Wow, I never realized that there was a Lenovo Forum ... I thought this was the official forum for ThinkPads (or, at least it should be).

I'll post a question at Lenovo about when or if they ever plan to re-enable stereo-mix audio recording via the SoundMAX on the X6X and T6X series.

However, I really enjoy the slight concert hall echo effect that I'm using for all my audio with the X-fi express/54 card and now I'm "audio" spoiled

The Lenovo Community forum is not an official support forum, so don't expect to get any specific answer there.... but you never know you luck in a big Internet!

Cheers,

Bill B.

Is this the Lenovo Forum that been discussed above?

http://lenovoforums.com/index.php

Well... no. Lenovo's forums are the ones linked to from Lenovo's home page.

http://forums.lenovo.com

Okay thanks .... looks like they already started a "lack of stereo mix" thread the other day and they have posted a link back to this link here .... interesting.

We'll have to see if Lenovo reconsiders crippling the SoundMax on the X61 and T61s.

BTW, does anyone recall if the T60 or X60's had the crippled SoundMax?

Hey all,

Just wanted to thank you for sharing all of this very useful information up here -- I have run into the same issue and have benefited greatly from all of your previous research.

I have used a T42 for the last 3 years for my job and loved it. Just got a new T61 to replace it, and this issue (along with others that appear to be common with the T61) have left me very frustrated. I liked the T42 so much that I was planning on getting a ThinkPad when my current personal notebook gives out. But unless there's some way to get around this annoying SoundMax nonsense (i.e. buying it with a different sound card installed), forget it! I can handle quirks and bugs, but to have a simple function like sound recording intentionally crippled is just too much of an insult. Next thing you know they'll be disabling printing functionality because someone somewhere might print something they really shouldn't. Or maybe we shouldn't be allowed to connect our notebooks to the internet because, well, there's some nasty stuff out there!

I'm going to try to find one of those Creative X-1 external cards that were recommended here. Thanks again for sharing your experiences.

ambivalentT61 .... a hardy welcome to you from the Forum here.

The X-fi card is still working seamlessly for me on my T61 (just like my uncrippled T42), but more importantly, you jokingly mentioned the potential of future disabling of USB printing.

I sure hope they don't do that.

However, I'm prepared because I still prefer to use my old but "ink efficient" HP890C (yes, that's really old). So I decided to get a Lenovo Advanced Mini-dock that provides the parallel port that was dropped on the T61 (not to mention an extra 4 full bandwith USB 2.0 ports, plus DVI and VGA connections for my external monitor).

With that mini-dock, I've been using my T61 at home as a desktop replacement now for nearly 6 months (and still have not fired up my desktop unit as of yet). With the extra X-fi 7.1/5.1 adapter and a set of non-digital 5.1 computer speakers, my T61 never sounded so good at home when compared to my Desktop or T42

Just be sure your T61 has an Express/54 slot if you decide to spring for an X-fi.

O.T. ....... As a side note, I learned this morning that I should keep the mini-dock power supply plugged into my UPS (just like my external monitor) rather than a surge-only outlet because the power to the T61 actually routes through the dock .... I'm must be pretty stupid to have not figured that out these last 6 months

Better send me back to Freshman status

Helpful thread. I run a T60 and I've always had recording ability, but I've been looking for a good card to increase audio output and eecon supplied that.

You can't make everything a sticky, but at the very least the workarounds should be copied and pasted in a General Info Sticky. The reason for this is that many T61 owners won't even know they have a problem until notified, they'll simply blame themselves when they can't record.

These particular type of problems infuriate me.

Thanks all

I don't know if you guys are aware of this, but Lenovo has released a brand new audio driver for the T61/p. The new version is 5.10.1.5670 release on January 21, 2008.

I tried it, but again I am disappointed to report that it does NOT fix the stereo mix issue we are all having. Someone here said DELL is releasing a new driver to enable stereo mix on their laptops. I'd appreciate it if anyone could direct me a link to either a press release or the sound driver for download preferably from the DELL website. It could be useful for us.

Do you ever try to mix your mic input with music playing from your laptop?

Anyway, this is a good news for us. Thank you.

Nope, because I can only choose What-U-Hear, Line-in or Mic one at a time .... Stereo Mix is not listed as an option.

eecon....

I discovered this forum during a net search for answers as to why my new R61 (yeah.....I know this is a T6x series forum but your issues and solutions extend into the R6x world as well) was limited to only the microphone on the recording panel.

