Right, I've been shopping, but unfortunately have a party, Christening and dance on this weekend so there will not be much time to experiment

I bought headphones and the adaptors.

So far the headphones plugged in the FF400 also show the glitches, which I believe are drop outs. This is the only positive result so far.

Cheers
Chris

Thanks Guys

According to Amazon, that ADS Technologies API-601 PYRO Card Bus 1394 DV for notebooks is discontinued in the UK - will keep up the search.

I haven't tried the FF400 headphones experiment yet as I sold my expensive Stennheiser headphones a little while ago on E-Bay having not used them for 6 years! Will go and buy some cheap phones now to check it out. I dont think I will miss these glitches if they are present 

Have found the adaptors of which you spoke 1/4" (6.35mm) plug to phono socket mono in my Maplins catalogue, and will get some in.

Do note : depending on your hearing capabilities, ind *if* you can hear slight glitches here too, (in the Fireface 400 headphone socket) you just might be listening to what Vista's "KMixer" makes form it. You *will* be listening through this KMixer this way, and we already know that for sound quality it isn't right. But personally I wasn't looking for glitches through headphones, so maybe they are just there.

Can you explain this a bit more. I thought by the time the signal got to the Fireface it was well clear of any contibution from the PC and Vistas "KMixer"

Thanks again Chris

Hi Peter
Thanks for keeping in touch. Lots of effort but no progress yet. Heres a quick update.

1. Not able to try the analogue output from the FF400 as I dont have cables and plugs.
2. Not able to find a Vista version of PCI latency software (still looking)
3. I bought an Expresscard Firewire card but, despite being advertised as such, it did not work with Vista. Its gone back for a refund. There are very few of these cards on the market and one is promised later in the year I believe by RME.
4. I have been in touch with RME and they suggested adjusting the settings of the Multimedia Class Scheduler Service.  Under this Multimedia Class Scheduler Service you can register your application as a Pro
Audio application. This seemed too complicated for me so I have not tried yet.
5. I have posted on the TacT forum and am getting help there. It looks like there are no issues between compatibility of the FF400 and Tact 2.2XX though one person had noted one or 2 glitches from electrical stuff switching on in his house. He recommended trying a Toslink which I will do.
6. I am still in regular contact with Dell and with Berts help was able to supply the tag no. of a Dell computer that works just fine in Vista with a FF400. So they cant use the FF400 as an excuse!
7. I disabled everything I felt safe to do on the PC (soundcards, networks etc)
8. I have said my prayers before going to bed at night, and have been (relatively) well behaved with those nice people on AA.

Here is a bit of advice I just received. It should help define the problem area.

> Are you hearing a click or a short duration mute?  When a digital
> input loses lock, a click is heard.  When a PC gets busy, it may
> mute for a fraction of a second. 

Sometimes a bit difficult to tell, particularly when the duration is very small, but almost certainly muting (drop outs).

> To trouble shoot you can listen to the FF400 via its headphone
> jack. That will tell you if the problem is upstream or downstream
> of the FF.

Finally, for every glitch, I get about a minutes worth of magic from engine#3 and its all worth it

Hi Peter

I think you made the right choice. I subscribe to a site that gives weekly match commentary of my favourite football team when they are playing.

I subscribe, then put in an issued password and away I go.

Imagine how frustrating it is when someone publishes their password on the local football chat pages - thousands then listen for free and eventually the income of the commentary site will dwindle and it may collapse.

Stick with it

When I store from EAC into a folder the tracks are just listed Track1, Track2 etc.

In the few I have stored so far I have been through this folder and re-typed the track titles by 'renaming' each track individually. This is a very laborious process.

Is there a better way?

Is it as simple as copying the JPeg file and pasting it under settings, or do you somehow store the album cover in the folders from which you link the library?

Wellllllllllllll not exactly.

With all my problems trying to sort out the glitches (not XX related) I have given no time to on-screen presentation.

I like what I see and will post in the appropriate section on how to achieved it

Thanks Jack

That is an excellent way to go.

To copy a screen
Hit Control and print screen, then go straight to "paint" and paste it in. Then save as jpeg

Cool

That worked just fine for XP.

My Vista was set on 'Windows Standard' and changing that to 'Windows Vista Basic' sorted that out as well.

I wish I was that clever

Nope it just happened somehow

Sorry Peter
But neither me nor the wife (who is quite good at this sort of thing) can get the copy of the screen out of the word document and into a picture like a JPeg.

If you are desperate to see it, the only way would be to let me have your e mail and I will send it as an attachment. I know you don't want your e mail addy out too much in the public domain so I will understand if you don't want to do this.

I will keep trying to find a way to post.

These are the only fields that wrap around

My PC is set to medium font. (I think)

I see this on both my XP desktop and my Vista laptop

Cheers Chris

Nearly there.

I have a copy of the screen as a Word document, but how do I post it here. I dont think I can link to my PC!

Cheers Chris

Holding down shift key and then hitting 'print screen' does nothing on any of my 3 PCs

Excellent. Thanks