Alpha knowledgebase Topics
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1. GENERAL QUESTIONS | |
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2. SETUP / INSTALL ISSUES | |
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3. TROUBLESHOOTING | |
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4. STEINBERG'S CUBASE LE4 | |
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5. STEINBERG'S CUBASE LE (DISCONTINUED) | |
| All Alpha Entries: | |
| I am having trouble setting up the Alpha with my software. | Setup for Cubase LE is outlined in the Alpha user's guide on page 18. Click this link to download the Alpha User's Guide: AlphaManual18_0346VB.pdf. Click here to view the setup guide: Omega Setup Guide.
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| The Alpha does not receive any signal from my condenser microphone. What is wrong? | The Alpha does not supply the +48V required to power a condenser microphone. A condenser microphone can be used with the Alpha only if it is powered by an external phantom power supply. |
| I am using the Alpha on a slower computer and I am having issues with poor performance in my Recording software, is there anything I can do to improve this? | You may be able to improve your systems performance by changing the following system properties settings. To do this go to Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Advanced and click on the ‘Settings’ button in the performance area and choose ‘Adjust for best Performance’. Next click on the ‘Advanced’ tab in the performance options window and select ‘Background services’ in the processor scheduling area. You may be able to improve your systems performance by defragmenting your computers hard. To do this, go to Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter. Select Local Disk C: drive and click on Defragment. Please note that defragmenting a hard drive may take a few hours. |
| The playback signal sounds distorted or broken up, what is the problem? | When audio playback sounds distorted or broken up, the Alpha ASIO driver has most likely lost sync with the recording software. This may happen because of the buffer settings for the Alpha. To adjust the buffer settings in Cubase go to Devices > Device Setup > VST Multitrack and be sure Alpha ASIO is selected in the ASIO driver dropdown menu. Next, click on the Control Panel button and experiment with the slider position to find which position gives you the best performance. You may also want to click the Expert button on the VST Multitrack page and make sure that Multiprocessing is not checked. The lower you try to force the latency, the more susceptible your driver will be to breaking up. If your system has low RAM or a slower processor you may not be able to have low latency without this happening. For more information about buffer settings in Cubase go to Help > Documentation > Getting Started > Setting up your system > Optimizing audio performance. |
| How do I register Cubase LE4? | Please follow the steps found on this page of our website: |
| How many inputs can I record at the same time with the Alpha? | You can record 2 discrete channels of audio with the Alpha. |
I am attempting to install the Alpha on my Windows XP Service Pack 2 machine and cannot install because there is an error message like this: |
If this warning message appears click on ‘Continue Anyway’ to continue installing the drivers. If the Alpha drivers will not install, your computer may be set to block unregistered hardware devices. To change this go to the Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Hardware > Driver Signing; and make sure it is not set to "BLOCK" hardware. Change this setting to "Warn". Then try the driver installation again. |
| What is a safe buffer setting for slower computers and how do I change the buffer settings in Cubase LE? | For slower computers a larger buffer will need to be set. To do this in Cubase LE, go to Devices > Device Setup > VST Multitrack > Control panel and move the slider towards less CPU. You will need to experiment with the position of the slider in this window to find the best setting for your computer. If you reduce the buffer size the latency will be less but the computer will have to work harder. |
| I have connected the Alpha to my computer and installed the software but I am not able to record. | Make sure that the drivers have been installed correctly. To do this go to Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager and expand the section labeled Sound video and game controllers. When the Alpha is connected to your computer via USB it should show up in this list as Alpha In/Out. If the Alpha appears as USB Audio device in this list you will have to reinitialize the drivers; please install the drivers from our website ( http://www.lexiconpro.com/ProductDownloads.aspx?ProductID=7&Type=1 ) . After you have verified that the drivers have been properly installed, check to make sure you are using the correct drivers in your recording software. If you are using Cubase LE, go to Devices > Device Setup > VST Multitrack and select the Alpha ASIO driver in the ASIO driver dropdown menu; also be sure that Direct Monitoring is not checked. |
| I am getting an error "the ASIO driver Alpha ASIO could not be started." |
This is an indication that the Cubase software was not able to start the Lambda's driver automatically.
