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Topic: How to monitor real time recording sounds_X-Fi Titanium? (Read 3543 times) previous topic - next topic
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How to monitor real time recording sounds_X-Fi Titanium?

How can I audibly monitor sources being recorded (real time) DURING recording - whether headphones or speakers connected to the card?  The little peak meters are fine, but don't quite cut it for me.  Surely you can monitor the sound live? 

Maybe Creative's audio creation software won't allow it, but some other might?  Preferably free / open source.  I have Nero 9, but not found a way to live monitor recordings in it.
Using a Kenwood receiver tape out for phono preamp into the sound card.  Suppose could get a 1/4" adapter & plug headphones into the receiver.

Thought my line in jack on X-Fi titanium was broken until discovered it had to be set in "audio creation mode."  (kinda buried deep in instructions)

Now that I don't have to buy a new card to record LPs, I can't find anything - ANY where - about this on Creative's support or in help docs.

The speakers or headphones work fine on playback (either) - using Creative audio console (or other players), but not while recording.  Just the little peak meters to "guide" you while recording.

In audio creation panel, in recording pane - under Monitor Tab, the "enable monitoring" apparently only enables the peak meters on playback / recording.

Thanks.

How to monitor real time recording sounds_X-Fi Titanium?

Reply #1 –
Using the headphone output of the receiver is about as good as it will get. Whatever you hear there is what you will be recording. There won’t be unexpected variations once it has gone through the ADC. Once you have the proper set-up, and verify that you do hear what is being recorded, it should be dependable from then on.

It is possible to monitor post ADC with many PCI soundcards. There is generally a DSP chip on the card and a mixer application that will let you send the just converted to digital input to the card’s DAC and thus to the output jacks, but I can’t say what Creative gaming cards do.

Software monitoring is available from a number of recording applications. They do the same thing as the DSP chip in the above paragraph. The only one I know about is the current version of Audition but I suspect most applications with professional aspirations do the same.

How to monitor real time recording sounds_X-Fi Titanium?

Reply #2 –
Few years ago I had a SB PCI card installed ... IIRC, direct monitoring worked only when Creative's mixer panel screen was the active one.

If you try recording using Audacity ... there's an option in software for monitoring (File-->Preferences-->Audio I/O --> Software Playthrough).

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Other recording software (not audio editor) I could recommend is Hermann Seib's VSTHost but, it can record to WAV format only. VSTHost is ASIO compatible software and quite easy to use.

I normally use Cockos Reapre for recording LP's - http://www.reaper.fm/
Here are some instructions I've written a while ago - http://jiiteepee.fortunecity.com/audio/Rea...Reaperohje.html

Monitoring is enabled through the tiny speaker button which is placed little left from the meter of each track. Button has several states which can be changed by clicking the button.

Juha

How to monitor real time recording sounds_X-Fi Titanium?

Reply #3 –
Thanks AndyH-ha,

I'm surprised w/ all the options the Creative recording software has, it won't let you do live monitoring (or maybe it will).

I stand corrected on Nero's Sound Trax.  In both the main recording screen & the "LP to CD Wizard," there's a box, "Digital Monitoring," AFTER you click the record button, but before you start actual recording.  Checking Digital Monitoring allows sound to come thru speakers or headphones, as recording.  Now, to find similar setting in Creative's software.

How to monitor real time recording sounds_X-Fi Titanium?

Reply #4 –
I've done over 700 albums, most from LP, some from cassette. I monitor through the headphone connection on the receiver. My soundcard has post ADC hardware monitoring, but I don't bother with it.  My motoring is mostly just to assure that the starting set point on the LP is correct, that the stylus has not jumped beyond the very beginning of the first track (which happens very infrequently, but is none the less annoying). I have not found any reason to think that what is going into the soundcard, which I can hear at the receiver, will be any different than what comes out and goes to the recording program.

I start the recording, then I go away, returning to check for completion of the LP side every now and again. This has been less than satisfactory about three times total. In all cases the reason was some previously unnoticed bit of something blocking one or more grooves, preventing the stylus from playing through.

If you know the LP you are recording, that probably won't be a problem. I get almost all my LPs from thrift shops. Years ago I gave up playing them first, I just clean them and record them. For the few that were bad choices, where the quality is too poor in spite of the LP's appearance, or where I decide I really don't want the performance, I delete the recording. This saves time and saves and stylus wear.

My setup is nearly ideal is regard to levels. One normally can't adjust the output level on the tape out anyway. If you need to make level adjustments, you must do it pre ADC with a mixer or line level preamp between the tape out and the line-in jack.

CoolEdit, which I use for recording, will save the maximum peak on the VU meters, so You can tell if there was any clipping. If you want to pre-play to determine this, it is still easier to let the system do it and then see what the meters captured than to listen to the entire process and try to decide if what you hear is ok.

cliveb's excellent WaveRepair is inexpensive, and very good at click repair, and is freeware if you just want to use it for recording. It saves the peak input levels so could be used to monitor as in the above paragraph. The potential downside is that it only works at 16 bit.

Anyway, I haven't found any reason to monitor the entire recording process. I'm quite glad of that. From the post above, it sounds like Audacity provides software monitoring.  You can created wav files, in 16, 24, or 32 bit format there, then process them elsewhere if you want.

How to monitor real time recording sounds_X-Fi Titanium?

Reply #5 –
Thanks for very detailed help.

Some reading on Creative's audio creation software indicates it may have live monitoring.  I d/l updated drivers & the software pkg (Console Launcher).  We'll see.
It came preloaded on the ordered PC, & there were problems w/ certain software not loading.  Did a repair, & those I've tried load now, but repair files (or install pkg) could be corrupted.  Will post results.

***  I'm a little leery of Creative's instructions for installing the drivers - nothing about uninstalling previous drivers.  Contrary to most hardware drivers install instructions.
Quote
To install this driver
  1. Download the XFTI_PCDRV_LB_2_17_0008.exe file onto your local hard disk.
  2. Double-click the downloaded file.
  3. Follow the instructions on the screen.

They may not mention uninstalling prev. drivers, but can't hurt.

 

How to monitor real time recording sounds_X-Fi Titanium?

Reply #6 –
I seem to recall reading that uninstalling Creative stuff seemes to be almost impossible. I think the successful process was to write zeros to the complete disk, delete all partitions, then put the drive through three microwave oven cycles.