No Sound ?

Bleys · 12-12-2009, 04:24 PM

Hey, I have downloaded REAPER today, and was really getting to enjoy it, until I tried to playback.

With much confusion, I changed my "Audio Device" to Dummy Audio, because it was the only one that looked like it was playing with REAPER. No luck, so next I went to Master and clicked "IO" and saw I had no output, so I set to Dummy Audio R/L output. Still no sound. I have sound with everything else I do on my computer.

My soundcard is Creative X-FI.

Please throw down any ideas that you have that would help. I am desperate and can't seem to fix it.

Ollie · 12-12-2009, 04:39 PM

Welcome to REAPER!

"Dummy" really means only that, it's a dummy non-existing driver. You should preferably use an ASIO driver. If your X-fi came with a native ASIO driver, try it but if you get problems (it's said to be buggy) you should try ASIO4ALL (http://www.asio4all.com) instead. The other supported driver models (DirectSound/WaveOut) should work as well though, if they don't I assume you're running Vista and another application is hogging the device or something along these lines.

Bleys · 12-12-2009, 04:52 PM

I downloaded ASIO4ALL, that gave me the driver to use ASIO. I do used Vista, and I closed my music player. Now, REAPER appears to be playing with ASIO, but only ASIO.

That is with ASIO config. of HD Audio Device, not X-FI. with X-FI it again appears to not be playing within REAPER.

Ollie · 12-12-2009, 05:07 PM

Hmm. Are the in/outputs of the X-fi visible (and working!) in the ASIO4ALL control panel? The inputs/outputs of both, the onboard chip and the X-fi should be selectable in Reaper then, but you have to select the 'output range' in Preferences->Audio->Device. You can also disable the onboard chip ins/outs in the ASIO4ALL control panel since it's not recommendable to use them simultaneously now.

Bleys · 12-12-2009, 05:25 PM

I did all of that. My output, well there is none. I have tried to use the XFI page to fix it, and it seems to be fixed on that side. But I still have no audio output.

Ollie · 12-12-2009, 05:58 PM

I take it from your screenshot that you didn't restart Reaper after enabling the device (the inputs are all disabled). The output however shows a red X, meaning it still can't access it, possibly because it's in use by another application. It might be worth trying to disable the onboard chip entirely (in the BIOS or at least in Device Manager). Some detailed system specs could help us helping you too.

Bleys · 12-12-2009, 06:43 PM

Manufacter: HP
Model: e9180t
Precessor: Intel Core i7 2.67 GHz
RAM: 8 GB
64-bit
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 4850
Sound Card: Creative X-FI Audio Blaster

I think those are all the specs you'll need, if not just let me know. I'm new to this. Would restarting computer help at all?

Ollie · 12-12-2009, 07:21 PM

No a reboot is not necessary here but it won't harm to do it anyway.

Ok, just wanted to make sure you don't use some exotic or USB version of the X-fi or something. The former is still not 100% clear though if the PC came with that card, for example Dell happened to sell PCs with special Dell versions of the SB-Live (incompatible with the great alternative driver packs for that card), no idea what HP does. The thing is it should work, I can't find any of the usual indications that there are common problems with X-fi cards and ASIO4ALL (or even a single similar post) and I'm puzzled.

- Try going to 'Options->Preferences->Audio->MIDI Devices' in Reaper and disabling the "MS GS Wavetable Synth" output.

- I have read somewhere (not necessarily in context with an X-fi card) that disabling the onboard chip made ASIO4ALL work so I can only suggest that again.

Bleys · 12-12-2009, 07:32 PM

I checked that, and it was already disabled.

Bleys · 12-12-2009, 07:43 PM

If I have the 32-bit version but my system is 64-bit, could that be a problem?

Ollie · 12-12-2009, 07:58 PM

- Make sure the X-fi is selected as "default device": Go to Control Panel (classic view) -> Sound -> Playback tab and right-click the entry for the X-fi and select "set as Default Device" in the context menu.

- The "Default Device" thing could at least make DirectSound and/or Waveout work for you.

- Try updating the driver for the X-fi or if you're using the latest, rolling back to an older one.

- If you can live with that, you could also use Reaper with the onboard chip+ASIO4ALL for now and troubleshoot later.

- If all that fails, try also asking at the ASIO4ALL forums, maybe someone has an idea there. Alas these cards are not really meant to be used with DAW software and ASIO4ALL improves that for most but unfortunately not all consumer grade cards/chips. If you plan on using a DAW software more intensively, buying a decent audio interface might be worth considering.

Bleys · 12-12-2009, 08:11 PM

When I bought my Sound Card, I upgraded to the highest HP had to offer, on video card too. Still upgrade more?

Ollie · 12-12-2009, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bleys

If I have the 32-bit version but my system is 64-bit, could that be a problem?

Usually not but it could be one more variable in the "why is it not working for you" puzzle od course.