Please see the "No audio input or output from Cubase" entry in the Cubase LE4 FAQs for the Omega for instructions on how to correct this. |
| Is the Lexicon Pantheon Reverb plug-in compatible with other software? | The Lexicon Pantheon reverb that comes with Cubase LE is only available for use within Cubase. The Lexicon Pantheon reverb is also included with Cakewalk's Sonar (versions 3, 4, 5 and 6) but is only available for use within Sonar. A stand-alone version of the Pantheon is not available separately. |
| Why can I no longer export to an MP3 file directly from Cubase LE? | Steinberg’s Cubase LE is a "lite" version; it has fewer features than other versions of Cubase and only allows 20 MP3 exports. After the trial MP3 encoder license has expired you will need to contact Steinberg for an MP3 upgrade in order to continue exporting MP3s directly from Cubase LE. You can always export using .wav or other file formats and you may be able to use a utility (some are even free to download) to convert these files to MP3. Here is a link to the MP3 encoder upgrade from Steinberg: http://shop.element5.com/product.html?productid=508497&sessionid=474036500&random=e1d5a8d7c7adea8c3c83ae68c175f0e0 . |
| I can record a signal from the Alpha onto my computer but I don’t hear any playback. | To hear playback from your computer first make sure the Monitor Mix knob on the Alpha is set near the 12:00 position and that the Output Level knob is turned up. Also be sure that headphones are connected to the Alpha’s headphone output or powered monitors, a stereo system, or your computer speakers are connected to the line outputs. |
| General quesions | Please see the FAQs for Cubase LE4 issues within the Omega FAQs for common issues and questions. |
| What kind of computer do I need to run the Alpha? | The Alpha is compatible with PC and MAC computers. Windows XP with Service Pack 2 is required to use the Alpha on a PC. Mac OS 10.2.8 or higher is required to use the Alpha on a Mac on power PC Macs. Mac OS 10.4.7 is required to use the Alpha on Intel based Macs. The Supplied Cubase LE software has the following system requirements: Windows® • Pentium® III 500 MHz or AMD K7 processor, or better (Pentium 4/Athlon 1 GHz or faster recommended) • Windows XP Home or XP Professional • 256 MB RAM (512 MB recommended) • 1 GB of available hard disk space • 7200RPM hard disk type or better Macintosh® • Power PC®, G4 Processor (450 MHz or faster) • Mac OS X version 10.2.8 or higher • 256 MB RAM minimum (512MB recommended) • 1 GB available hard disk space • 7200RPM hard disk type or better |
| How do I set up the Alpha on a Mac for use with recording software? | For most audio applications, it will be best to set the Alpha as the default audio device under the MAC OS utility ‘Audio MIDI Setup’. To do this, go to Hard drive > Applications > Utilities > Audio/MIDI Setup and select ‘Lexicon Alpha In/Out’ for the Default Input, Default Output and System Output settings. The Alpha should now be ready for use with MAC Core Audio compatible software. If you are using Cubase LE go to: Devices > Device Setup > VST Multitrack and choose Lexicon Alpha In/Out (2). |
| How can I burn a CD from Cubase LE? | Cubase LE does not have the capability of burning tracks or files directly to CD format. To put a song that you’ve recorded in Cubase LE onto a CD you will first have to create a .wav file from your Cubase project. To do this, first set the left and right locator; one way to set the locators is to press [Ctrl] + [A] on your computers keyboard and then press [P]. You can also click and drag either of the markers to the desired position. Once the locaters are set go to File > Export > Audio mixdown. Select the location that you want the .wav file to be saved to in the ‘Look in:’ field; the file must first be saved to a location on your hard drive before it can be burned to a CD. Next name the file in the ‘File name:’ field and select Wave File (.wav) from the ‘Files of type:’ menu, then set ‘Channels’ to Stereo interleaved, ‘Resolution’ to 16 bit, and ‘Sample Rate’ to 44.1 kHz, and click save. For more information, in Cubase go to: Help > Documentation > Operation manual > Export Audio Mixdown; or visit our online tutorial: http://www.lexiconpro.com/tutorial_desktop.aspx . |
| I can not get signal from my microphone into the Alpha, what’s wrong? | If the cable you are using with your microphone has a 1/4" connector on the end that connects to the Alpha, be sure to use the instrument input on the front of the Alpha and the Line 1 knob to adjust the gain. The Alpha does not supply the +48V required to power a condenser microphone. A condenser microphone can be used with the Alpha only if it is powered by an external phantom power supply. If your microphone is High Impedance and uses a 1/4” connector you may choose to use a High to Low impedance transformer to connect it to the XLR inputs. |
| I would like to use the Alpha on a laptop computer. Will there be any problems? | Most laptops have slower hard-drives that run at 4200 or 5400 rpm instead of the faster 7200 rpm drives commonly found in desk-top computers. For this reason, laptops can have problems running recording software optimally. It may be possible to record successfully if your laptop has a slower hard drive, but you will experience problems if the demands of the software exceed the limitations of the hardware. |
| I am attempting to install the Alpha on an Intel based Mac and the computer will not recognize the Alpha. What is wrong? | The Alpha uses the Macs core audio driver and should be recognized on Intel based Macs with Mac OS 10.4.7 or higher. If the Alpha is still not recognized by the computer, try using another USB cable. |
