Apr 22, 2008 12:33 pm I would check in your Delta CP and make sure there is not something keeping it locked at that rate. My Line6 allows me to lock it or allow external control. Just a thought.
Sonar 7 + Delta 1010 + 24-bit
Posted on Apr 22, 2008 10:49 am
timexone
producer
Member Since: Dec 07, 2006
Hi All,
This may seem like a noob question but its only because i have never been concerned with bitrate and sample rates until now because of my previous system's limitations.
I recently purchased a new computer that I believe should be able to handle 24/96 multitrack recordings without too much of a problem. (System is a Dell XPS QuadCore 2.4GHz with 4 Gb. ram)
However when I go into the audio settings in Sonar and change it to 24 bit (which I think is only a playback setting - I am at work so I cant check it at the moment to be sure), the wav files that get saved in my project folder are showing up as 16-bit wav files.
I thought maybe it had something to do with the M-Audio delta control panel so I opened that and there is no bit rate option to change. I can only change the sample rate (which i kicked up to 96) and the buffer size which is set at 256 (suggestions on the buffer size are welcomed too as I want to be able to get the most out of the system as possible). Does anyone know what I could be overlooking or where to start?
I do remember being able to easily change the setting to 24-bit and record at 24-bit on my old system with Sonar 4, however it was too taxing on my old system so I always just left it on 16.
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Apr 22, 2008 12:33 pm I would check in your Delta CP and make sure there is not something keeping it locked at that rate. My Line6 allows me to lock it or allow external control. Just a thought.
Apr 22, 2008 09:45 pm Ya, there is a choice in the Global settings to use a default bit rate to save to. Have a look there. Also in the project options there is a setting as well. But you should be able to set it for 24 and lock that in as long as the default isn't over riding that selection.
Apr 24, 2008 11:36 am Thanks guys, i finally got it working at 24 bit. Only i opened a new problem.
I think i need some advice on how to set the buffers and get my system optimal. i tried a few different settings with different results, but i dont know whats actually being changed on the computer so i dont know the best way to set it. as i said, i never had lag because i only used 16 bit in the past.
I can forget about 16 channels simultaneous recording at 96khz...i get about 1 second into it and i dont just get a drop out, the whole computer freezes and i have to hard-boot. as i lower it, the pain is less, but even at 44.1khz, 16 channels seems to slow down and speed up...at least the metronome does anyways.
it looks like im getting CPU spikes whenever there is some type of drop out or lag in the recording. the hard drive doesnt seem to be over working. and the ram looks fairly consistent.
with a quad core and 4 gigs of ram, is it unreasonable to think i can record 16 tracks simultaneously at 24/44.1?
Apr 25, 2008 11:24 pm Well you should be able to without a problem on that system. One thing I see right now is that you are running Vista Home Premium for your OS. That in itself might be the biggest problem as Vista has tons of crap running in the background that you can't see. I would suggest giving a look on Google for a couple of tweaks to shut some of the extra crap off that does not need to be running while you record.
Also you need to remember that if you are recording you need to have every other program shut down so the PC can use all the resource that is available and nothing else is grabbing CPU cycles or memory bandwidth.
The other thing is that it is a Dell and odds are good it has not got an optimal MoBo for use in recording but it still should be capable of doing multiple tracks at once.
I know I am still not convinced on switching to Vista and I'll stick with XP Pro for studio use until I see that the drivers are stable and run quickly and smoothly in Vista for audio hardware.
Another thing to look at is adding a second hard drive that is strictly for audio recording and playback. It can be internal or an external USB type. I can attest to the fact it will really take a load off the system and the OS hard drive by going that route.
Apr 26, 2008 07:27 pm I had a probliem like that with Sonar too using Presonus - I ended up finishing the project with Sony Acid Pro 6.0 - I didnt have any problems at all with it - even multiple tracks recording at the same time - check it out.
Steve
Apr 27, 2008 07:38 pm As far as I know Acid can only record 2 tracks at once in any version. He is talking about recording more then 8 and up to 16 channels at once. The software itself is probably not responsible for the change you saw at all, more then likely it is the default settings which need to be addressed such as buffers and the like. As well as how it uses the interfaces.
May 03, 2008 02:09 pm freakin vista! i read all the warnings..but when it came down to it, i didnt have a huge selection of pc's to purchase based on discounts i receive from the company i work for...
unfortunately, only some of the DELL PC's still come with XP - most are vista only, the XPS was not one of the lucky few. I can guess i can always back down to XP but ill probably wait until its absolutely necessary...i still have 16 bit if necessary.
That brings up my next question...is it better to be at 24 bit with 44.1khz or 16 bit with 96khz? basically which is more important, bit rate or bit depth?
May 03, 2008 10:02 pm as far as vista I'm not any where close to being an expert. I do have or should i say had 2 deltas and I've recorded 16 channels simultaniously on a lesser PC than you have in Sonar ( an earlier version, 3 i belive so that sould tell you something). I normally record (unless doing something special) 24 bit at 44.1khz and it works fine . it's better to have a higher bit rate because you'll dither down to 16 bit when it goes to CD. I know this isn't the best way to fix anything , but if you have a copy of XP ..something to toss around. My wife got a PC with visa and I wipped it and installed XP.
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