Microphone jack configuration in USB sound cards

Remember I was saying that I was confused about the mic pin configuration of these very popular sound cards? Well, I think, after searching like crazy on the Internet, I have managed to find a drawing of what the microphone configuration is.

So now I know, even though it is a TRS female jack, the tip and ring have the same mono signal. I do not know why this is the case, especially if you look at it from a professional audio point of view. But I must say that it is something that makes one think.

USB soundcard for my wife’s Dell computer

Actually, I am no stranger to this soundcard. I have used it in a few projects and I have even seen some friends who use it in their DJ setups. The reason I bought it for my wife’s Dell Inspiron laptop is quite simple…it is all Intel’s fault

A couple of days back, there was a Windows update that was installed to fix the Intel Spectre issue. But sometimes, Windows realises that they throw out the baby with the bathwater. That update did something to the Intel-based soundcard in the laptop and as a result, the soundcard gets disabled.

So what do I do? Call up Dell. They say that they will be working on a driver but it is not ready yet. So what do we have to do? Simple. Get an auxiliary soundcard like this so that my wife can listen to her audio. Cost me about $6 at Sim Lim Square yesterday and works a charm. Love this soundcard. It is inexpensive and does the job.

USB sound-card installed in a client’s premises

I wrote an article some time back about my friend buying a sound-card for use with his controller, that did not have a sound card installed in it. When I was at a client’s place earlier this week, I saw that they had installed this very similar USB sound card in their premises. This was or rather is to facilitate their laptops to connect to the sound system in the board room. The reason is because some laptops do not have sound card outputs in the form of mini-jacks on their laptops.

But here lies the question. I have never installed one of these things on my system before so I do not know if Windows has the default drivers for this tiny USB sound card. Do they need the ASIO drivers for it? All I know is that when the client plugged in the USB cable that is connected to this little device, it worked…but how do I know if he had installed the software before hand? In any case, this looks pretty good and I might invest in one myself…

The Creative Sound Blaster Play! 2

A few days back, at an event, one of the DJs was using this as an external soundcard on his Macbook Pro. What happened was that he was using the headphone out as a monitor and using this Sound Blaster Play 2 as the primary sound source as he was playing with VirtualDJ 7. It looked interesting so I had a check on what it was and from their website, this what I found out:

The Sound Blaster Play! 2 is a USB sound card gives users a true-to-life 3D audio soundstage, and noiseless recordings for podcasts and video conferencing. Compatible with all analog headsets and earbuds, the Sound Blaster Play! 2 delivers powerful audio via SBX Pro Studio technology, full audio settings customization via Sound Blaster Play! 2 Control Panel, and optimized profiles for select earphone brands.

Apparently, on the online shop. this little marvel only costs about $29. That is not too bad for a tiny little soundcard and I am sure that it is heaps better than some of those POS sound cards that I bought back in the day. In any case, my friend used it on his Mac and the sound was fuller than what his Mac’s soundcard could have provided. So if you ask if I liked it? I will have to say I did

ESS 1868 soundcard

One of the best sound-cards I ever had in my computer. I do not know why I upgraded it to a Creative Sound Blaster when the sound-card was working perfectly then. Itchy hands syndrome I suppose. I liked it because I converted many of my vinyl singles to CD back in the day and I remember that this sound-card always did it very well. The Creative sound-card does not work that well with Windows XP when I connect my DJ mixer to it unfortunately. It sounds pretty distorted but then again, I suppose that it could be my fault for making it distorted, always wanting to send a good signal down the RCA cables to do so. Strangely enough, I still have this soundcard. I do not know what prompted me to keep it but it seems that there was a little voice at the back of my head telling me that I should not get rid of a sound-card that served me so faithfully. Another little voice was telling me to keep the sound-card should the Creative one croak. But honestly? I like this sound-card. Bought it for a good price and it served me well.

