Thanks for your prompt response Procyon. As I mentioned above, I'm fairly new to PC audio recording so please be patient with me. By way of background, before I got the MMM 2013 at Christmas 2012 I was recording using Audacity with the onboard Realtek chip. The stated sample rate for Audacity was 44100 kHz and the Realtek chip worked fine with it and without me havng to do anything. When I first used the MMM 2013, I also used the Realtek chip however, it soon became obvious that it was struggling to cope with anything more than a few tracks before hitting latency problems and stalling and stuttering on playback/record. I read about, downloaded and tried the ASIO4 All driver but it didn't help much. i was advised by my local PC repair shop that the most likely cause was lack of RAM but my PC's max RAM was already installed. It was suggested that a better soundcard or audio interface might help so i got the SB card with breakout box and later the M-Audio card. Since using MMM I believe I've been recording exclusively at 44,100 kHz which worked for the M-Audio card and Realtek chip (subject to the problems mentioned above) and also for the SB card when I used it with the kX project driver. However, as soon as I switched to any of of SB's own ASIO drivers (Creative ASIO; SB Audigy 2 ZS ASIO 24/96 [E800]; or SB Audigy 2 ZS ASIO [E800]) I got the message shown above with "44,100" substituted for the "XXXXX"' that have I used in the question. I then read somewhere online that older SB cards use 48000 khz sample rate and not 44100 and I thought this may be the problem so i tried setting the MMM sample rate at 48000khz but then got the above message only this time with 48000 substituted for the "XXXXX". I also tried all the other available MMM sample rates (11,025; 22050; and 32000) and got the same message with the respective sample rate substituted for the "XXXXX". I'm not entirely clear where i'm supposed to set the sample rate in the SB soundcard. I see reference to sample rates is in its Audio HQ or Audio Console ( a later version of Audio HQ I think as it appeared when I updated the SB drivers) under SPDIF I/O "Digital Output Settings". It offers 44.1 (stereo only); 48; and 96 kHz. settings I have tried setting the 44.1 and 48kHz rates with corresponding settings in MMM "Arrangement Settings" but still got the message. i didn't try 98 kHz though from what you say below it wouldn't have worked anyway. The only other places in the SB software that came with the card's CD in which I see any reference to sample rates are in "Creative Media Source Player" and "Creative Media Source 5 Player"  (again a later version of the CMSP I think) in which you can set "Sampling Frequency" from 8 to 96 kHz for WAV Mono and Stereo recordings. They were and are both set at 44.1kHz. However, I had assumed that this was connected with playing/copying pre-recorded music and had nothing to do with the original type of recording that I am trying to do. Your thoughts/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. JB

It seems some kind of seeting is not proper. I think better check Arrangement settings Synchronization, if, you have put check mark some where or not.

I am sharing some screen shot from MMM 16 Premium which might help you in settings.

1. Arrangement settings

2. Arrangement settings Synchronization

3. Program settings Audio/Midi

4. Audio recording

5. Audio recording Advanced settings

After looking at above screen shots you might get an idea where different settings are needed or please add screen shots of yours. 

Sorry for delay in replying and thanks for taking the time and effort to do this nihon94. I'm not sure how to post screen shots as you have done but once I find out I will post mine. In the meantime I will study yours to see if there is anything obvious that I am doing wrong. Thanks again.

Screen shots -

For the entire screen, hold SHIFT and click the PRT SCR (print screen) key.  For just a pop-up window or dialog box, hold ALT and click the PRT SCR (print screen) key.  That will save the image to your clipboard.

Open Paint, or any image editing software, and PASTE the image.  Edit as necessary and export as .jpg.

When responding to a post, in the "Answer" window, next to the emoticons there is a button for "Image".  Browse for the screenshot on your hard drive and click on the "Send to the Server" button.  Be patient and give it a little time to upload - it will be obvious when it is finished.  Then, finish your response as normal.

HINT - If we need to see the detail in a small portion of the screen, do not post a screen shot of the entire desktop.  Crop the image to a reasonable size, and if it is still too small, enlarge the remaining image to a reasonable size.  Thanks

Thanks for the advice Procyon. Sorry for the delay in replying but I am having to do this between more pressing commitments. Further to nihon94's answer I have looked at his screen shots but still don't see what I am doing wrong.

