PreSonus Inspire Crackling noise

[manning1]

ive covered this so many times in posts in the past.
just cant retype again for nth time.....so search my back posts.
mebe it could be a sticky.
please post your puter specs in DETAIL !
includeing what your firewire chip is in your pc.
(look in control panel..)
model number of your pc would help too so specs can be looked up.

in addition email presonus with info on your pc's firewire chipset and
ask them if the 1394 is compatible with your chipset.

in addition on the presonus site are various faq's n tech problems answered....
eg......is this your problem ??????
Q: I am using an external Firewire hard drive to record audio with the Inspire 1394. The Inspire 1394 isn't working or playback is crackling. Why is this?
A: If the Firewire drive is connected to the computer parallel to the Inspire 1394 (on the same Firewire card), the Inspire 1394 may not function properly. You should chain any Firewire hard drive to the Inspire 1394 itself via the second firewire port on the back of the unit.


on the presonus site is also a listing of compatible pc's.
possibly a call to presonus tech support might help or email.

[nbsmola]

Dell 9100 Pentium Dual Core 3.00 Ghz XP home edition SP2
I believe the model # is: 76477-OEM-0011903-00102
I purchased the firewire PCI card from Best Buy,
its a Dynex (model DX-FC103) on box it says 1394-1995 compliant and compatible with Proposal 1394a

Not sure where to find chipset if thats not it, in device manager all it says is IEEE 1394 OHCI compliant Host controller Ve

Radeon x600/x550
SigmaTel High Def Audio CODEC
unimodem half-duplex audio device

The FAQ at Presonus website didnt help. One question says to install a firewire patch for service pack 2 (which i have). It says SP2 might decrease performance of firewire. Something about 1394a vs 1394b.

Should I install this patch or not?

Thanks

[manning1]

i really think you should contact presonus tech support on this mate.
cos its their product n their engrs will know best how to guide you.
theres a possibility the inspire needs to see a proper TI firewire chipset .
and only presonus support can confirm this.
mebe the inspire doesnt like the add on card firewire chipset.

another option is to try another sound device.
but this time try a pci sound device..eg....m audio delta series which seem proven in various
systems. assuming you have available pci slots.
(then of course youll prolly need a cheap mixer too.)
by useing a pci sound card .....this way youll bypass the firewire issue.
it seems from GS some folks have had probs with some dell configs.
difficult to say further without being there.
but ..if were me....i would look at the pci sound device alternative.
(loads of em at zzounds n music123.com)
just make sure you can return anything if it dont play nice with your pc.

if you DO get it all working...as to sound device and your running a one drive pc....
you might consider installing a second 7200 rpm 16mb cache drive to record to.
(have a pc tech do it.). this lets win do its own thing on its own drive.

[nbsmola]

thanks man I appreciate the help. I'll check with Presonus.
The other thing is I am planning on getting a new laptop about mid-year. Any suggestions of laptops that would surely be compatable right out the box, cuz i might just get rid of this computer eventually and get a mac or something.

[manning1]

re laptops.
there are positives n negatives mate.
theKEY with laptops is to test your sound interface (eg the inspire if u keep it.)
with the laptop prior to buying the laptop.
heres the problem..time and again people buy laptops (and desktops...)
only to find a problem with their chosen sound interface.
this is bass ackwards. ONLY buy the new laptop (or desktop)
after haveing tested it works with your chosen sound interface.
for example the vendor of my new pc let me test it in my studio for ten days,
on condition icould return it if a problem.
this gave me time to chek it out.
search under my name for lots of laptop comments over past year.
if your leery of buying a off the shelf laptop consider someone like adk or sonica maybe who specialise in pc's for recording.

BUT i'm sure if i had your dell i could rescue it n make it work.
cos i would prolly test out some pci sound cards with it.
till i found one that worked well.

for laptops i recommend TI fwchipset..2 gigs ram, XP, ..
intel core duo 2 processor.
and if possible two 7200 rpm drives.
one for OS and one to record to.
WATCH OUT FOR SLOW INTERNAL LAPTOP HARD DRIVES !!

me personally i'm in love with a quad core desktop q6600
ive been testing out with 2 or 3 gigs of ram.
you might wanna see this>>>>note the performance...a desktop.. cheap quad core...
acer quad performance - Cockos Confederated Forums

BUT as always BUYER BEWARE. do your own testing with your song projects n sound device prior to purchase... cos your inspire might not work with it.
on the other hand it might.

god bless.

[nbsmola]

Cool. If I were to try out different PCI sound devices, wouldn't that defeat the purpose of having an Inspire, couldnt i just use that to record with and get a mixer. Also, I will be buying a laptop anyways, so I just want to find one that I can easily work with the Inspire, if not I'm gonna send the thing back and figure something else out.

Also, I wish you could take this stupid puter and figure it out, its so difficult for me and i dont know any one who knows a lot about puters and audio recording to them, only ppl who know a lot about one and not the other. Oh well. Take it easy.

also, in general I just want to record some guitars and vocals. I heard the inspire was nice so i got it. I should have probably just got a USB interface or something. If you have any suggestions where i could just scrap the Inspire and get something else that would def work on my machine.

[manning1]

nbsmola.
re "if......pci"...etc.
YES THATS THE WHOLE IDEA MATE.
(ie to bypass your fw problem.)
useing pci you wouldnt need the inspire.
the positive aspect of pci based sound devices is the fact that
they just seem to work.
unless somethings "winky" on your pc.

youll notice at the top of this section of GS a sticky about agere FW chips and macs.
as you can see fw problems can occur. on not just pc but also mac.
my "suspicion" is the inspire doesnt get on with your firewire chipset.

just as an example heres a add on firewire /pci card featuring the TI chipset.
Keyspan | FireWire Card (PCI)
and there are many others if you google for add on TI chipset.
but once again youll have to test it with the inspire.
frankly i would ask presonus if were me for a recommendation on an add on
pci fw card from them that uses the TI chipset.

another alternative to bypass your fw problem would be a usb based sound device.
once again youll need to "test".
they range from expensive like this >>>
Edirol UA-4FX - USB Audio/MIDI Interface
to cheap like the behringer uca202..(youll need a mic pre.)..its 40 buks i underrstand.
COMPUTER BASED RECORDING - AUDIO/MIDI INTERFACES - U-CONTROL UCA202 : Ultra low-latency 2 In/2 Out USB/Audio Interface with Digital Output

heres a pci sound device thats well respected .....
ESI Juli@ PCI Sound Card Review
read the review.


and there are many others....from el cheapo right thru......
really expensive.
heres a popular one...with users ...BUT NOTE some find it difficult to set up...
E-MU Systems - 0404 USB 2.0 - USB 2.0 Audio/MIDI Interface
you must understand patchmix.
note the mic pre built in.
but people tell me that they love the sound quality.

but BUYER BEWARE. make sure you can return anything that wont work with your pc.
happy new year.
ps..on your pc i'm sure i would easy get a load of traks out of it.
just be patient mate n be open n learn .n youll get there.
in that dell once you find a sound device that works with it.
as i said add a second drive...mebe pump up memory to 2gigs.
how much memory ya got ??

[manning1]

addendum.
i thought i might put u in touch with another inspire user.
(mebe you pm him ?..to see how he is getting on ?)
after initial probs it looks like he might have got it working.
notice the comment bout theTI chipset.
(which i think might be your problem.)
heres the thread link.
PG Music Forums: Presonus Inspire 1394 Problem