Recording sync problem

Posted on

Member Since: Jan 29, 2005

complete n00b question here

Im am having trouble when recording in cool edit pro. I load an instrumental into track 1 and then start to record new vocal audio into track 2. it seems to work fine but when i play back the recording, the vocal recording seems to slowerly drift out of sync with the instrumental. i used the drift correction feature in cool edit but it doesn't seem to work too well. I have tried other recording software and had the same problem. Anyone know of a way i can correct this problem??

specs: laptop computer - 500mb ram, 2.7ghz processor.
external usb Audigy 2 NX sound card.
Behringer tube ultra gain MIC100 preamp
AT3035 condensor microphone.

[ Back to Top ]


Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Jan 29, 2005 09:51 am

Your PC is plenty powerful, so that isn't likely the problem, but your sound card isn't really meant for recording. I do not know Cool Edit very well, but, is there a way in Cool Edit to get your latency rating? It's generally expresed in milleseconds...latency is the amount of time it takes for the sound that enters your sound card to come out your speakers. While the latency itself wouldn't cause drift, it would give you an indication of the performance level of your card, if it's over 20ms or so, it could be the card itself, or the way it is configured, that is having a hard time keeping up with the demands you are putting on it.

Welcome to HRC.

Member
Since: Jan 29, 2005


Jan 29, 2005 07:49 pm

its not a cheap sound card.. i tried recording with the crappy soundcard inbuilt into the laptop and got no drifting at all but the sound quality from this card aint the greatest.. doubt my Audigy NX would have higher latency then the crappy soundcard in my laptop.. could there be some sort of setting somewhere that might fix this problem?

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Jan 29, 2005 08:06 pm

No, it's not cheap (as in inexpensive), and I never said that, what I did say is that it's not meant for recording, and that's true. Creative Labs makes cards for gaming, listening to music and watching DVD's...not for any semi-serious recording work. It can do the job, many people do it, but they generally have to take extra care in doing so because it's working the card way more than it was meant to work, they are not true, heavy-duty full duplex cards. As hard as Creative Labs' marketing department tries to make them sound like it, they aren't. The Audigy series is better, but still not great.

However, since it is what you have to work with, the first thing I would look into is what your sync clock is set to in the preferences (assuming it has one, I dunno if it will help, as that is usually meant for just MIDI stuff, but ya never know.

Also, what driver type are you using? WDM I assume? It should tell you in the prefs as well, and perhaps will tell you the latency rating.

I am not familiar with CEP, and have not used an SB for studio work in over 5 years, so I am just kinda lobing ideas out there for you to look into, not saying it'll be there or help, but it's common issues that there has to be preferences available for someplace in the application...I hope...

Member
Since: Jan 29, 2005


Jan 30, 2005 01:01 am

thanks I appreciate your input

Related Forum Topics:



If you would like to participate in the forum discussions, feel free to register for your free membership.