Creative SB x fi xtreme audio delay problem!

[Brian114]

Hi,
I've recently bought a creative SB x-fi xtreme audio, and no matter what update i do, I keep having delay problems( 0.5 to 1sec) when connecting my guitar through the mic/line entry.......
To make things worse, the driver even crashes and all sounds get delayed, i mean even in windows media player!!!! This is driving me crazy..... I'm kind of new here so don't be too harsh on me.....
Any help would be much appreciated.....
Many thnks,
Brian

 

[fireberd]

I have a computer based recording studio (Sonar).

Latency can be one issue. Also, if you had Integrated Audio before (e.g. RealTek, SigmaTel/IDT, etc) make sure you have that disabled in the BIOS so there are no conflicts.

Run the DPC Latency checker and see what it tells you. DPC Latency Checker

 

[Brian114]

I've tried the DPC latency checker seems like everything should be working fine on my PC.....results, Plz see attachment....
But the sound card still seems faulty....I ve went through several forums where they had the same problem, but it seems like the links to drivers etc are out dated....

Can anybody who got the delay problem with his SB X-fi figured out help me.......

 

[fireberd]

I assume the delay is when you want to record your guitar along with some other music. Is this correct? If it is, it's the "latency" issue.

.5 second is long. You say you recently bought the Xfi sound card. What sound were you using previously and did it work OK?

But, as you are also having other problems, with the crashing, etc it may be the SoundBlaster is defective. Have you tried reseating the card or if you have another PCIeX1 slot, move it to that slot and try it (I assume you have a newer model card that is PCIeX1 rather than the older models that were PCI which not all are Win 7 compatible)

 

[Brian114]

Yes, the delay can heard from the moment I strike the chords to the moment I hear it from my speakers.....I have the PCI-e model but no extra slots, and have already tried reseating it, but to no avail!!
Before using the SB xfi I was using my on board system, and everything simply working fine......already uninstall it in the bios!
This is the worse issue I got from upgrading to W7

 

[fireberd]

Two other items, have you reset the BIOS? (and once you reset it you will have to go back and redo any custom settings such as disabling the Integrated Audio). Also, if you have motherboard chipset drivers, reinstall them to see if it helps.

I wonder if Overclocking the CPU is causing this? Can you reset the CPU back to it's default speed, just to see?

 

[Brian114]

I'vsts and my clock speed...........and it just wouldn't work.
A friend of mine told me to have a go at third party drivers, so I ggogle it and couldn't find anything.....Seems like I have to get another sound card....but thnks for the help anyway Fireberd but if you can find anything your help would be much appreciated.....

 

[fireberd]

I don't have anything else to suggest. There are the "Daniel K" SoundBlaster drivers that you can try but I doubt that it will do anything for the latency. I would more suspect the sound card. Can you install this card in a friend's PC to test? that would tell you if it's the card or something in your PC or software.

I had a SoundBlaster Xfi installed in my PC but I never recorded with it and it was conflicting with Sonar and my recording audio interface unit because of the SoundBlaster ASIO drivers. I finally dumped the SoundBlaster for an HT Omega "Striker 7.1" sound card to get rid of the Sonar/ASIO conflict. The Striker 7.1 does not have ASIO drivers (I would have to use the ASIO4ALL drivers but they cause problems too).

 

[Brian114]

Ok, will try what you suggested here, but seriously doubt this has anything to do with my pc...... Will also give a try to the daniel k third party drivers.... And if it not working then I'll dump the sb for another one...
Any good suggestions?.... Keep in my mind that i'll be using my pc for playing and recording stuffs..

 

[Rathbone529]

I have the same soundcard problem! Please help!

Hi Brian114,

Hey, i just got a new Dell computer with the same soundcard you have/had (soundblaster x-fi xtreme audio) and have the exact same problem you had about sound latency. When i strike a chord on my guitar the sound is off. I was hoping to find an answer from your posts but the thread seems to have died out. I'm hoping you'll revisit here and post what you finally did to solve the issue, seeing as this thread was several months back. Any, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks - Rath

 

[fireberd]

I didn't know new Dell's still had the option for a SoundBlaster sound card? I thought they did away with that model sound card. What model do you have? (I do a lot of support on the Dell community users forum). The older Dell's that did have the Xfi Xtreme Audio option had a lot of problems and possibly one reason Dell discontinued using them - most users were removing the Xfi sound card and going back to the Integrated (on the motherboard) audio because of all the problems. I only see one model that has the Xfi Titanium sound card (an XPS 8300 top end model).

You would have been better starting a new thread than trying to revive an old thread. I only looked at this because I had originally responded to it.

But as I previously mentioned, Latency is something those of us with recording studios fight all the time. By the time you hear the music or whatever playing and play along there is a time lapse on recording. I have latency down to an acceptable amount in my studio, but I also have a way of syncing something if it is off slightly in my recording program (Sonar).

