Hacking SigmaTel Drivers for E1705/9400, i need knowledgable helpers - Page 9

So if I understand what you're saying, the Sigmatel (9200?) chipsets in this current generation of Inspirons do not have microphone output support, as they do not show up when the Creative software looks for them? But the 9220s probably do have microphone output support?

Apsalus Yes that appears to be the case.Certainly the option to monitor the mike input is not implemented in the Dells with Sigmatel 9200 audio,not through Creative Audio Software and presumably not through the lack of it if. It appears to be a hardware issue as this type of monitoring works almost as if your software controls were reaching out turning a control passing some input signal right to the output. I can't say if the 9220 has microphone output support except to clarify that it supports more actual outputs, primarily intended for surround sound (the last solid fader in your Audigy Panel is the Subwoofer so those grey ones could become outputs not sources to monitor):that doesn't mean that any of it's inputs will show up in the output mixing panel. You say probably and I'm inclined to agree.
You mentioned 9200 chipset : Sigmatel doesn't dictate a chipset. The 9200 is a single chip that can handle it all including mic preamp D/A and A/D converters oh and I almost forgot a stereo power amp. Amazing really and man is it small. It requires very few supporting parts. If they don't include monitor gains for inputs well so be it. We rarely need to monitor a mike anyway unless it is in a different room or we want to do a direct feed to a PA system or with zero lag. For real pro radio apps you will use a real mixer however I must say Veazer's ASIO solution is good and even fast enough for singing live (3 ms latency adds less time lag than it takes for sound to get from a floor monitor to your ears unless you are a midget). Use your apps to monitor digitally what you are recording and even a 200 ms delay is acceptable on anything except to a live performer (speaker,turntablist,musician).
Some may say Sigmatel or Dell has cheaped out on the options but I say there is wisdom in the removal of line monitoring and especially mic monitoring. I will illucidate: Feedback, echo, comb-filtering effects all of which novices won't have a clue as to a cause or solution. It is all to do with more than 1 time arrival. I hope I haven,t given too much information so as to confuse. Take it in chunks. Good listening and performing to you.
Use your apps to monitor digitally what you are recording and even a 200 ms delay is acceptable on anything except to a live performer (speaker,turntablist,musician).
Veazer that radio show of yours : is that broadcast terrestrial or internet. I want to check it out.

Ok... I've been using these drivers for quite a while now (the latest one released in this thread) and they have been working great for me, really great jobs guys.

I only have one problem that I just recently found out... I have no Mic Input. When I plug in a microphone, and boot up my computer, I can hear it all through BIOS loading and such, but once my desktop comes up and the sound drivers load it makes a POP and the mic is gone.

I use programs such as TeamSpeak and Ventrillio as I'm a gamer, and now the microphone doesn't work. Can someone tell me what the problem is? As I don't want to get rid of the driver as I need the Stereo Mix feature and I love everything bout the driver cept this mic issue.

I'm sure it's just something that got skipped over in registry, hope some1 can give me a quick answer, and thanks in advance .

-Mac

Dell Inspiron 6400, Dual Outputs, Rear from Mic

Hello all,

I'm a DJ... and I have a Dell Inspiron 6400 1.83ghz dual with the SigmaTel Chipset model which I dont know (Vendor id: 8384 Device id: 7690) I want to have 2 separate outputs... one from the headphones jack and one from the mic jack... So like I want to use the headphones jack as Front Output, and Mic Jack as Rear output...

I want to use Front Output to Power my 25kw QSC amp rack which is powering the live set of JBL SRX Speakers, and I want to use that Rear Output from the mic jack to listen to the next song via headphones...

Anyone think this is possible??

I've looked at Registry entries and what not... and I couldnt figure out how the routing works.

Please let me know if you have done this before, and also how/where if possible...

Also If this isnt possible I want to look into purchasing the best USB audio device which has 2 outputs and also 2 inputs if there is such device...

Thanks a lot

-Allen

Allen, I think if it is the Sigmatel 9200 that this scenario is likely not possible. Try M-Audio,or Edirol. Some M-Audio will run a special version of ProTools but Edirol has a switchable analog limiter to allow pushing inputs hard without digital clipping... very cool. Bear in mind the speak in pro audio is 4 inputs 4 outputs even though you may use as stereo pairs. Also firewire IEE 1394 may be better and more expandable the the USB. If you have 25,000 watts I'm thinking you want a top notch solution . Still you could add just 1 stereo out to use along with your onboard sound : Turtle Beach make 3 tiny USB solutions from $40 to $80. Also plenty of Dj software will allow you to do a left play right cue setup. I'm guessing you dont want that.

