Sound Card

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 18 Nov 2007 7:57 am

Here is an unusual problem that is happening on my Computer.

First, in Band in a Box, I play the Backukp in E and it comes out to true D. I thought it was with BIAB and asked PG Music. Everything they told me didn't work. I got their screen for A 440 and heard the note which is supposed to be A and it is G, a whole tone lower.

Now I recorded my song in E with another program and played it back, and IT TOO was in D. So it not only Band in a Box.

I checked out the transpose screen and everything .
Nothing changed. So here is the problem and question?

What could be wrong with my Sound Card that came with my HP computer and can it be re-set..???Thanks..al.

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 19 Nov 2007 8:48 pm

Jack-you have always had knowledgeable answers to our sound problems. Maybe you can shed som light on my problem in the above post. It sure is weird, when I record and play back it is one whole tone lower than the key I played and recorded it in. This is weird!!! It does the same thing with Band in a Box, or any recording program I have used. Any ideas??? thanks...al.

:(

Andy Sandoval · Post by **Andy Sandoval** » 19 Nov 2007 10:09 pm

Al, have you tried this?

Ignore what key is indicated and transpose your rhythm track until you hear it in the right key then just change the indicated key to the proper key by clickin on the key button (as indicated in my example) and choosing the proper key then when the window pops up and says "ok to transpose worksheet" choose "no". this changes the indicated key name without actually transposing your track to another key. Make sense? in my example below I know this rhythm track is actually in the key of A but I changed it to indicate another key (Cm) just as an example.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 20 Nov 2007 3:20 am

Is this with regular "analog" audio or is this with MIDI?

If it's regular audio, e.g. if you play a commercial audio CD, is it off key?

Or is it if you "record" your own audio to the PC? And if it's what you record, have your tried different recording programs?

I have to ask the questions to try and isolate where or what the problem is.

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 20 Nov 2007 8:53 am

Thanks for your posts , Andy and Jack.
Andy, I tried that and it will work with BIAB if I cheat, if say I want to play a song in E so I can use the open strings, I put BIAB to F# chords key and it will then play in E. But when I play it back, the steel will play back in D instead of E.
I went through all this with BIAB with PG Music and everything they told me to do, did not work.

Jack, you may have something there. I will try to record with a different program and see what happens. If my steel does it too, then it has to be the souncard( maybe it is not pitched at A 440) or my recording program. Thanks...al.

Will Holtz · Post by **Will Holtz** » 20 Nov 2007 9:47 am

Al, here is a link to an mp3 of a 440Hz sine. If you play that sound file, and hold your tuner up to the speaker, how far off A is it?

Bo Borland · Post by **Bo Borland** » 20 Nov 2007 7:55 pm

I tried it, my WT12 came up 437, +10ct, +33hz...close enuf for jazz

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 20 Nov 2007 8:20 pm

Hi Will, Thenks for the test. I tried your A and it came out to G on my windows media player. So there is something wrong with my sound card or computer.....al.

:)

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 21 Nov 2007 3:40 am

Al, uninstall the sound card in the Device Manager, then restart the Computer and Windows will detect the sound card and reinstall it. The reinstall fixes a lot of flakey problems and may fix yours.

You can access the Device Manager by holding down the Windows key and pressing the Pause/Break key.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 21 Nov 2007 8:17 am

Al, I notice you also posted this in the Recording section. Double posting only causes confusion as you can be getting advice in one section and conflicting advice in the other section.

Although posting the same problem in more than one section may seem to be a good idea, it isn't.

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 21 Nov 2007 10:00 am

Jack-Thanks for your post and the good advice that you always give us on the Forum. I'll try what you suggested.

As for posting , I didn't know whether it should be in "Recording" or "Computers". ...al.

:)

Al Marcus · Post by **Al Marcus** » 21 Nov 2007 1:04 pm

Solved!! I haveRealtek HD Audio Manager , had checked everything out. But I got the "Kareoke" screen and where it said key for singers to adjust to, it said Key -2. Well, there it was. I cliked that to 0 and that was it! I never used that Kareoke and never saw the screen before. So a lesson learned.

Jack your advice would have worked as if I re-installed the Card, that would probably zero it out. But I wouldnt know how to Re-install the sound card, as it came installed with the HP and I dont have a CD for it. I suppose, I could pull out the card and push it back in again, then maybe the computer would install it again and do it's thing.
I am not an engineer, so I would leave that for the expertsI want ot take this time to thank everyone that has tried to help me with this. Thanks for this Forum, it is just great....al.

:)

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 21 Nov 2007 4:16 pm

Al when you "uninstall" as I directed in the Device Manager, it is ONLY a "software" uninstall. You don't physically remove the sound. When you restart Windows, the sound is automatically detected by Widnows and reinstalled. There is nothing you have to do to reinstall other than restart the PC.

The uninstall procedure is a common "fix" for many devices that are not working including CD/DVD drivers, sound, video, USB, etc.