 

[Brian114]

Hi Brian114,

Hey, i just got a new Dell computer with the same soundcard you have/had (soundblaster x-fi xtreme audio) and have the exact same problem you had about sound latency. When i strike a chord on my guitar the sound is off. I was hoping to find an answer from your posts but the thread seems to have died out. I'm hoping you'll revisit here and post what you finally did to solve the issue, seeing as this thread was several months back. Any, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks - Rath

Hey Rath,
Bad news for you, this card is only playing music and not recording, that's what I've found out anyway.......Creative support is dump, those guys are simply as stupid as hell, they don't even know what is wrong with this sound card...and told me to buy a higher range card because they don't know what the problem actually is DAMN U CREATIVE . Anywho,Do not even bother to try to update your drivers, reset bios or any other tweaks you might want to try, just dump it or sell it to someone who doesn't need sound card for recording, and get yorself an E-MU External card( It's the PRO range of creative), they run sweet ,but are a little more expensive. Also a friend of mine did buy a Asus Xonar card, its sound quality is simply great and clear.

I am sorry I couldn't help more on this one....
P.S creative sound cards are great, but from what I've learned check and cross check any new device you are buying or you might find yourself staying up late trying to figure out why it is not working properly.

Cheers,
Brian.

 

[Rathbone529]

Hey fireberd, Brian114 -

Thank you both for the quick replies! I just bought my Dell XPS 8300 at the beginning of October and I thought the Xfi Xtreme card was an upgrade. i didn't do enough research on the card before i dove in and bought the thing. Grrr, I could kick myself. But it seems strange that the soundcard is, like, almost there, if you know what i mean. When i record from my guitar or digital keyboard using the input jack the latency is just slightly off but enough to be annoying -it seems like it should be a simple fix, like adjusting a setting or something like that. But going into BIOS and messing around with that stuff gives this here newbie the willies!

Anyhow, thanks again for the responses. At least i have something to go on now as i thought i was the only one having an issue like this. I'd rather not buy another soundcard but if i must, i must. The music live!

Thanks, thanks - Rath

 

[cub2000]

Hey Brian114,

I'm having exact same problem about the delay/latency issue in Windows 6 64 bit. What do you think about the Creative E-Mu 1212M PCIe card? There is a new Windows 7 64bit driver for the card in July 2011, so that's pretty new. I'm thinking about buy this card to replace this crappy SB X-fi Xtreme Audio.

Also, do you know if the card has the connector to hook up to the front SB panel?

Thanks in advance.

 

[JoeW]

Hey Brian114,

I'm having exact same problem about the delay/latency issue in Windows 6 64 bit. What do you think about the Creative E-Mu 1212M PCIe card? There is a new Windows 7 64bit driver for the card in July 2011, so that's pretty new. I'm thinking about buy this card to replace this crappy SB X-fi Xtreme Audio.

Also, do you know if the card has the connector to hook up to the front SB panel?

Thanks in advance.

If you want to record a guitar or similar by an off-board Audio I/O with a Hi-Z pre amp. I think you can get reasonably priced stuff from someone like Focusrite or similar with just two channels which will blow any Creative stuff out of the water.

If your sound card isn't designed to record from a guitar's impedance you might damage it, or very least any high volume 'or clipping' will cause latency and sound issues in itself.

 

[Brian114]

Hey Brian114,

I'm having exact same problem about the delay/latency issue in Windows 6 64 bit. What do you think about the Creative E-Mu 1212M PCIe card? There is a new Windows 7 64bit driver for the card in July 2011, so that's pretty new. I'm thinking about buy this card to replace this crappy SB X-fi Xtreme Audio.

Also, do you know if the card has the connector to hook up to the front SB panel?

Thanks in advance.

Hey Cub2000,

This card is simply great (I have the same one), Crystal clear sound quality, almost nil latency( I've recently learned that 0 latency does not exist, and this even for the most expensive card you might get), this card is fine for guitar players and should be working well on budget PC. On the other hand to get some really serious sound recording/editing you better get some extra ram, and it shall work just fine.
Also, very important, this product comes in Dual cards, there's the PCIe card and the daughter card, so make sure you have 2 free slots in your PC,
One last point that is certainly not to be forgotten, do not, and by do not I mean DO NOT absobloodilylutely allow windows to update your drivers, cancel the installation as soon as it launches, do it manually and use the installation CD.
Focusrite looks some kind of too 'advance' for me, and believe me I am used to do some really crazy stuffs recording and editing, I don't know maybe that's just me....
Anywho, hope that helped....

Cheers,
Brian.

 

[DJCUEBALL]

I had a similar issue and this fixed it for me. I hope it works for people who are having the same kind of problem.

I found the solution off of the following link:
Connie's Ramblings » Blog Archive » Fix: Windows 7 Latency Problem with Line-In