In the screen shot below I have opened a new arrangement in MMM and am going to work through it. Before opening it I set my default audio device (playback; recording and MIDI) in Control Panel to SB. To make sure i understand Procyon's advice re screenshots I am going to post this first one to check that it looks ok and will post the rest later this evening. Hopefully the one below will show clearly the sample rate message to which I have been referring.

The previous screen shot seems ok - thanks Procyon - so to continue from where I left off, I am going to post  the same sort of screens shots that nihon94 posted. Before I even get to the "Arrangement Settings - General" dialogue box, it may be of significance that I have to "ok" the sample rate message 4 times (it used to be 3) as it keeps re-appearing when I "ok" it. I then go into "Program Settings - General" (shown below) (though the sample rate message is still there hidden behind it) and from there into "Arrangement Settings - General". As soon as I click on "Arrangement settings" the "Program Settings" box disappears and the sample rate message can be seen again. I then "ok" it again and the "Arrangement Settings - General" box appears. Again the sample rate message is still there behind it.

1. "Program Settings"

2. Arrangement Settings - General

I can then go into

3. Arrangement Settings - Synchronization

Again, the sample rate message is still there behind it. I then click ok leaving the sample rate message only. I "ok" that and the sample rate message disappears. However, if I then try to record either a MIDI or Audio track the sample rate message re-appears. MMM appears to start recording but nothing is actually recorded.

In MIDI recording mode I cannot stop the "recording" - it only stops when it gets to the end of the bars setting. In MIDI mode I cannot hear the midi keyboard notes as I play it though I can see the piano keys on the screen turn blue as I strike the corresponding note on the midi keyboard.

"Recording" will stop in Audio Rec mode by pressing the stop button or "Esc" key on keyboard. The L and R volume level indicators in "Audio Recording dialogue box" do not register any signal when in "recording" mode so it is obvious that nothing is being recorded, however, I can hear the guitar that I'm trying to record through my headphones - both of which are connected to the SB breakout box.

4. MMM - Attempted recording and playback screen

My Audio Recording dialogue box looks like this-

5. MMM - Audio Recording Dialogue Box

My Program Settings Audio/MIDI dialogue box looks like this-

6. MMM - Program Settings Audio/MIDI Dialogue Box

My Audio Recording - Advanced Settings looks like this-

7. MMM - Audio Recording - Advanced Settings

I would add that I can hear all other sounds on the computer - e.g. music files, internet videos and other audio recordings, and Windows notification sounds, through the SB breakout box and my headphones.

Also, as mentioned in my original post, MMM works without any sample rate message when using the M-Audio Audiophile 2496 soundcard or the Realtek onboard chip. However, I am keen to make use of the breakout box with the SB card so I am keen to resolve this issue, if possible. Once again, all and any advice and assistance will greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

This particular problem has been with me for some time.  Using MM 2014 now and still had this problem. I am using the same Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro sound card' and when recording MIDI you must use the ASIO driver to avoid the latency issue. Program settings are at  48 hz and  and when I pull a sample into the arrangement I get the "Sample Rate of (XXXXX) hz cannot be set. Maybe your audio card is synchronised to an external device" message.

Reading this blog made me think a bit and realize not much can be done with the settings using the ASIO driver to correct this.  So I believe I have a workaround.

If I go to Program Settings/ Audio Midi and change the driver selection to Direct Sound, I can freely add the  samples to my arrangement without getting the error message.  The beauty of this is once the sample is in your arrangement, I can switch back to .ASIO  driver.  The samples playback fine and I can then use the ASIO driver for Midi recording with no latency.

Wanted to share this because this has been a huge problem for me and it appears that I can now oovercome this.  I am glad I saw this thread since it led me to my current solution.  

FYI. Creative states on their website that this particular sound card is at its end of service life but I have to say that it is a great setup for my home studio and I love the breakout box.

This fixed my problem immediately!

I hope it helps