VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

CarynClark · Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:09 pm Post subject: You're gonna shake your head...

... and wonder what I'm doing in this business. I'm new. Very new. Shhh. Wink

And, I'm new here... this is my first post. I have lots of gear questions (Kara's post and all of your answers have been very informative), but I'll start with just this one.

I have a PC with an MBox2 (ProTools), a Symetrix, a Zephyr, and a little Behringer 802 board. It's all hooked up... though I don't know how good it sounds. But we'll get to that in another post perhaps.

My question is, why can I not listen to mp3s on my computer?? I have iTunes and Quicktime installed, and Windows Media Player. With WMP I get an error - at least with QuickTime it looks like it's playing, but I can't hear anything. Obviously, I can listen back to my session in ProTools, but once I make an mp3 out of it, I can't hear it.

Thanks in advance for your help. You all appear to be a great group of folks, and I'm excited to get to know you!

Thanks! Caryn
_________________
Caryn Clark... The Hip Chick Voice!

"A positive mental attitude and having faith in your ability is quite different from being irresponsible and downright stupid." - Dave

richgates · Guest

Hi Caryn,

Welcome to the board always good to see a new face. The problem you're encountering is likely due to how your sound devices are set up in Windows. I am curious if this problem was present before you set up your MBox, etc. or if it started after.

I am on a Mac these days but have a thorough knowledge of Windows having once worked for the Evil Empire (tm). Smile

I would go into control panel and sound and make sure you're output is going to your soundcard rather than through your MBox.

Also what is the error you get with Windows Media Player? That could be helpful in finding the culprit if my theory is incorrect.

Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:38 pm Post subject:

brianforrester · Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:42 pm Post subject:

Caryn,

Are you hoping to listen to the mp3 files through the mbox or through the soundcard installed in your computer?

Mbox cannot be used as an output sound device on PC (not sure about Mac, but why confuse things right?), in order to listen to audio through programs other than Pro Tools (except for a few other recording applications, that will just confuse the conversation at this point), you will need a sound card installed on your computer...

Make sure that your sound card is set up properly and that your monitors are hooked up to not only the mbox but the sound card as well.

Hope this helps.

Brian
_________________
Brian Forrester Voice Overs
www.brianforrester.com
brian@brianforrester.com
778.668.5715

KaraEdwards · Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 9:14 pm Post subject:

Caryn,

I have this same issue- only mine is by choice. I found that having too much stuff on my computer made my Pro Tools seem less stable. I'm sure a pro could set it up properly, but I digress..

When I purchased the computer it had Windows XP which is not compatible with Pro Tools, so I had the hard drive stripped and rebuilt with Windows Pro and that's just about it! I use 2 external hard drives and never save anything on my main drive.

This is obviously the most extreme that I can be- but for me, this computer is all about recording- I use another computer for e-mail, etc. I've never used a Mac, but I can say that Pro Tools is tricky with a PC in my experience...too many updates, etc and wham! Pro Tools crashes.

I agree that it is your sound card and possibly how you have your speakers hooked up. When Pro Tools is launched, all audio must go through it- audio will not play from the internet or itunes (at least on my computer).

Who did you buy your MBox through? Some places offer technical support and will talk you through any set up over the phone until it works...that's what I did!

Good luck!
_________________
Threadjackers local 420

Kara Edwards
http://www.karaedwards.com
kara@karaedwards.com

Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 9:17 pm Post subject:

KaraEdwards · Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2007 9:25 pm Post subject:

CarynClark · Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 6:46 am Post subject:

Wow, thanks everyone!

Here's a little info:

I bought the PC and the MBox via Sweetwater. So, everything came pre-loaded - all I had to do was plug it all in. I have Windows XP - not sure if it's home or Pro. I think it's home b/c I recall loading up the Office Suite (my memory is so bad!!) so I could have Word, Excel, etc.

I do have two Tannoy Active Monitors which I don't use at all (they're brand new, have been turned on three times) - matter of fact, they're not even plugged in or hooked up right now. I listen to all my audio thru my headphones.

Yes, I do think it's that the sound is going thru the MBox. I did check the Control Panel first thing, but the Mbox is the only option. AND, I didn't want to start changing things in the control panel for fear I would muck up Pro Tools. See, I know enough to be dangerous and screw things up, but not enough to fix it!! Smile

Now, you wanna hear the really weird thing? So I power up this am and get ready to answer this post - trying to get that error message. (though I know it is something about the sound card or something is not set up properly). Now, I've always been able to listen to my demos (saved on my hard drive) via WMP. They're mp3s. But they're the only mp3s I've been able to listen to. So, I went to one of my ProTools sessions and, in trying to replicate the message, clicked on one of the mp3s I made yesterday - and it played in WMP!!! However, if I go to my web site and try to listen to my demos, they won't play... they never have. And now they seem to default to QuickTime (I can see that when they're loading u Hobo Happy

. The other thing - and this is most important, I guess - when I load up my demos to voice123, I can't play them back there either. I don't get an error - they just start to load but never play. So it seems to be possibly related to mp3s on web sites??

And, I never thought about calling Sweetwater. I guess I should. When I called them for support before, the tech guys weren't totally familiar with what I was using this equipment for - they told me I could never, ever use the internet and/or antivirus software with ProTools on my computer b/c it would make ProTools crash. Clearly, I have to use the Internet on this computer.... and I do. And I have Panda Anti-Virus - seems to all get along ok.

Anyway... THANK YOU for your thoughts!!!
_________________
Caryn Clark... The Hip Chick Voice!

"A positive mental attitude and having faith in your ability is quite different from being irresponsible and downright stupid." - Dave

richgates · Guest

Hi Caryn,

It sounds like Quicktime is set to be the default application for your MP3's. I am not sure why it wouldn't play them, but you can change the default application for specific file types in Windows by doing the following.

1. Double Click on "My Computer"
2. Go to Tools > Folder Options
3. Click on the File Types tab
4. Scroll down to MP3 and then click the "Change" button
5. Choose Windows Media Player from the list
6. Click OK

This will make it so every MP3 that is opened will use WMP instead of Quicktime. This should affect both files double clicked on your local machine as well as those chosen via the Internet.

I hope that helps.

Jeffrey Kafer · Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 2:51 pm Post subject:

First, I wouldn't bother calling sweetwater. I'm pretty sure this has nothing to do with your MBox or ProTools.

Instead, the big red flag for me was that the Mbox is the only option for playback in the sound control panel. This tells me that windows isn't seeing your soundcard. Figure out the soundcard you have, go to their website and download/install the latest drivers.
_________________
Jeff
http://JeffreyKafer.com
Voice-overload Web comic: http://voice-overload.com