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Posts: 4042
Location: Utah | How do you eliminate the delay or latency in your recordings? When I put down the first track, no problems. But the second track records a few milliseconds late compared to the first track, creating a slightly off sound. All of the later tracks similarly delayed from the first track but are in time with the second track.
I've considered recording a redundant first track and then not using it in the final mix, but there must be a better way.
The software is Guitar Tracks Pro, the sound card is just a SoundBlaster (hoping for something better soon). |
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Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Your problem is the SB card. |
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Posts: 7222
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Latency always exists, however most software packages have a way to set a latency delay to correct for it. You also need to be careful where you are monitor your signal while recording.
This is a good source of info on the issue too.
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul01/articles/pcmusician0701.asp |
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Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | If it's an older SB it probably doesn't allow direct monitoring. Fly, when you record subsequent tracks after the second, which are you listening to while you record? Track 1?
Oh, which SB is it? |
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Posts: 4903
Location: Phoenix AZ | You can do a little time shift on track 1 and get it back in synch. I agree with Mr.Oh, latency is always there. But with good enough h/w these days it's barely a problem. Dave |
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Location: closely held secret | From the Guitar tracks support site:
"IMPORTANT:Depending on what soundcard driver version is installed on your computer, you may need to adjust the setting of Cakewalk’s “Use Wave Out Position For Timing” option to ensure proper synchronization of MIDI and Audio recording and playback. If you haven’t updated your soundcard driver software recently — i.e., if your drivers are pretty old — then the default setting for this option will probably work OK, and you probably won’t need to make any adjustment. However, we encourage all customers to obtain and install the latest soundcard driver version available from the manufacturer. If you have followed this advice and have the latest Creative driver installed on your computer, then you will have to manually adjust the setting of this option, as follows:
Users of these soundcards should disable the Use Wave Out Position For Timing option. The Cakewalk “Wave Profiler” may inadvertently enable this option when it profiles your hardware if you have the latest Creative Labs driver installed (this happens automatically when you launch your Cakewalk application for the first time). You need to disable this option manually. To check the setting of this option, open the Cakewalk Options | Audio dialog and click on the Device Profiles tab. Make sure your SoundBlaster or AWE card is selected in the list at the top. If the Use Wave Out Position For Timing box is checked, un-check it now. Then click OK to close the dialog.
Full duplexing (i.e., simultaneous audio recording and playback) with these cards is possible but you must have the latest drivers from Creative Labs installed (available from http:/www.soundblaster.com). Once they’re installed, you can record/playback simultaneously. However, if you choose to enable full-duplexing, the recording will be at 16-bit but playback will be at 8-bit. This will cause playback to become distorted. When you are finished recording and are ready to playback/mix your recorded audio tracks, turn off simultaneous record/playback, and the playback will be at 16-bit. (Select Options | Audio | Advanced and check/uncheck the Simultaneous Record/Playback checkbox as needed.)" |
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Posts: 22
Location: Churchville, NY USA | Don't listen to anything or anyone bad mouthing Soundblaster soundcards for recording...
I've been recording for 2 years now and I think rather sucessfully using my SB Audigy. I get absolutely no latency when recording direct into the soundcard...I'll admit I do get some latency with Midi recording.
As far as your issues...maybe more RAM will help. But you can record with a Soundblaster and get very nice results.
Rasmuth Rock
You can click on the above line to listen to some of my music recording through a Soundblaster...many songs also feature my Ovation too!
(click on the orange triangle facing to the right for hi-fi versions) |
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Location: closely held secret | An Audigy is hardly a plain PCI Soundblaster... and it's also not a prosumer recording device... |
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October 2005
Posts: 4042
Location: Utah | The soundcard is the Soundblaster Live. It's ok for just goofing off, which is where we're at right now. Hopefully some bottom fishing on EBay will pay off in a decent sound card and mixer. Until then, it's a struggle to get this timing figured out.
