compaq laptop with maudio interface problems

[brodave2]

I have a compaq presario 1528cl that I use to record. I bought an m-audio audiophile usb interface and can't get it to work. I connected the unit to my desktop and had no trouble getting it to work. Both computers have the same operating system, windows xp home with service pack 2. I spent time online with compaq and m-audio to no avail. I can playback windows media player with the unit but there is static in the background. The music covers most of it up, but it's there, and it doesn't do that when I use it with my desktop. When I try to playback using cakewalk music creator, the program locks up. I can use the program with the built in sound card just fine, but that is mono mic input only and also 16bit only. I also went on musicxp.net and went through their computer tuning steps to no avail. Anyone got any ideas? Am I beating a dead horse with a compaq laptop. I use the laptop for live recordings straight out of my mixer. I had hoped to use the digital inputs and outputs on the audiophile usb since my mixer is digital. I can't even get it to work analog.

www.lostandfoundsoundco.com

[richiebee]

Laptops often don't have the same kind of isolation from interference that desktops do. Out of interest, does the static go away if you run the Compaq on batteries?

When you say you can't get it to work... what are the symptoms?

R.

[brodave2]

The static doesn't go away when I unplug the transformer cable and run it on the batteries. Cakewalk works fine if I use the built in sound card. If I try to run cakewalk with the m-audio usb interface, cakewalk locks up. Same programs on my desktop. I can use the m-audio interface with my desktop and everything works great.

[richiebee]

Could be a sample rate/sync clock issue. If the static is very uniform (like sounds like white noise rather than radio interference), it could be a problem with the digital input. If its short bursts, it could be a sync clock issue. Check the sound settings in your control panel. Make sure the sample rate matches what Cakewalk is expecting.

R.

[brodave2]

I went to control panel sounds and could not find anything that resembled what you asked about. Any clues where to find it? I had a similar problem when I used my Tascam US122 with this laptop. It worked fine with cakewalk, but wouldn't work with windows media player. This m-audio unit works with media player, but has static in the background (intermittent) and locks up when I try to use cakewalk.

[brandondrury]

I would do a search for your specific soundcard and laptop model. It's possibly a chipset issue.

My dongle for Cubase SX3 would not work with the chipset in my computer, but putting an extra USB PCI card in fixed the problem. This may not be an option with your laptop, but I would check to make sure there are not compatibility issues first.

Brandon

[brodave2]

I suspected such since I had different problems with 2 different brand usb interfaces. Seems the m-audio tech would have figured that out in the 30 minutes I spent on the phone with them.