I tried your .INF and registry hack and successfully restored the stereo mix panel and capability on the R61 but do you guys have any thoughts on resurrecting the "line-in" functionality (like my T43 had out of the box)?

I am considering the Creative X-fi card you mentioned and was wondering if you could enlighten me on how well it performs on the "line-in" recording. My main purpose for recording on the laptop is capturing lectures and performances, in stereo, straight from the front of house mixing console at the venue where the lectures take place.

Ive tried a few other solutions but they have not been satisfactory on achieving true stereo line-in recording. How's the Creative X-fi card perform in this setting?

I don't have a stereo mic handy to try line-in recording through the X-fi but will try to find one later and report back. The specs on the X-fi indicate that a stereo mic via line-in will record in stereo (as I recall).

As for the .inf hack, we've all concluded that although the stereo mix slider shows up, the recording capabilities of the SoundMax remain crippled (line-in, stereo mix, etc).

I've heard that Dell is soon issuing an update to uncripple it's SoundMax on its newest laptops.

Hopefully, the good people at Lenovo will be doing the same

Thanks for the reply eecon. It's the line level processing that I'm interested in (mic levels are much lower - a stereo mic won't emulate what I'm trying to evaluate). I'm talking about basically taking a stereo ouput off your home stereo system (before the amp) or a signal from a portable mp3 player (ipod, iaudio, etc....) and processing that through the X-fi express card. What "options" show up in the recording mixer when you use the X-fi card? (the crippled soundmax only shows mic, the uncrippled soundmax showed CD player, line-in, mic, wave out)

Thanks

I'm still confused! 1) The hack ONLY enables the MIC input? Even tough there is a RED MIC Input on my T61, without the hack it does not work? So, does that mean that after the hack I STILL can't do any recording (from the Internet, etc....the ONLY recording I can do is if a MIC is plugged in?

If I buy the Sound Card mentioned, I will get back ALL functionality? Also, will the Sound card significantly incrrese the volume and quality while playing audio through the laptop speakers?

Thanks for any help and advice!

We're in the same boat, short of my only having a T61. Wow, I had been thinking for some time that this was a software issue for me alone. (I get that "streammci.dll not installed" error)

I also had no clue at all that the mic input was MONO! That's disgusting when low end notebooks have stereo input. This is a ThinkPad, not made for multimedia, but still....*****Expletives removed by Moderator***** RIAA.

I hope someone finds a fix for this (on Vista). I feel like my T61 has come down with some kind of disease knowing this now.

Thanks for the hard work, guys.

Older laptops have three audio ports, headphone stereo jack, line in stereo jack and a mono mic in. Nowadays, even the Macbook Pro have only a stereo headphone jack and a mono mic in. We should somehow make Lenovo aware of this problem and encourage them to provide a new audio driver that restores all the recording features.

The recording input selection panel with the X-fi shows What-U-hear, Line-in, mic, and S/PDIF-In.

Also note that I am using WinXP and not Vista. I have heard rumors that the current X-fi drivers do not properly support Vista yet, but I can not confirm that, nor have I bothered to investigate further. The Creative website for this product lists Vista as a supported operating system so they may have fixed that issue:

http://us.creative.com/products/product ... 6642&nav=3

As for match_point's question about the X-fi's Line-in recording capabilities, I routed the line-out from a Sony CD Walkman into the X-fi's Line-in and selected Line-in as the recording source. I was able to make a perfect duplicate of the music playing (as a .wav file) and was also able to listen to the music as it was being recorded (when I selected the "monitor" option from the X-fi's software mixer panel).

Note, there is no stereo-mix available even with the X-fi so I can't mix .... just record from any source (internet, what-u-hear, stereo line-in, mono-mic, and S/PDIF-In).

Hope that helps clarifiy things for everyone out there.

My optional X-fi Surround Sound adapter accessory is due for delivery tomorrow. This will allow me to hook up my creative 5.1 speaker system for true surround sound. Right now, I'm only using a pair of small desktop speakers from the X-fi's line-out. I have not bothered to try routing the X-fi sound directly to the laptop speakers because when I travel I won't need the ability to record. However, the X-fi software offers this as an option for those so inclined. As for me, I'll simply re-enable the onboard SoundMax and leave the removeable X-fi at home right next to my Lenovo Advanced Mini-Dock (where the T61 spends 95% of it's time as my desktop replacement with a Lenovo Enhanced External KB, Mouse, and External 22" WS 1680x1050 monitor plus a bunch of external USB HDs).