Maconi Is the line level input working or is it working full time? If it is stuck in line level mode then no normal mic. will have the output level to be even noticed. See if a line level signal registers on a recording program. Remember that live microphones and speakers in the same acoustic space means feedback is possible. I merely have surmized this but I think that turning on certain monitor/output options automatically mute the mic in. Again though in certan instances we may wish to circumevent Dell or Sigmatels intent, there is wisdom in what they have done. Try a USB input device. In not saying I know you can't get around this hurdle but it could save you some exaspiration.

Dj Input Output

Well,

I'm looking for dual RCA outs via firewire (if possible and USB) at, at least 96khz, 192 would be ideal... Sometimes I have very large venues that I pump up to 35-40kw of power out to 15" and 18" SRX JBL speakers powered by a QSC amp racks, and quality at those levels is crucial... also for inputs at least 2 RCA/XLR/1/4" (support for all)....

Anything like that? Cost isnt an issue, its what I want, quality and type of I/O

Please let me know if you can think of anything

-Allen

Thanks

prodjAllen I will presume the XLR's are to be Mic inputs and you only need 2 You will need adapter's for the 2 RCA's in most pro units. Unless you're planning to record live signals while playing back forget about inputs even though they can be hardware monitored. I know you mentioned wanting a cue monitor and put prodj before your name. You can output 192 with the onboard audio and use some simple USB thing to cue or vice versa. If you really want to mix all your analog sources through the laptop I suggest you get the Edirol with 10 inputs or the one with 6 (8 & 4 analog inputs respectively). Check out Prosonus interfaces as well as M-Audio and MOTU Ultralite. If I can steer you into keeping your analog signals analog right into a mixer PLEASE DO unless you have a digital board. I really have no handle on what your aim is here so may I suggest something that will really cover all bases. An analog board with digital converters and firewire interface. Mackie Onyx w optional firewire.You might still have only stereo return to the mixer . Alesis makes a lesser unit 48/24bit as does Phonic 96. Tell me do you have 192 khz sources of music or even 96 because if you don't converting them to a higher rate and higher resolution won't improve them at all. Are using Wave or Lossless (flac , ape, etc.) source files.Tell me what your really going to do and I will try to help you choose better. For now go to Musicians Friend and look at the Edirol FA-66. Best of luck to you.

Where is the inf file? I can't see a link in any of the posts? Has it been removed?

Would someone please be kind enough to send them to me or give me a link?

Thanks!

Re: DJ I/O

Hello
Geep,

Most of my files are at the least 192 and higher up to the 320 range... Wav and Mp3 files...

-Allen

hi i installed the lg50 sigmatel drivers for my e1505 and recording with a mic i can only hear the left side, does anyone know why =[=[

Allen I hope you don't think me rude but you are mistaking compression rates for sampling frequency : There is no such thing as 320 Khz sampling rate : it simply doesen't exist (alright in theory there is and maybe in a test lab). You are talking about kbps and that is good for an mp3 but still not audiophile digital audio. By todays standards "audiophile" would be 24bit / 96 khz and not an MP3 at all. Furthermore get your best interface and have someone else playback with a random generared playlist live encoded waves at 192khz , 96 khz , and 48 khz of exactly the same music through any size stack of you're top notch sound reinforcement speakers at various levels.Write down which is which. Now look at that play list. The best studio engineer wouldn't get this one through the even best of speakers with the exception of the 48khz on certain program material. SRX's are very good sounding reinforcment type speakers but will not reveal these differences. If you want to make an audible difference trash all MP3s and get your sources as waves or lossless encoded. If you must have smaller files encode with Musepack .mpc or .ogg at around 192. These do the best in double blind studies. About that test : take my word for it or somebody else jump in here Veazer,Psyhokitty,Apsalus, Maconi?. Your current MP3s I'm going to guess are at 44khz/16bit/192-320kbps or maybe some are 48/24 and you are not going to be replacing them. You sound like a guy who's time is at more of a premium than getting caught up in all that and should just be pragmatic. Here is what you need to know. Edirol FA-66 w/ XLR,1/4"and even RCA looks perfect for you unless you really prefer USB:Edirol UA-101 which comes in a firewire model FA-101 . It may be better to go with USB because I just heard that the DELL 1394 controller is badly faulted and due for a software or firmware upgrade this month. If you can wait and see I'd do that as firewire 1394 is considered the defacto standard in external Pro Audio interfaces. If you really need many options in and out check out the Hercules firewire unit though it is a larger rackmountable unit. Good luck in your endeavours and I'm anxious to hear what you decide on. Sincerely, GEEP

