[Ummsalam]

I've got a new Dell with a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme card.
The problem is that I can hear but can't capture stream audio. I've been told this is a copyright protection issue specified by Microsoft for any manufacturer who wants to get the Vista seal of approval on their sound boards.
Is the statement about M/Soft right (sounds crazy so it could be true)?

I can't capture the audio with Total Recorder, EMC9, Wave Repair or Gold Wave (doesn't seem much point trying other similar software)

Is there a work round other than trying to loop an output feed from the sound card back to the single input socket?

Help!

[Beerman]

I've got a new Dell with a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme card.
The problem is that I can hear but can't capture stream audio. I've been told this is a copyright protection issue specified by Microsoft for any manufacturer who wants to get the Vista seal of approval on their sound boards.
Is the statement about M/Soft right (sounds crazy so it could be true)?

I can't capture the audio with Total Recorder, EMC9, Wave Repair or Gold Wave (doesn't seem much point trying other similar software)

Is there a work round other than trying to loop an output feed from the sound card back to the single input socket?

Help!

I have the extreme card and Vista Ultimate and have had no problems but I can say, things seem to work much better in XP when it comes to audio with this card. Exactly how are you capturing?

[Ummsalam]

Hi
Thanks for replying.

I've tried recording streamed audio (from say the Amazon site with its song snatches).
The options for input are the same for all the various recording software programs I've tried.
These are (with results):
1 Microphone (3-USB-Audio Codec) - no recorded sound just a hum
2 Digital (Creative SB X-Fi) - no sound
3 Microphone FP (Creative SB X-Fi) - picks up input from the microphone In use for Skype!
4 Microphone (Creative SB X-Fi); - no recorded sound but I have a Hi-Fi that takes an output feed from the card this gets the streamed audio and it plays through the speakers. If I jpoin the hi-fi earphone socket to the 'pink socket (1) on the soundcard it will record the stream. However this is not the best way of capturing the stream and probably results in some quality loss.

Sorry to be so long-winded.
Cheers

[tbrewst]

Just in case you're not seeing all available devices try this.Go to Control Panel,Sound,Recording tab and right click on any device you can see.Now put a check next to Show Disabled Devices and Show Disconnected Devices.If any come up that look like they might be what you need (since it's Creative I'd look for Wav or What You Hear) try and connect and enable them.Now try and go into Roxio and see if you can record.
I don't have a X-Fi,I have an Audigy,but this worked for me.You might also try going to Creative's website and see if there are any updates for that card.

[Ummsalam]

Just in case you're not seeing all available devices try this.Go to Control Panel,Sound,Recording tab and right click on any device you can see.Now put a check next to Show Disabled Devices and Show Disconnected Devices.If any come up that look like they might be what you need (since it's Creative I'd look for Wav or What You Hear) try and connect and enable them.Now try and go into Roxio and see if you can record.
I don't have a X-Fi,I have an Audigy,but this worked for me.You might also try going to Creative's website and see if there are any updates for that card.

Have sent email support query to Creative and will keep you posted in any good comes from it.
Thanks for your advice.

[Jeff Irok]

I have pretty much the same system as you do (Dell, X-Fi, Vista). The one thing I don't think you tried is the "What You Hear" option - That should work like a charm.

The X-Fi, along with most sound cards, has several options for recording - mic, line in, spdif, etc. Most consumer level audio cards can only record from one source at a time. Therefore, you define what that source is through the card's mixer (or driver), and the application you're using to record will wind up recording form the source that you defined, by virtue of the fact that that's the recording source the card was told to use.

One of the options is "What You Hear", or something named similarly. Essentially, whatever you're hearing through your speakers will be recorded by whatever application you are recording with. The only downside is that the recording is analog in source, not digital. So if you're streaming something from Amazon or wherever, you're not going to capture the digital file that was streamed to you, but a new file, converted from analog to digital. So the sound quality may not be as good as what you originally heard.

Truth be told, if you're recording at a high enough resolution, you probably won't notice any difference in quality. I normally record at CD quality - 16 bit, 44.1 kHz.

What you need to do is to open the Volume Panel, which should be located in the lower left-hand Windows tool box. (It's white with a circle in it, which is supposed to look like a knob). There are three modes that you can choose from - Entertainment, Game, and Audio Creation mode. I always keep mine in Audio creation mode. You may be able to select the recording source from the other modes, but if you can, I've never stayed in those modes long enough to figure it out. Select your mode by clicking the "Mode" buttoin in the lower left-hand of the panel that comes up after opening the Volume Panle. (If it's all ready on Audio Creation - you can tell by what it says at the top border - you don't have to switch.)

Now that you're in Audio Creation mode, look in the lower right hand corner of the panel. There's a heading called "Recorder" Click the button right under it - it's long and blue. It might say "Line In" or "Microphone". When you click it, you'll see a drop-down menu. Select "What U Hear". Ignore the button below this one as you're not going to use the panel to record from if you're using one of those applications that you spoke of. (Unless you want to, of course. The Audio Creation Mode panel CAN be used to record what you're looking for. It will record .WAV and .WMA formats. But NOT MP3. You need another application for that.)

You're all set.

You should familarize yourself with the panel because you can control independent volume levels from different sources (notice the faders), plus other things.

This should get you going to do what you want. I'm not certain what approach you were taking, or what approach you may have been able to take in XP. This is the way I've been 'recording' streamed audio when I feel the need to. It will work for you. Post if you have any problems with this method, and I'll try to help you work it out.

This post has been edited by Jeff Irok: 17 November 2007 - 08:59 AM