Really Frustrating problem with Alesis MultiMix8 USB Mixer

[ManicMusician13]

Ok, so I'm pretty new to recording (and this forum at that), and I just bought an Alesis MultiMix8 USB mixer (not USB 2). Had a little trouble getting it to record to my computer through both Cubase LE and FL Studio 7, but it just started working...not really sure what I did. Got a couple of good recordings....then got a virus and had to re-install Vista. The installation went nice and clean, I re-installed the drivers for my sound card and the mixer just as I had originally, and then the same problems arose and aren't going away (have tried re-installing almost every associated driver/software multiple times). Ok, so enough background, here are my symptoms:

In Cubase: I am getting a signal from the mixer but when I playback the recording it is very low, chopped up, and has a sort of popping sound to it. And recently it just stopped recording anything at all.

In FL Studio: When I go to set the ASIO driver in the audio settings, I select the "ASIO DirectX Full Duplex" driver (what I had used before), and I get an error saying the sampling rate (44100 Hz) is not supported by the ASIO driver. I double checked the specs on the mixer and it indeed is designed to use a 44100 Hz sampling rate. Subsequently, I receive no signal whatsoever from the mixer when I select it for an input on a channel in the FL mixer.

Keep in mind, I was using these exact same settings before I re-installed vista and it worked flawlessly. Also, when I select the recording driver in the Windows recording devices screen and record something through Sound Recorder, it records just fine. I've been searching and searching for literally hours today and have found nothing that has helped.

Please help!!! It is very frustrating and I'm the kind of person who will almost literally not rest until it is solved.

[brandondrury]

Got a couple of good recordings....then got a virus and had to re-install Vista.

This is not a good sign. You should look into a dual boot setup or vmware. Dual-boot? No, there's an easier way

In Cubase: I am getting a signal from the mixer but when I playback the recording it is very low, chopped up, and has a sort of popping sound to it. And recently it just stopped recording anything at all.

What happens when you import a file that you know is good (maybe a rip from a cd or an mp3)? Does it do the same thing?

Also, when I select the recording driver in the Windows recording devices screen and record something through Sound Recorder, it records just fine.

Were you using your Alesis MultiMix8 through Sound Recorder?

If it works in Sound Recorder, it should be working elsewhere. Are you using the latest drivers? I suspect that the drivers are causing the problem here.

Brandon

[ManicMusician13]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

What happens when you import a file that you know is good (maybe a rip from a cd or an mp3)? Does it do the same thing?

Well I haven't tried exactly that, but I zoomed in on the recorded signal and the waveform itself is chopped up, so I know it's not just something with playback.

Originally Posted by brandondrury

Were you using your Alesis MultiMix8 through Sound Recorder?

Yes, it shows up as "USB Audio Codec" and records only what is coming through the mic connected to the mixer.

As for the driver problem, it is supposed to be plug-n-play, but like I said I have re-installed every driver (for almost everything on my computer) multiple times, and there are no new drivers online at alesis.com

[brandondrury]

Well I haven't tried exactly that

Go ahead and try that too as it will help me diagnose the problem specifically.

I zoomed in on the recorded signal and the waveform itself is chopped up, so I know it's not just something with playback.

This doesn't guarantee the problem isn't during playback, too. It simply means that there is a problem during tracking.

As for the driver problem, it is supposed to be plug-n-play, but like I said I have re-installed every driver (for almost everything on my computer) multiple times, and there are no new drivers online at alesis.com

Oh yes. I remember this now. Plug n Play for an audio interface seems ridiculous to me. It seems like latency would always be a problem. Have you tried ASIO4ALL? It's a good all around driver when the manufacturer screws you over and doesn't give you a usable driver.

Brandon

[ManicMusician13]

Ok, so I took the mixer in to Sam Ash to rule out any problem with the mixer itself, and sure enough they couldn't get it to work with their computers either (it had stopped being recognized by the computer at all at this point), so I traded it with a Yamaha MW8cx mixer, which was actually 10 bucks cheaper, and it's been working great for me. Had a little issue with it but then determined it was just b/c I had it plugged into a dif. USB port than when I installed it. So as long as I don't switch USB ports I am fine. Thank you for the help though. I am now on to tackle a different problem -- recording guitars (can't seem to get mine to sound right, but i'll worry about that on the correct forum.)