With the X-fi's enhanced sound quality, special audio effects, and recording capabilities (even w/o stereo-mix), my T61 is just about perfect now and I'm finally satisfied

The hack does nothing for us .... the X61/T61 red mono Mic-in will record either way from any source you feed it. A stereo input to it from like an iPod or CD Walkman records in mono and sounds somewhat distorted to me. And no internet recording recording is possible regardless of the hack. The hack simply displays a "Stereo Mix" slider in the recording panel, but no recording is possible even if that input is selected.

The Creative X-fi Express/54 slot card works on my WinXP T61 via the Express/54 slot on the left side (the upper slot is the Express/54 slot and the bottom slot is the standard PCMCIA cardbus slot). Note that the PCMCIA Creative Audigy 2 ZS Notebook card won't work on X61/T61 units according to Creative because the Ricoh PCMCIA controller used by Lenovo is listed as incompatible with the Audigy. So you need an Express/54 slot on your rig in order to use the X-fi (which some X61/T61 units do not have).

The X-fi card significantly improved audio power (volume) and quality on my external speakers and will record from "any" source including internet radio in full stereo (but not let you do any mixing). I can record with any recording software including the Creative software that comes with the card, the WinXP Sound Recorder, Nero's WaveEditor, etc.

I have not tried routing sound to only my laptop speakers yet. I'll try to do that over the next few days and report back.

Thanks! I have heard that there is a 1 second delay when routing to internal speakers. Only a problem if playing a video, I guess. But, I am still curious if volume/quality is inccreased.

I tested out the X-fi with the T61's speakers. There is only about a 0.25 second delay compared to the external speakers.

Depending on what you are watching it may be more noticeable. For instance, some streaming video already has audio delays anywhere from 0 to 0.5 seconds so adding another 0.25 seconds delay to that can be noticeable.

Playing video from .mpeg or DVDs usually has 0 audio lag with the external speakers and it is hardly noticeable with the laptop speakers.

The laptop speakers' sound quality is noticeably better with the X-fi (probably due to all the custom effects available from the Creative Audio controls) and the available volume seems to be about 25% higher.

The one thing I did learn and need to advise readers is that I had to re-enable the onboard SoundMax via WinXP's Device Manager before the X-fi would re-route audio to the laptop speakers. Apparently the X-fi drivers and the SoundMax drivers can co-exist without problems after all. I did not have to reboot after I re-enabled the SoundMax and did not need the two SoundMax startup services that provide a tray icon, etc.

The ability to record from any source was also not affected with the SoundMax enabled simultaneously with the X-fi. However, I discovered that the T61's internal mic will not record unless the SoundMax is also enabled and it must be specified as the "Voice" recording device under Control Panel>Sounds .... I never tried recording my voice with the internal mic before because I forgot I had an internal built-in mic.

I believe music and games should be okay routing the X-fi through the laptop's speakers using WinXP. However, I don't know how things would go under Vista.

Thanks again!! Ordering one today!!

Just an update...received the card today and couldn't be happier! I now have Graphic Equalizer available for sound from ANY source....and can record ANYTHING I can hear from my Laptop (LOVE the "What You Hear" option on the Creative Recorder included with this card)!

Glad to hear that you are satisfied with the X-fi

I still have not hooked up my Creative 5.1 speakers via the special X-fi surround-sound accessory connector that I received the other day. Primarily because my two external stereo el cheapo speakers that I've been using now sound great with the X-fi as-is. However, I'll try to get off my lazy b*tt and hook them up this weekend and report back.

Sorry its late at night.. tired, but i may have not read all the posts.. but just going to windows volume control, switch to recording, check off main/wav or whatever, instead of mic, and then hit play then hit record on like sound recorder or whatever else and it will record whatever plays through the speakers.. isnt that what you want ?

Don't bother getting the card if you have Vista. There is no stereo mix or other like capabilities.

eecon-
Here's an update. I'm using Vista Ultimate and for the past few days have been fighting with Creative's X-Fi PCI-Express card, the same one you are using under XP.
Well...also using Audigy 1.26...if I plug a line input into the card, it shows up as MICROPHONE level inputs, typically way too loud and distorted.

Creative's tech support seems to have difficulty communicating in English, we've emailed several times and they simply do not respond on point to simple questions like "Which files should I install?"

