Status:

Before I install the BIAB & RB 2001 upgrade on top of my 2009 version...
(which was just "installed" from my never used 2009 BIAB supplied hard disk... using the supplied installer exe file)

I decided to see what sound card was in this (old, but beefy) custom Intel I7 Win10 PC.

Device Manager tells me I have these installed in c:\windows\system32\drivers

(qty 4) NVIDIA HIGH Definition Audio
(qty 1) NVIDIA Virtual Audio Device (Wave Extensible) (WDM)
(qty 1) Realtek High Definition Audio

Questions:

1 - I guess these are all drivers... but why so many? What do they all do?
(as far as I know there is only one sound card plugged into the mother board)

2 - Does any of this information tell me what sound card (hardware) I have in the PC?
Is it a Realtek card with a bunch of NVIDIA drivers or the reverse or what?

Reason for Asking:
I'm guessing this info will be helpful during the installation and later steps to get my M-Audio Axiom 49 keyboard controller setup to record into RB)

I'll have more questions later as I navigate my way through this so...

Thanks for any help along the way.

Will.
1. you might find this method usefull i layout in this thread re song creation at some point.
a little 4 parter. if you read the thread.
https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=659142#Post659142
2. i would suggest you dont use on board sound on a pc but get a decent asio usb interface..looks like you have realtek on board sound. ask on any recording forum if you doubt my info.
if your going to be recording your vocals and other instruments useing a microphone.........into rb...
here is a list of interfaces that pg users find work well with pg products.
https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=635707#Post635707

3. it would take me days to explain lots of other digital audio caveats/things to watch out for/various aspects of setting up a recording daw so i would suggest you read all the pg faq's, and also buy a book written recently on setting up a project recording studio, ...and also google "you tube setting up a home project recording studio". THUS lots of usefull videos/hits will come up.
ALSO there are lots of pg music vids on you tube. PLUS if you go to reaper.fm there are around 80 vids
on recording and midi etc etc.
i would also google/you tube "setting up/useing axiom keyboard with a daw".

best/hth
oldmuso

look under sound video and game controllers rather than drivers in control panel. that will tell you what the sound on your pc is produced by. then you can choose the driver when you load BIAB.

however, regardless of your sound card MME should work for audio playback. WAS is better as lag is negligible when recording and both WAS and MME should work regardless of your soundcard. for recording from your keyboard, turn it on and plug it in (usb i presume?) before you start BIAB and then look for the keyboard in midi input drivers.

i think you will only need an ASIO driver if you record audio - your controller is a MIDI input device. quality of midi sounds varies with the synth you use. i think you should have got Coyote WT free with BIAB and its ok. better still read Peter Gannon's post 'No brainer' om how t get the TTS1 free.

RealTek is likely the audio system on your computer motherboard. The Nvidia drivers likely support optional audio and video software that allow multiple speaker configurations, sound enhancement, display control and so forth. Most of the time you don't want to use added audio features but want Windows to control your audio.

So, what you have is computer motherboard based audio (Realtek) with software enhancements (Nvidia).

Your MIDI controller likely will connect to your computer through a USB port. It transmits MIDI data, not sound, to your computer so it doesn't use the Realtek or Nvidia. It should show up as a MIDI Input Driver and MIDI Output driver in the MIDI/Audio Drivers Setup.

Essentially, Unless you have added your own sound card, you have the factory chip which is not suitable for doing what we do.

Regardless of anything else.... That chip/soundcard is designed to run with MME and possibly WAS. MME is the default in most cases.

If you are using audio and midi together or simply midi alone in many cases, you will have problems with the factory card and the MME driver.

To run smoothly, you should plan to get an external interface that can run ASIO. Get the right tool for the job. This interface will let you run audio and midi in both directions as smoothly as you would expect it to run. The soundcard or interface you choose is the heart of your recording studio so choose wisely.

Not sure, but I suspect your NVIDIA driver is probably associated with the HDMI connection on your computer (since HDMI transmits both audio and video). My laptop has both RealTek and NVIDIA; the NVIDIA kicks in when I connect via HDMI to a television set.

just to throw in my small contribution, i use a behringer uphoria usb interface for recording these days...............but

installed in my pc is a soundblaster audigy which is old but quite powerful and which ran BIAB midi and RealTracks audio playback with WAS quite successfully and also recorded midi from a midi keyboard controller.

even more surprising, a windows 10 update knocked out the soundblaster until i could find a new driver, and i reverted to the onboard sound from the motherboard.

and it worked.............! so don't give up on your motherboard's onboard sound until you've tried it. you may be pleasantly surprised if all you need to do is create tracks with BIAB then add a track with the midi keyboard

jford,

Thanks for your input. I don't have a computer with a built-in Nvidia HDMI video/audio connection so I wasn't aware of those drivers. Your explanation makes much better sense than mine above.

I agree with Bob Calver's remarks above. As long as the only input into the computer is a MIDI controller the motherboard audio playback system should be fine. Will's M-Audio Axiom 49 keyboard controller uses a USB port for power and connectivity so the older 5 pin MIDI ports are not required.

I also agree with Guitarhacker that audio input works better with an audio interface.