This is a tip I have about a work-around for adding fx to only the current recording track instead of very channel that is playing. This is the drawback of the sb's "what you hear" setting for recording. I usually record a track with the sblive's line-in using whatever Environmental Audio settings I like for that track.

Ok, now as I play that track back I want to use a totally different EA effect on my new vocal track WITHOUT applying the effect to the previous track. If I use the "what you hear" feature a new track (with fx) will be recorder of the new track along with the previous track. Of course, this is not acceptable as I want to keep the tracks separate and I only want the new effect on the most recent track.

Some people suggested that I record the new track dry (with no fx) then go back and solo (mute all tracks but the new track) it while recording with "what you hear" enabled. This would record a new track with fx and I could delete the previous, dry version of the track. Well, that's too much work if I record a different effect on each track, especially since I could easily be working on a 20+ track song.

This is what I came up with... I installed my old Yamaha card and setup my system to record ONLY from the sblive. I also setup so that playback (wav output, actually) will only play through the Yamaha. I setup my individual recording apps this same way just incase somehow my system's multimedia settings got screwed up.

Ok, next I connect the sblive's line-out to the Yamaha's line-in. I'll explain in a sec. I now leave the sblive's "what you hear" setting enabled all the time as there will always only be one channel (what ever's playing live) going through the sblive at any given time.

This works because all previously recorded tracks are wavs, which play through the yamaha, so the sblive never "hears" those signals again after the initial recording of each track. I plugged the sblive's line-out into the yamaha's line-in so that I could always monitor my live input and fx levels even while recording. If I didn't do so, I would not be able to hear how my live signal sounded until I played it back.

You can also, send both the sblive's and the yamaha's outs to a mixer or a signal mixing/joining cable as an alternative. I find it acceptable to do the connections the way I have since I never plan to use the yamaha for recording (which means any of the sblive's signal being sent to the yamaha have on effect on what's actually recorded).

Another thing I have done is set my apps to record (sblive) at only 48,000 and playback wavs (yamaha) at 48,000 as well. So far, this seems to have fixed any and all sync problems that may result from the resampling of audio during record/playback. Of course, if you use this setup any old soundcard will work in the place of the yamaha card. Sound quality is of no issue since you're using it only for playback.

BUT, if you plan to record the audio from your computer into an outside source, you should then alter your setup to playback wavs through the sblive. I mix my tracks down digitally and burn right to cd, so this is not an issue for me. If anyone can better explain what I am saying here, please do so.

I have no idea why I haven't seen info like this posted anywhere else. I'm sure many sblive wners still have thier old soundcards and can now put them back into use. In essence, this is a way to use your sblive specifically as a dsp unit (though I still use soundfonts regularly).