Behringer U-CONTROL UCA202

I saw this on sale the other day and I must admit that I am kicking myself for not getting it. This Behringer UCA202 is an Ultra-Low Latency 2 In/2 Out USB/Audio Interface with Digital Output. With this, I can record my LPs and 12″ singles to my computer, bypassing my old sound card in my computer. It is much cheaper than getting a USB interface from Focusrite, Line 6 or even Presonus that would cost me a pretty penny. Plus, I was reading this NwAVGuy’s blog and was pretty impressed at what this thing could do out of the box. Features-wise, from Behringer’s website:

• Ultra-flexible audio interface connects your instruments, mixer, etc. with your computer for recording and playback
• High-resolution 48 kHz converters for high-end audio quality
• Works with your PC or Mac computer—no setup or drivers required. Free audio recording and editing software downloadable at http://www.behringer.com
• Stereo Headphone output with dedicated Level control lets you monitor both input and output
• Additional S/PDIF optical output for direct digital conversion
• Powered via USB—no external power supply needed

Looks like that is all I need to get into the next phase of recording my mixes. According to Behringer:

When used as a professional interface between a mixing console and your computer, myriad options become available. Some of these might include connecting the UCA202 RCA outputs: to the TAPE INPUT jacks of your mixer; to powered monitors or to the input channels on the mixer. Connecting to the mixer input channels allows you to use the Aux Send feature of your mixer to build an extremely versatile monitor mix for recording sessions. These are just a few of the possibilities; let us know how you use your UCA202. To truly get the most out of your UAC202, you will need recording and editing software. So, we decided to give you lots of free software to choose from.

KRISTAL Audio Engine is a powerful multi-track recorder, audio sequencer and mixer – ideal for anyone getting started with recording, mixing and mastering digital audio. Kristal’s main features include:
• Mixing console
• Audio sequencer
• 16 audio tracks
• 32-bit floating point audio engine
• Sample rates from 44.1 to 192 kHz
• 3-band parametric EQ
• 2 VST insert slots per channel
• 3 VST master effect slots
• ASIO low-latency audio driver support

Audacity is an easy-to-use audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux operating systems. With Audacity you can:
• Record live audio
• Convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs
• Edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV or AIFF sound files
• Cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together
• Change the speed or pitch of a recording
• And much more…

Looks like I will get it and that right soon.

Reloop Play sound card

A friend of mine brought this over today, along with his computer, to be installed as the sound card when he hooks up his MixVibes controller, that does not come equipped with a sound card. It took some time to get the hang of this sound card. First off, there are two outputs at the back of this, as can be seen. On the other side, there is a headphone jack and a USB port, and a toggle switch, as can be seen here:

I was confused about this toggle switch at first because we had some issues with sounds coming out of the controller. I am always used to controllers with built-in sound cards but I took this as a challenge. In any case, according to Reloop’s website on this sound card:

Thanks to the elaborate connecting possibilities, Reloop Play offers two play modes. On the one hand there is the external mixer mode: with it, it is possible routing two separate stereo channels to an external mixer – this mode will be appreciated by all professional Traktor users. The second mode is called the controller mode: In this case a master output is routed to the sound system and it is possible to connect headphones directly to the interface – this mode is especially appropriate for laptop DJs without further hardware. Both stereo channels’ volume can be comfortably adjusted via separate controllers. The signal status LEDs allow a visual monitoring so that everything remains in view and under control. Small, professional and always present: Plug&Play.

Trust me, it was not plug and play for me…it was more plug and pray! But this step is important: load the software that comes with the controller for ASIO drivers. My friend just let Windows 7 detect the sound card and that was that. That is why he was having problems with audio routing. Once we installed the software drivers for this, all was ok. Piece of cake!

Asus Xonar U3

Sometimes, there are DJ controllers on the market that have no built-in sound cards like the Numark Mixtrack and DJ2GO, Some Hercules controllers whose names and model numbers have slipped my mind…but they do not have sound card and as a result are cheaper. I posted an entry some time ago about my friend who bought a controller without a sound card and he bought a sound card that cost only about $18. It worked well out of the box too. But what happens if you want a better sounding sound card?