The card ships with a CD which claims to install for Vista. The web site has different "Vista" drivers, listing six files, but at least one of them appears to be for their PCI card--not the Notebook card. Two of them are labelled as bundled driver/app files, another conflict, which one or both to use? And then there is the Vista native driver for the card, which is autodetected and installed.

Can't get Creative to make a simple answer on which driver or files to use. The Creative applications don't function at all. The "Line IN" option in the Sound control panel simply is not present, Creative thinks it should be there.

Terribly disappointing! I'm hoping that if they can ever tell me which driver(s) or file(s) to use, the card will work in Vista. In the meantime...if anyone gets it working in Vista, please!!! post the specifics of what files/drivers you used to make it happen. At this point, I've tried multiple install/remove combinations and can only suggest the card is not yet fully functional in Vista, no matter what Creative says.

They speak too good YnGlitch.

[later, much later]

Hello again, some amazing progress made! I finally found a combination of steps that result in some success:

1-Uninstalled everything, launched Vista "update driver search internet" and let Vista installed a driver from somewhere on the internet. Identifies as: Version 6.10.0.201 Provider: Creative Date: 3/4/08. No, I don't really know where Vista found this file, I stepped out and it was there when I got back.

2-Launched SB XFi Xtreme Audio Notebook Driver from downloaded file on Creative support page: XFXA_NBDRV_LB_1_01_0003.exe
Aborts, error "A higher version of driver is found in your system, installation will abort." Note that this file is not just a driver, but a "driver and apps" bundle.

3-Launched another downloaded file, the "Audio series pack" filename: XFXA_PCDRV_LB_1_03_0001.exe
"Creative Sb XFi Xtreme Music Series Web Update"
It said "Updating windows drivers this will take a few minutes"
Completed.

4-Launched another file downloaded form the Creative download page. Filename "CSL_PCAPP_LB_2_40_09.exe" the Creative Console Launcher Web Update.
Completed without incident.

5-Restarted only once--after they were all run.

And now, fo rthe first time in many combinations of trials, the Creative Console Launcher and Console itself will run. Which allows the LINE INPUT to be selected as an option. More options are present in the SOUND control panel applet as well.

I've been able to record (using Audacity) from line inputs BUT there are still some niggling problems. First, if I plug a headset into the Thinkpad's headset jack, THE MIC IS STILL LIVE. Quite sensitive, too. I can hear every touch on the keypad and even the hard drive noises! I think this is being caused by the Creative software, I can't find any options to toally kill the mic, even though I have it disabled in the sound control panel. Even after a reboot.

Second problem isthe audio level. I've tried two devices, both seem to peak out about 6-9db down even with full input volume, when the same things plugged into my ISA Soundblaster on a desktop system run much louder, hitting -3db to 0db peaks with only 75% input volume. On first look, it appears that the XFi's line input function is reducing the input way way too much, possibly 12-15db too much compared to a real card with a real line input.

More on that when I get a better clue. But, at least I can say the card WILL ALLOW STEREO LINE INPUT, at least to Audacity, if one and only one combination of steps is taken. Letting Vista go out on the web and find a driver by itself seems to be the magic trick--that just worked today. The version number of that driver seems to make no sense versus anything on Creative's download page fwiw.

It's a real shame that the external X-fi soound card is not that well supported under Vista.

http://us.creative.com/products/product ... duct=16642

I wonder if the intent of Vista's developers was to do as the RIAA told them to do and cripple all recording capabilities in order to help out struggling recording artists, song writers, and their managers/agents/recording companies ... a worthy cause, to be sure.

However, I'm glad I stuck with WinXP (for now) .... BTW, the Creative 5.1 speaker system sounds incredible with the X-fi on my T61 (using the optional Speaker Docking Module connector). Also the lightweight Creative Aurvana Live headphones (plugged directly into the X-fi without the need for any special adapter or module) sound spectacular and I highly recommend them (about $110 if you shop around).

http://us.creative.com/products/product ... duct=17088

http://www.buy.com/prod/creative-aurvan ... 84592.html

All-in-all, I could not be happier with the audio and recording capabilities of my T61 with WinXp and an X-fi sound card.

Does the Creative Console Launcher also offer a "What-U-Hear" recording option under your Vista installation?

Does anyone have a link to older T60 SoundMax drivers that still have StereoMix enabled?