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Reformatted computer now soundcard isn't performing correctly

M

MarkLaRoi

Hi all,

after running my computer for years with the occasional hiccup, one bad infection and a crash due to a power outage which necessitated partitioning the drive (a friend did it for me), and looking at a million different programs on my system I decided to reformat my computer and start over with a clear list of the programs I wanted/needed on the computer.

I wanted to streamline things and remove stuff that I knew would go unused. So, everything went well it seemed, I used the repair/reformat DVD and removed the programs I never used (AOL and stuff like that), loaded the stuff I need and all seemed great. Only one problem, and of course it would be the most necessary thing on the computer: the soundcard.

I've searched online for days and it seems common to lose contact with the soundcard after reformatting, but I haven't lost it. It plays all audio recorded before the format perfectly, as well as CDs and online audio, but anynew audio recorded plays back with the "tin can" sound. Even stuff ripped from CDs is affected. HOWEVER, music loops from disc seem to work just fine still!

I thought it was my DAW (Adobe Audition 1.5) but then I recorded with Acid Pro and got the same problem.

My computer is a Gateway PC, the soundcard is an ECHO MIAMidi (I have gone to their website and updated all the drivers and it hasn't helped), I've updated Windows (I'm running XP Home SP 2)there had been no issues of this sort whatsoever until I did the reformatting. I even went back and reloaded all the stuff from the original OS disc to see if that would help. Nope.

Any ideas?
 
1. Install XP Home SP3 (current release) and ensure all subsequent updates are installed (Microsoft Download Site will have a complete inventory).

2. Uninstall and reinstall your sound card software. I'm assuming this is the original software release which worked on SP2. If not you will want to check with the software vendor to ensure any updates remain compatible with XP.
 
One thing you might want to check is the mixer settings for your soundcard. For some reason a lot of them default to "wave out" (or something similar) being selected on the record input.
This will cause a feedback loop when you're trying to record.
 
Is it possible that the power outage caused some hardware damage to the sound card? This sounds like older hardware, so I wouldn't be shocked if a capacitor or some other component had failed.
 
This happened to me a year ago when I reloaded this HP laptop.
I tried to dub a recording from an LP, sounded "tinny", as you say.
I DID find a setting for the soundcard in which had somehow changed resolution in the audio input.
It was shown as "microphone enhancements"
with choice of no filtering, voice recording, and speaker phone.
Somehow it had defaluted to Voice, which was tinny and "gated" to suppress background noise.
Music was awful when recorded this way.
Once I set to no filtering, I was back to full fidelity.
 
One more tip: Try recording with the computer's on-board sound card. If the recordings come out fine then the problem is likely with the Echo card, not the computer.
 
Landtuna - I'd actually tried it with updating to SP 3 but then when I wanted to replace the stuff I'd taken out from the original setup using my restore disc, it wouldn't let me because of the service pack, so I had to take it out in order to reinstall all that stuff. Plus I've uninstalled/reinstalled the original card software and even reseated it in the hopes that would do something.

Oldbones - I don't think I have a virtual setting for the card...is there somewhere else I'd find that? I think I have all the Windows settings properly adjusted. I think.

PTBoardOp94 - It was fixed a few weeks after that and had been working fine for some time since then. I did add a UPS though! One scare was enough. :)

Tom - That seems to be the most likely culprit, something along those lines. I'm just doing my show prep right now, but when I get back I'm going to run through again to see if I can find a setting I've missed. Seems like I remember going through something like this when I first bought Cool Edit Pro, but it was so long ago I can't remember.

SRP - Will do!
 
Someone else mentioned it, but I too would check the Windows mixer. Look for the "mute" checkbox that prevents audio from passing through during recording.

Let us know how it turns out.
 
Success! As I was thinking, it was a simple setting but it wasn't Windows. See, it should first be noted that I can be a bit forgetful at times, and it took until this afternoon for me to look into my "Start - All Programs" menu for the ECHO soundcard controls.

I did this and noticed that the "out" was selected as the "in"! My thought (correct me if I'm wrong) is that due to the fact that this card supplies several virtual channels and that the volume level was correct it was somehow sending the signal down multiple paths, creating reverb.

I'm just thankful that I know I'm not the only person who has had a frustrating problem for days only to remember that the car should have gas in the tank in order to start! ::)

Thanks Tom, thanks everybody for your input. I think now I will go ahead and regrab SP 3 just to make sure I have all the security patches I need, and I will add a note about this to my "plug this cord here" layout map I've drawn and taped underneath my mixer! :)
 
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