# HELP PLEASE!!!!



## Kimwyn (Jan 1, 2011)

Hey guys, i am new to this forum but i have been reading about REW for a really long time. I went and bought the Soundblaster X-Fi soundcard and now i cant even get past the calibrating the soundcard part. I keep getting the graph which shows all the buzz. From what i can see, when i choose the output part I can only choose the default device and not the device output. I can choose both for the input part but not for the output. when i try to calibrate, i cannot adjust the output level but i can adjust the input level. My input level is always approx 6dB below the output level. I have tried all different settings in the sound and audio part of windows and it changes nothing. This is frustrating me so much to the point that i just want to return the sound card and just totally forget about REW. This was the exact reason i never wanted to try REW in thr first place. Can someone please help me?


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

What operating system are you on, Win 7? Have you gone to Creative's site and got their latest drivers? 

Assuming it is Win7, you usually don't get a choice of output, just output device, so that sounds normal. It is worth seeing if you get output OK by using REW's signal generator to play a sine wave or pink noise. For the input side can you post a screenshot of the Recording tab of the control panel's Sound settings, then the Listen, Levels and Advanced tabs of the window that comes up when you select the input on the Recording tab and click the Properties button?


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

You also need to check the Replay side of things, click Properties on this window:







The go to the Levels tab:







And click the speaker icon by the Line In/Mic In slider to mute that (the way it appears above is *NOT* how you want it, Line in must be muted. Turn off any effects on the Soundblaster tab.


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## Kimwyn (Jan 1, 2011)

Thanks for your response John it is much appreciated. I am running Windows Vista on my CPU and have no plans on upgrading. I made some startling discoveries this morning which I would like to share with you to see if it helps identify the issue.

1. When I hook up the cables to my AVR and my soundcard to generate a signal I get a slight noise when the cable touches the output ports on the soundcard. 

2. When I input the cables to the ports, I can hear a slight buzz in the speakers.

3. When I play a sine wave from REW, I hear the sine wave but it keeps cutting in and out. Is that supposed to happen? Or is it a continuous tone that is supposed to be heard?


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## Kimwyn (Jan 1, 2011)

It appears as if the output part of the soundcard is generating a lot of noise. I input the cables into many different inputs behind my AVR and with every input I heard the same type of noise coming from the speakers. I describe it as a low level hum that one would get when a mic is plugged in. When I play the sine waves from REW the sine wave does not play smoothly, like one long continuous note. So what do you guys think?


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

The signal cutting in and out is a problem, you might be able to cure that by setting the Replay buffer on the REW soundcard settings to 64k.

The noise will be a ground loop problem between your PC and your audio system. The issues are the same as you'll see in the thread about "dreaded BFD hum" in the equalization devices forum, you may find a solution there.


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## Kimwyn (Jan 1, 2011)

Is this what i am supposed to get when i calibrate the soundcard?


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

No, should be much flatter. It looks as if some EQ setting or sound effect is turned on in the X-Fi control panel.


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## Kimwyn (Jan 1, 2011)

i really dont know what much more i can do from here. I have tried everything. What do you suggest?


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

Post screenshots of the "Soundblaster" and "Advanced" tabs of the speaker properties. If the X-Fi has its own Creative control panel post screenshots of that also.


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## Kimwyn (Jan 1, 2011)

There is no soundblaster tab on this computer i am using. I tried a different cpu and it seems the problem with the noise is gone, so i thought i was well on my way to getting this done. Here are my settings:


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

Since you are on XP now, have you installed the Creative software? Under XP the various effects the card has need the Creative software installed to control them, from that plot you posted I'd guess one of the EAX effects is turned on. I'd also be inclined to set the Hardware acceleration to Full.


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## Kimwyn (Jan 1, 2011)

Is this what it is supposed to look like?


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## Kimwyn (Jan 1, 2011)

here is what i get when i measure after the soundcard calibration


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

Perfect


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## Kimwyn (Jan 1, 2011)

Perfect??????? 

My line is not close to the dotted line. Is that still good to start taking measurements and making determinations of my room?


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

Kimwyn said:


> My line is not close to the dotted line.


The dotted line is the soundcard calibration trace. It is drawn across the middle of the graph so that you can see it no matter what level the graph is set to. The idea of the check measurement after doing the soundcard calibration is to make sure the measurement is now flat, i.e. the calibration curve is correctly compensating for the soundcard's response. Your check measurement is flat, so all worked correctly.



> Is that still good to start taking measurements and making determinations of my room?


Yes


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

P.S. It would be helpful if you say what changes you made to get things working, that way the next person trying the same thing knows what to look for.


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## Kimwyn (Jan 1, 2011)

hey John, have i done this correctly


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

They look like valid measurements


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## Kimwyn (Jan 1, 2011)

What type of treatments would you suggest for this type of graph?


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## JohnM (Apr 11, 2006)

Which speakers were running to produce that measurement, just one main or both? If both, make a measurement with only one running - two speakers running at the same time which are not exactly the same distance from the mic/meter generate comb filtering.

The hump around 6kHz and the sharp fall off above that are characteristics of the RS meter.

You can save graphs as jpegs by clicking the Capture (camera) button. Take a look at Posting a graph for tips on how to present the measurement results.


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## Max Dread (Oct 20, 2010)

JohnM said:


> P.S. It would be helpful if you say what changes you made to get things working, that way the next person trying the same thing knows what to look for.


I'm not having the same problems.....

But for other forum users I would have to agree with this.

Good luck with your room mate.


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