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).