KVR Audio

Lovi · Post by **Lovi** » Fri Nov 28, 2014 2:53 pm

Whyterabbyt, thanks for the reply. I installed the Chainer demo and I managed to get some distortion going via it, but theres some massive hissing that's as loud as the actual strings playing, but at least the knobs in the plugin interface are finally doing something.

thecontrolcentre, I'm using Cubase because I got the license to it when I bought my audio interface and I figured it's a good software for this basically because it's well known and costs a lot of money.

So, the plugin is working in Chainer with all my physical settings being the same, so that leaves Cubase to be the flaw most likely.

And I got the Pantheon plugin thingy with the interface as well, though I don't think it's of any use for me.

If by arming the track you mean adding an audio track, yes obviously because otherwise I couldn't add any insert effects to it or anything.

robogone · Post by **robogone** » Fri Nov 28, 2014 2:58 pm

No, arming is not adding an audio track - you need an audio track to be able to play obviously, but it needs to be armed if you're going to monitor the output of the VST. I haven't used Cubase for many, many years and don't remember how you arm a track, but someone else might be able to comment on that.

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Fri Nov 28, 2014 2:59 pm

Lovi wrote:Whyterabbyt, thanks for the reply. I installed the Chainer demo and I managed to get some distortion going via it, but theres some massive hissing that's as loud as the actual strings playing, but at least the knobs in the plugin interface are finally doing something.

That would indicate that the soundcard/drivers are operating and that you can get sound to/from the device. Which would indicate your problem lies with Cubase. I suspect Robojam might be spot on about arming the track

Have to say, though, your description of whats happening in Chainer doesnt sound quite right to me.
What distortion plugin are you using? Is there the same amount of noise when you're not using any plugins?

Found a quick guide to Cubase 5 LE at http://tascam.com/content/downloads/pro ... qsg_va.pdf

Different soundcard but the principles will be the same. Page 8 shows you how to arm (aka 'record enable') tracks.

Lovi · Post by **Lovi** » Fri Nov 28, 2014 3:07 pm

To add, I did read all the manuals that came in the box and for past 3 days I've raked through google and found nothing relevant to this.

I tried several different free plugins I have, mainly the LePou plugins. The noise is massive when I have no plugins added in Chainer, and as soon as I add one, the noise level goes way down but when I up the volume it is still very loud and the strings are playing very bad, like you can't hear the difference in pitch with open strings. So, massive noise without plugins. I tried to plug my guitar into the Line 1 in hole from the current Instrument hole but it sounds the same. I tried the input volume knob for line 1/instrument holes and it just changes to volume, no effect in the noise.

Lovi · Post by **Lovi** » Fri Nov 28, 2014 3:27 pm

The pdf file is quite similar to the manual I got with the box and I had done everything in it already, as well as arm the tracks. When I try to record it doesn't record anything, though. I tried it yesterday as well. I can certainly hear the regular guitar sound from my headphones without any direct feedback, but it just doesn't record anything. And it's still very low volume in cubase even with all my volumes on max.

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Fri Nov 28, 2014 3:30 pm

Lovi wrote:To add, I did read all the manuals that came in the box and for past 3 days I've raked through google and found nothing relevant to this.

I tried several different free plugins I have, mainly the LePou plugins. The noise is massive when I have no plugins added in Chainer, and as soon as I add one, the noise level goes way down but when I up the volume it is still very loud and the strings are playing very bad, like you can't hear the difference in pitch with open strings. So, massive noise without plugins. I tried to plug my guitar into the Line 1 in hole from the current Instrument hole but it sounds the same. I tried the input volume knob for line 1/instrument holes and it just changes to volume, no effect in the noise.

I have to say, it sounds like there may be something wrong with the Alpha.

For guitar, btw, you should stick to the input on the front.

edit : just a thought, but have you installed the latest drivers for the Alpha?

http://www.lexiconpro.com/en/softwares/ ... 27-windows

robogone · Post by **robogone** » Fri Nov 28, 2014 3:34 pm

Do you have a guitar amp? If you do, does everything work fine if you plug in using the same lead that you used for the interface?