I was alerted to this Asus Xonar X3 just a couple of days back. According to Asus, they claim: “Turn your notebook into a personal Hi-Fi center with Xonar U3” According to their website, this USB Xonar X3 (they do not refer to it as a sound card, just the Xonar X3) makes for a pretty good headphone amplifier. Also, they claim that it has “complete support for a wide variety of Dolby Technologies for your Hi-Fi enjoyments.” That remains to be seen actually but for the money, it is much better than an internal sound card that is bombarded with RFI and such.

Specifications-wise, this is what this USB sound card has to offer:

• Analog Playback Sample Rate and Resolution : 48KHz @ 16bit
• Analog Output Jack : 1 x 3.5mm RCA jack
• Analog Input Jack : 1 x 3.5mm RCA jack and 1 x Digital S/PDIF Output
• Special features:
  •  Dolby® Technologies : Dolby® Digital Live/Dolby® Headphone /Dolby® Virtual Speaker /Dolby® Pro-Logic II
  • Smart Volume Normalizer™
  • Xear 3D™ Virtual Speaker Shifter
  • Magic Voice™
  • Karaoke Functions
  • 10 -band Equalizer
  • 27 Environment Effects
  • GX2.5 Gaming Audio Engine
  • VocalFX™

Hercules DJ Control MP3 E2

A friend of mine bought this Hercules controller yesterday. Pretty inexpensive…cost him less than $150. But there is a caveat though. It does not come with an internal soundcard and so he needed to buy an external one. Loading was pretty simple. All I had to do was load the Hercules drivers, and then install the Virtual DJ software that came with it. The controller worked right out of the box. Specs-wise, this is what this controller has to offer:

• 2 vinyl-style jog wheels
• 3 faders
• 6 equalization knobs
• 2 pitch knobs
• 1 stick & multiple buttons

After he bought this, he went to another shop in the same shopping centre and bought this USB soundcard below:

The soundcard was pretty inexpensive too. Cost him about $18. So what he has to do now is configure Virtual DJ to route the headphone mix to this soundcard and the laptop soundcard takes care of the house audio. That is going to be a pretty tall order for him but I have given him some tips on how to do it so he should be OK.

Money well spent? You bet!

Virtual DJ and 64-bit Windows 7 – Error in the ASIO sound driver – fixed in the end

I am not happy. Yesterday, I tried to load my copy of Virtual DJ 6 LE and I kept getting this error message when I tried to launch Virtual DJ. For those of you wondering, was my controller plugged in? Yes, it most certainly was! My controller could not even play the MP3s! So yesterday, I had to do a gig just using Winamp. Luckily it was a bar job and not much mixing was needed but it left me bloody furious.

The funny thing is, I have another notebook running 32-bit Windows 7 and it works fine! What is this with Virtual DJ and Hercules (The brand of my controller) saying that Virtual DJ is compatible with 64-bit Windows 7 when it is clearly not? I must have uninstalled it about 10 times and re-installed, added driver updates and all but to no avail. The forums on Virtual DJ say that I need to load the 64-bit version of the software. Now guys, where is the 64-bt version of the software??

I have been putting off the Traktor conversion because I was very happy with Virtual DJ but they seriously need to solve this issue, with Hercules too. I believe there must be some other DJs with the same issue because I read quite a few complaints, similar to mine, in the Virtual DJ forums. Someone had better do something about this and soon!

***** EDITOR’S NOTE*****

I need to say here that I have fixed the problem. It had nothing to do with VirtualDJ but instead, had something to do with the crappy IDT soundcard on my Dell Inspiron N5050. Once the soundcard was disabled, I plugged in my controller and I was good to go. It does not affect all notebooks because my Lenovo Thinkpad works fine but this Dell…