is not enabled, Equalizer is not enabled etc.
• If a dialogue pops up that says to hear audio you must enable monitoring, click Cancel on the dialog.
• By default the Wizard sets the output level to 0.5 while setting measurement level, for the SB Live! it is typically better to set output level to 1.000, otherwise can struggle to get sufficient input level - if you find this, use the Master Control in the Creative Surround Mixer to increase the volume to 100% at the point in Setting Measurement Level where the Wizard pops up a message saying that it is about to generate a pink noise signal at -20dB

Hope that helps

Re: REW

Regarding the output volume, when you exit REW it will be restored to the level it was at when REW started up. It will stay at 100% while REW is running (unless you alter it elsewhere).

The default for the sweep is to cover the range from 20Hz to 200Hz, you can change this in the boxes below the Automatic Measurement button.

When setting the target level make sure the speaker type on the tab you are using corresponds to the speaker you are measuring, i.e. it should be set to Subwoofer when measuring the sub.

Did you hear the sweep when doing the test? It is a tone that starts out very low and gradually rises in frequency over the few seconds of the measurement, if you didn't hear it then start looking at the connections to your sub. If you hear the tone OK and you could see your SPL meter needle reacting then check the connections from the SPL meter and that the channel selected in the SPL Meter box (below the red Record button) corresponds to the input you are using. If the meter needle did not react check that it is set to the correct range (usually 80dB).

Re: REW

Just like to say thanks John for showing the Soundblaster Live! screenshot.

Until I saw your post I'd just run the device as Plug and Play and was getting nothing except music replay.

Now I've run the software CD and have lots more toys to play with. :T

The packaging said Plug and Play and (like a fool) I trusted the packaging. :rolleyesno:

The problem is if you connect a device and then run the CD you sometimes get multiple drivers and a non-functioning toy.
It happened with both my Philips Toucam Pro webcams 1 & 2.

One day all IT will be as easy to use as toasters. Now if I could only fathom out how to work my toaster. :laugh:

Thanks (yet) again.
Chris

A quick tip for the SB Live! External Soundcard user:

Just above the slider on the far right of the SB Surround Mixer box there is REC. with a small symbol just above the red slider.

Check that the vertical writing alongside the slider shows "Line-in/Mic-in" instead of "What you hear".

"What you hear" seems to be the default setting and the mixer returns to this internal monitoring setting automatically!

If you have "What you hear" enabled then REW behaves EXACTLY as if it is working perfectly. Both bar-graphs will bounce up and down obediently and the SPL boxes will pretend to read the RS meter/microphone input to digital perfection. REW will then chew on the test sweep and show every sign of working correctly.

But all you get in the response graph window after every single test sweep is a mirror-image of your meter correction curve! Not an interesting wiggly line representing your real response curve.

This had me scratching my head for a while as it's easy to miss the tiny sideways message beside the slider.

brucek said:

Did you check the thread above where it says,

'Just above the slider on the far right of the SB Surround Mixer box there is REC. with a small symbol just above the red slider.

Check that the vertical writing alongside the slider shows "Line-in/Mic-in" instead of "What you hear".

Did that not make any difference?

brucek

Click to expand...

I did do as instructed, but Line In was still not in the list.

JohnM said:

Because the SB Live 24 uses the same input channel for both mic and line in which it labels MICROPHONE, the unit detects which is connected. Select the input called MICROPHONE in REW.

Click to expand...

Thanks John, I will use the Line In and select Microphone and see if that works.

Next question. I thought I would use the optical out, and it does work, until I got to the step to calibrate the sound card and realized, oops, I can't connect the Opt Out to the Line In. Since the Live 24 has speaker pair outputs (L/R main, L/R surround, Center/Sub), which pair should I use as the output. I do have an optical in and an analog L/R input on the front of my Denon AVR-3805 that I will use for the input. It looks like the Live will encode the LFE channel to the mains out if 2.1 is selected. So, is the L/R main output what I want to use? If I want to run REW on all speakers, do I just select a different output connector for the different channels or will setting the Live to 5.1 encode all channels to the L/R main output? Will the Denon be able to decode all channels from the analog inputs? I know I can just try this, but I have to run out and buy more cables, so I thought I might get an answer before I get another unusable cable.