Lovi · Post by **Lovi** » Fri Nov 28, 2014 3:42 pm

The alpha drivers are the only audio drivers on my computer currently so all my sound is coming via the box and all the sound is working flawlessly from videos etc, so in that sense the box is working. I just tried plugging it into a different USB slot but there's no difference in noise levels in Chainer and it's still not working in Cubase. I've had the latest drivers from the site from beginning when I struggled to get sound out of the box at all, but that was just because my monitor mix knob was in direct position so it won't play any sounds from my computer.

I don't have any amps or other hardware, just the guitar and the Alpha box I got a couple days ago. The cable should be working because I can hear the guitar perfectly with nice volume if I turn the monitor mix knob to Direct when it bypasses the computer entirely.

robogone · Post by **robogone** » Fri Nov 28, 2014 3:52 pm

Maybe you could try a different ASIO driver - there's a generic one called ASIO4ALL:

http://www.asio4all.com

Try this one and see if you get the same results. If you do, then the driver can probably be ruled out.

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Fri Nov 28, 2014 3:55 pm

Lovi wrote:The alpha drivers are the only audio drivers on my computer currently so all my sound is coming via the box and all the sound is working flawlessly from videos etc, so in that sense the box is working.

Yes, but there are two differences.

Firstly, Windows wont be using the ASIO drivers which Cubase and Chainer will be using. If the ASIO driver install is messed up, Windows audio could still be working fine.
Maybe you could try reinstalling the drivers, just to be sure.

Also, since your problem is with the input signal, the fact that your windows audio output is working doesnt mean the input side necessarily is, Im afraid.

Do you have a friend who might also have a PC you can try this on? Not with Cubase, with Chainer.

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Fri Nov 28, 2014 4:05 pm

Maybe take a screen video of what you're trying?

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Fri Nov 28, 2014 4:06 pm

My audio box has separate drivers you can open and change direct monitoring settings and such. I thought I'd never be able to turn it off!

Lovi · Post by **Lovi** » Fri Nov 28, 2014 4:19 pm

I installed the ASIO4ALL but in Cubase it says there's no input connected when I select the driver. In Chainer, absolutely no sound is coming through and obviously no noise either because nothing seems to be going in.

I installed the newest Alpha driver, which was the same I had, uninstalled the old one and installed the new one. In Chainer there's no differene, the noise is still massive. In Cubase there's no difference either.

I don't think a video will be helping here and it would take so much work to record it and render it and upload it somewhere etc.

I've tried to find any control panels of any kind of my Alpha from my computer but there is no such thing, tried control panel and search and the fact that there are no shortcuts would suggest there isn't any. On the physical box I have this knob with which I can change the mix between direct monitoring and playback, and I obviously have it on playback so it doesn't monitor anything.

Edit: I have a flatmate but I wouldn't want to big him unless there's no other option as it will take a while to get the box there and install drivers and the software on his comp and restart etc.

robogone · Post by **robogone** » Fri Nov 28, 2014 4:31 pm

Lovi wrote:I installed the ASIO4ALL but in Cubase it says there's no input connected when I select the driver.

Are your headphones plugged in to the interface? If ASIO4ALL isn't recognizing an input device, I would guess that Windows is not recognizing the device.

Check device manager in Windows and see if you can see your interface.

Lovi · Post by **Lovi** » Fri Nov 28, 2014 4:38 pm

Yeah they have been this entire time. It was more so that when I had the ASIO4ALL driver selected in Cubase, the VST connections window stated that the In colums were as "not connected" but with the Alpha driver they are In1 and In2 and the sound is coming through my headphones with the Alpha driver, however quite faintly even with max volumes everywhere. This is with no direct monitoring, only playback.

I don't think I can change the driver on just windows, but currently having both ASIO4ALL drivers and the newest Alpha drivers installed on my PC, I can see the "USB Composite Device" in my device manager, and I have set my playback device to be the "Speakers - USB audio device" that is the interface, there is nothing named Alpha or Lexicon on the list but the fact that I'm changing my volume etc. with the knobs on the box would suggest I have the right playback device selected.

VST plugin not affecting guitar sound