Deeg I'm going to take a stab at this one. Sigmatel supports a stereo Mic input so using a stereo mic or even an adapter effectively Y'ing the mono mic signal to both ring and tip may likely work. Usually this can be accomplished by simply putting the 1/8" mono plug in part way so as to make contact with both left and right input jack contacts. By the way did any one know that the Sigmatel 9200 supports mic gain boosts of 10,20,30,40,and I think 50 db. How do we get at that little feature. God I wish I could get a schematic of just the audio circuitry that Dell is using around that chip not that I'd ever dare go in there : like DIY neurosurgery.That chip Has 32 pins and is about 1/4" square. Good luck with getting your mic back in both ears. Sincerely, Geep

Veazer, prodjallen's I believe Allen you wanted 2 stereo inputs and 2 stereo outputs analog. I'm in aggreement that M-Audio is quality stuff and Fasttrack Pro for a DJ is probably great if you don't need more than 2 channels in and hold it to 16 bit @ 44 or 48 khz. It only has 2 analog input channels. The other 2 are S/PDIF. If you go to 24 bit you loose 2 of the 4 input channels. Still sound like a good deal? At 96 khz you get to choose would you like to input or output. Rememberthe term full duplex? You would still need to use Dell's onboard in to merge a live stereo feed with the announce mic requiring you to use a program that can see 2 sets of drivers or use ASIO4All and not M-Audios Asio driver. This is why I suggested either an analog mixer or a Multi-channel interface or one of the new combo unit's in light of prodjallen's stating he wanted XLR's,1/4''phoneplugs, and RCA's. Also M-Audio states Windows XP Media Center is not yet supported by Fasttrack Pro. By the way on an Inspiron E1705 there is of course a S/PDIF output nestled foolishly betwixed the S-video pinholes. However I have not seen it show up as a separate output selection in an audio program.

Is no one able to help me by sharing the inf file?

Someone must still have it? please?

Veazer, prodjAllen, everyone in the Sigmatel Dell Laptop hurdles event. Now that i've gotten down to practical application on my E1705 I find that when I use ASIO4All v2.7 at 44.1 / 24 the best I can acheive is a latency readout of 1.5 ms with no annomalies except the fact that I'm hearing about 60 ms delay. That would be understandable if it only applied to the USB 1.1 device. So let me rescind my statement about it taking >3ms for sound to get to your ear from a floor monitor. While it is true it doesn't apply unless the actual delay to your headphones or speakers is on the order of 3 or 4 ms. Veazer if you are getting an actual delay under 12 ms I really got to know how. Also how are you able to select 2 sets of interfaces in ASIO4All as I cannot, even when choosing a res. and freq. common to both sound devices. I used a Griffin iMic and it works just fine with ASIO4All and allows me to switch off to Sigmatel 9200 internal sound pretty quickly but I never get the "green light" on both in tandem nor even with one as input the other out. Could this be app specific or do both devices need to be reporting something more similar to ASIO. The WDM Driver did work to get both units functioning together but at considerable delay. As a musical performer I hate that. You can't record music tracks while hearing yourself out of sync. Help if you can please.

The sigmatel 9200 on my dell e1505 does not allow 44.1 kHz spdif output in compressed formats like DD and DTS. It does allow 44.1 kHz PCM over spdif out without resampling. It also outputs 48 kHz DD and DTS signals over spdif just fine. The spdif frequency settings on the sigmatel control panel seems to affect PCM resampling, but does nothing to change allowed frequencies for compressed audio. Does anyone know of a way/setting to enable 44.1 kHz compressed audio passthrough over spdif?

There are some registry settings that look like they may affect this in: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E96C-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\0005\Settings\filter\rear

SpdifMaster : 02
SpdifOutConverter : 05
SpdifOutCtrl : 01

Anyone know what these values affect?

Hi,Kobayaashi. This is a little beyond me but it appears to reference some effect to the rear channels. By all means try changing them and just dont forget to store your settings so you can return them. Do you have 44.1khz DD and DTS sources. I'm not aware of them being common. 44.1 is generally not found on DVD and mostly used in small file "portable" video formats that include only left and right signals. Very unlikely that the Sig. 9200 will synthesize surround sound for 44.1khz without up sampling to 48k. It is likely what this REG. entry allows for synthetic surround. I have seen 4 output pair options selectable using a Multi-track app with WDM driver which is indicative of descrete 7.1 output but oddly not when using ASIO4All as the driver. Get the PDF product sheet from Sigmatel on their site. You might try to ask someone there by email but bear in mind this chip sells for less than one dollar if your buying thousands. If they think your a developer or manufacturer you might get a response. It seems they are being secretive so they can get more$$$ thru licensed utilities like Creative Audigy Software Edition. I hope I've helped you some and will be intrested to see what you find out. Geep P.S. I have not used my S/PDIF out and I have the Audigy software so I never saw the controls you spoke of. Would you mind showing me or telling me where I can see the Control Panel you spoke of ? THANKS !