new to PC recording via Cubase LE & tascam, and pulling my hair out!!
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Posted on May 27, 2008 09:41 pm
eagerrookie
Member Since: May 27, 2008
I enthusastically got involved with PC recording by purchasing a Tascam US-144 interface to connect to my electronic piano. The interface came with Cubase LE. I've had it for five months and have yet to get started; despite reading most of the book "Cubase Power." I understand there is a long learning curve with the terminology, etc. (especially with a complete newbie) but can't seem to get my basic questions answered. My main (among many) problems with Cubase is that when I record a simple 20 second lick on my piano, it is choppy and skips frequently. When I try to record vocals the same thing happens. I've tried doing what the operations manual states about manually increasing the buffer size, but it doesn't work. Additionally, I can play back sound once but after that I can't do it again and Cubase freezes and I have to restart my computer (I have an IBM thinkpad laptop). This is the furthest I've been able to get in 5 months.
I verified that my laptop meets all the requirements, and I have all the updated drivers and I believe I did everything right with my soundcard (which I believe is SoundMax), but I cant get anywhere.
Is this agony normal? Do I just need to quit whining and accept that it's going to take a long time before I actually can start recording? Or are there some more realistic options out there? I'm a poor college student with about an hour a day of free time.
Any thoughts; whether that be encouragement to stick with this or advice on giving up Cubase LE; would be greatly appreciated.
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Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
May 27, 2008 10:40 pm SoundMax was my first clue. But I'll ask, are you running the playback through an on board sound card?
Assuming the answer is yes you really can't do that with an on board sound card. You need to run the playback through the 144 as well as record through it.
Reason being is the clocks will never line up correctly on the cheap chip that the on board uses. And the audio clock is what keeps everything in time. Thus the choppy stuttering sound.
I suggest switching the playback to the 144 and that will probably clear it all up.
May 28, 2008 04:34 pm agreed, you need to disable your stock soundcard (in control panel) and route all audio through the tascam.
May 28, 2008 08:42 pm thanks, I am going through the onboard soundcard. as far as routing all audio through tascam, and disabling the soundcard, the only options my control panel gives me is my onboard soundcard. does that mean I didn't load the drivers correctly? or am I going the wrong way in the control panel? I'm going through "sounds and audio devices"
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
May 28, 2008 10:57 pm Make sure when you are in the windows audio control panel you select playback device. It should show you all available drivers for audio output. If the Tascam is not in there then yes, it is possible the drivers did not load correctly. You might also want to check on the Tascam sight and see if there are more current drivers available.
Keith WarrenMans reach exceeds his graspMember
Since: Oct 23, 2007
May 29, 2008 07:56 pm Actually, I had this problem when I first installed my US-144 drivers. In the audio preferences, go to the hardware tab, find the Tascam on the list, and make sure you have it set to "use this device." Then find your soundcard on the list and set it to "disable this device." You can reverse it anytime you want, and it forces the computer to recognize the Tascam as the default audio engine.
If you can't find the Tascam in the hardware list, then totally remove and delete the old drivers from C:/program files and reinstall 'em. You should be set after that. If not, lemmie know, 'cause I had a couple other issues as well that you may or may not run into. It's a great interface though, so don't throw in the towel on it :)
