Interesting, can't say I've ever used
sound input hard-switched to output in that capacity, but seems
like something that would require a driver, or at least some
method of communications to change the hardware. I doubt that's a
default behavior, or at least I've never seen it to be, probably
more up to the chip, where those like realtek's are known to be
quirky anyways. Add in crappy mangled HP oem win builds, and who
knows.
How about under linux? If nothing else, try live booting and
examine the /proc/asound states of hardware mixing devices if the
are even actually capable. It's easier to examine the hardware
capabilities than under windoze imho. Try booting Ubuntu Studio
live cd and see if that with low-latency kernel + jack can
reproduce your i/o requirements with the same hardware.
People do mixing commonly with linux and jack for production it
seems, maybe give you back some life expectancy there. I've been
watching for a cheap(er) RME HDSPe card to play with as they are
known linux friendly and used in mega-production studios for i/o
patching across exotic multi-channel pcm transport like madi,
raydat, adat, aes, etc. I considered replacing my pioneer
receiver with my htpc and a few adat breakout boxes for sound
mixing, but even used they aren't *cheap* still. Plus I haven't
as I haven't figured out a good way to make my remote switch
sources yet, but if you're mixing studio inclined, you'll have a
display and mouse anyways to work with the patchbay ui
connections.
HP hardware in consumer space is typically crap, particularly the
Pavilions (no offense). Every one in my experience in dismantling
(which is several) is dying/has already died from a bad power
connector as the worst issue, and replacing them is no fun. They
generally just fall apart otherwise in general from what I've seen
when tearing them apart. I've soldered new power jacks into them
grudgingly for friends, they are not fun to work on/in. Same for
lcd hinges, fans, trackpads, they're always spindly made and bound
to break. Kids with no respect for technology break them in 3-6
months.
Last time someone asked me to look at repairing an HP Pavilion
laptop with some mix of said issues, I refused calling it
disposable and to treat it as such. It still sits here collecting
dust left from my friend.
The enterprise stuff isn't bad though. I actually had an hp elite
business laptop myself with docking and such years ago, and it was
nice, other than being 10lb to lug about, nothing like the
Pavilion lines.
-mb
On 09/28/2016 02:50 PM, Vara La Fey wrote:
I'm typing this on an old HP Pavilion billed as an
"entertainment pc". Nearly every laptop in existence has a
feature sometimes called "input monitor" that allows sound from
the mic or line-in to immediately (without latency) play back
through headphones (but not speakers). It's automatic, and is an
entirely different (and to a musician recording tracks, it's an
incalculably superior) feature to the LOSEdows high-distortion,
high-latency "Listen to this device" feature. Laying tracks
requires constant quality control: you absolutely have to hear
what you're playing exactly when you play it - and some
instruments are best recorded "direct-in" with no external
amp/monitor (and thus no hassles with mics). Further, if you're
laying a track on top of other tracks - say, a bass track for
your existing drum track - you have to hear your run-time bass
and your recorded drums precisely together without any humanly
discernible delay anywhere in the chain.
Guess whether HP inexplicably and inexcusably disabled that
feature - which nearly every other computer in existence has.
Mine is old and I cannot find the information about which
registry keys (allegedly) re-enable it. This HP Pavilion is
utterly worthless for the task I bought it to perform, and I
have no money to replace it.
Worse even than that, is the kinda heartbreaking thread from a
musician who spent hundreds and hundreds on a Pavilion when
it was new and then found it was exactly as worthless for
him - and found that HP absolutely would not even respond to
his repeated requests for help and support even back then. The
thread still exists on their own forum where he's practically
begging for support.
More than you wanted to know? It's just so that any would-be HP
apologists can maybe feel the helpless frustration and rage when
a customer-hostile and fraudulent company knowingly sabotages
their product and does not state that they have done so. HP
makes a habit of it.
Go out of business, HP. The sooner the better.
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