| Can I apply effects to my input signal using the Alpha with Cubase LE? | The effects and other signal processing functions of the mixer in Cubase LE are typically only used during the playback recorded tracks. You can monitor your input signal with effects applied to it, but there will be a slight delay due to latency. This delay will probably go unnoticed if you use a reverb effect, but when using effects like distortion, chorus, or flange the latency will be more noticeable. First verify that your input signal is getting to the track you want to record onto in Cubase then click on the Monitor button; it’s the speaker icon and it will turn orange when it is activated. Next turn the monitor mix knob on the front of the Lambda to 12 o’clock so you have an equal balance of your input source and the output signal from Cubase. At this point you will be hearing a single echo of your input signal; the time it takes for the sound to repeat is the latency (if you are not hearing the repeat go to Devices > Device Setup > VST Multitrack and uncheck Direct Monitoring). Next select the Pantheon reverb from the Insert section on the track. You should now hear effects applied to your input signal; use the Monitor Mix knob on the Lambda to control the wet/dry mix for the effect. |
| Will software other than Cubase LE work with the Alpha? | Yes, the Alpha is compatible with other recording software, not just Cubase. On a Mac, the Alpha uses the built in Core Audio drivers and is designed to work applications that are compatible with Mac OS10.2.8 or later (10.4.7 or later for Intel based Macs). On PC, The Alpha is designed to work with applications that are compatible with either the WDM or ASIO mode drivers. When the Alpha is used on PC, the computer will need XP Professional or Home Edition with Service Pack 2. |
| I do not have an available USB port on my computer; can I use a USB hub? | It is not recommended to connect USB audio devices via a USB hub. The bandwidth necessary for streaming digital audio to and from the computer may be compromised when using a hub. It is recommended to connect the unit directly to a dedicated USB port on the computer. |
| Will the Alpha work on an Intel based Mac? | The Alpha will work on Intel based Macs with OS version 10.4.7 or higher. The Alpha uses Mac’s built in Core Audio drivers. |
| I connected the Alpha to my computer and now I cannot hear any sounds from my computer's speakers. What happened? | Be sure the Monitor Mix knob on the Alpha is set to around the 12:00 position. The Monitor Mix knob lets you decide between hearing direct input or playback from the computer or a mix of both. Your computers sounds can be routed to the Alpha or your computers built in sound card. To check which device is selected go to Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Audio; the device that is selected for Playback will output your Windows sounds. To hear these sounds, your computer speakers, powered monitors or stereo system will need to be connected to the outputs of the selected device. The device setup for Cubase LE is independent of the Sounds and Audio Device settings found in the Windows Control Panel. To set up the Alpha in Cubase go to Devices > Device Setup > VST Multitrack and select Alpha ASIO in the ASIO driver dropdown menu. To hear sound from Cubase, your computer speakers, powered monitors or stereo system will need to be connected to the outputs of the Alpha. |
| The blue USB light does not turn on when I connect the Alpha to my computer. What is wrong? | The blue USB light will turn on if the Alpha is receiving power from the USB cable; if the light is not on, the Alpha is not receiving power. If you are experiencing this problem on PC, make sure your computer has Service Pack 2. To check this go to Control panel > System; if you do not see Service Pack 2 listed on the General tab, you will need to download and install Service Pack 2 onto your computer. Here is a link to a website where you can download the Service Pack: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/default.mspx . If USB light does not turn on when using a Mac or if your PC already has Service Pack 2, try another USB port and/or another USB cable. |
| How do I check to see if the drivers for the Alpha are properly installed? | For Windows XP and Windows Vista 32-bit: To see if the Alpha drivers have been installed properly go to Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager and expand the section labeled Sound video and game controllers. When the Alpha is connected to your computer via USB it should show up in this list as Alpha In/Out. You may also see an unknown device when it is connected; however this portion of the Alpha's USB control chip is not used for audio. If the Alpha appears as USB Audio device in this list you will have to reinitialize the drivers; please install the drivers from our website ( http://www.lexiconpro.com/product.php?id=7#downloads ), or you can follow these instructions if you have previously installed the drivers:
For Windows Vista 32-bit and Windows 7: To see if the Alpha drivers have been installed properly go to Control Panel > System > Hardware > Device Manager and expand the section labeled Sound video and game controllers. When the Alpha is connected to your computer via USB it should show up in this list as USB Audio Device. You may also see an unknown device when it is connected; however this portion of the Alpha's USB control chip is not used for audio. |