I followed the instructions TWFKAW posted, but there is no such option available. The Guitar Tracks website was no further help. Dunno if my card is too old or if maybe GT has been updated and the "Wave Out for Position Timing" option doesn't apply.
Tup's suggestion of adding a time shift sounds good, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet.
Still scratching the head.. |
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August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | I'm still in the dark ages of recording ... I just press the record and play buttons on the recorder and lay down the track. I can't digitally alter the sound of a note, cut and paste layers on layers, time stretch, loop, synch tracks, or any of the other (now) standard tricks of the trade. I have to play the track all the way through and accept it as it is or rerecord from square one. I guess that's why everything I do sounds so raw. :( |
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Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | Last year I went to a music show, and I'd say over half of the space was devoted to digitization and recording. The analog world is going the way of the old telephone land line. I can remember the exciting day when we got a second telephone installed in our house, not a second line, a second telephone! Now I don't even have a telephone land line. It all goes out over the internet. |
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Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Fly, the M-Audio 2496 is a great starter card. High quality audio in a card designed for recording. Here\'s a pretty good deal on the firewire version. |
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Posts: 7222
Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | For my 2 cents on the Analog vs Digital, old school vs new school, is to take the best of all worlds. For the most part I use tried and true technique, such as good microphones, as few takes as possible, record at least a basic track with a few if not all the instruments in one room etc etc.. But then I use the digital environment to mix and master.
Someone made the comment of their mix always sounding raw. Assuming a reasonably good recording, that rawness is more the result of mixing and mastering than the recording process.
The hardest part about mastering any recording is making the result a finished work rather than sounding like a bunch of instruments that just happen to be playing the same song at the same time. It's an art that takes years of practice to master (excuse the pun). There are however "tricks" to help the average home recording project sound very professional. At the same time, it's very easy to take any trick too far and turn the sound into mush.
For acoustic guitar and vocals type recording that many may be doing, get the best recording and mix that you can. When it's as good as you think it can get, apply a small amount VERY SMALL AMOUNT of stereo reverb... to the whole mix. Use a "small room" or "vocal" if those are available as choices. If done correctly and minimally enough, it should give the mix a little bit of a lively feel and make the piece sound "all together." The problem with Layered recordings is that they for the most part, don't sound like all the parts were indeed recorded in the same room or played at the same time, because they probably weren't. Adding a little reverb, again very little, will give the whole mix a "sound" that is consistent across all the instruments and add to the illusion being done all at the same time.
Remember the golden rule of recording. It's the same Golden rule that data programmers use..
GIGO.... Garbage In = Garbage Out |
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Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Amen, Miles. |
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Posts: 4394
Location: East Tennessee | Originally posted by Mr. Ovation:
For acoustic guitar and vocals type recording that many may be doing, get the best recording and mix that you can. When it's as good as you think it can get, apply a small amount VERY SMALL AMOUNT of stereo reverb... to the whole mix. Use a "small room" or "vocal" if those are available as choices. If done correctly and minimally enough, it should give the mix a little bit of a lively feel and make the piece sound "all together." Adding a little reverb, again very little, will give the whole mix a "sound" that is consistent across all the instruments and add to the illusion being done all at the same time.
Very True. In the past I tended to follow the theory "If a little is good, more is better." When I did, I had poor results.
For most home recording Very little reverb is needed. Less is more.
To me a great recording should sound like it's live. Hard to do. |
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March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | I'll second MasterWabbit's vote on the 2496.
(tho, I am considering upgrading t'something that'll allow me to record multiple trax simultaneously . . .
The 2496's is a great starting point, tho.) |
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April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Just got my Black Lion Audio upgrade back so my MOTU 828 MK2 will be on the blocks this week.
Check the sale section. |
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February 2002
Posts: 613
Location: Zion, Illinois | Hi,
I just sent you and private message about a Audiophile 2496 I'm putting up for sale on Ebay. Very nice recording card. |
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home recording - dealing with latency
