popping at the beginning of a track?

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RC

Post by RC » Wed Mar 24, 2004 5:44 pm

I'm trying to record some vocals, and everytime the timeline gets to the beginning of a track, it makes a little pop. This noise isn't anywhere on the track itself. If I try to delete the silence just before the track, it only pushes the pop back to the new starting point of that track. It just seems to be a noise that is made when Cakewalk is reading that track.

Anyone know what's causing that or how I might eliminate the problem?


andychap
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Post by andychap » Wed Mar 24, 2004 8:35 pm

A couple of things you could try:

The I/O disc buffer settings may not match your Hard drive. It defaults to 64, always has done, now HD's are a bit faster you might be able to reduce it.

Also latency might be set a bit to low. It might be set so that there are no pops and glitches during playback but it might be a touch to low for the initial recording input on the track. Try increasing it a bit at a time to see if it makes any difference.

And make sure your HD is defragged :D

RC

Post by RC » Wed Mar 24, 2004 9:43 pm

I should have provided a disclaimer that I'm kind of computer moron. I mean, I know more than the average guy, but when it comes to settings that you seldom touch, I don't know where they all are.

In other words, other than defragging a hard drive, I don't know how to check into those other things you say. Where do I find them?

Thanks for your help though.

andychap
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Post by andychap » Thu Mar 25, 2004 4:28 pm

They will be in the Audio settings usually in the options menu.

RC

Post by RC » Thu Mar 25, 2004 6:02 pm

No luck. Do you think this is potentially a sound card issue? I still have the sound card that came with the computer, which is four years old.

andychap
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Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2003 7:26 pm
Location: UK

Post by andychap » Thu Mar 25, 2004 7:21 pm

Yes it could be. Is it a built in card or in a pci slot. I would get something newer at least something like a basic Audigy. The card you have might not even be full duplex.

I can't really think of anything else at the moment but if I come up with anything to try I'll post straight away.

RC

Post by RC » Thu Mar 25, 2004 9:53 pm

Let me ask you this: If I'm getting some crackling on tracks that were not recorded on my computer (they were recorded on one with a good soundcard, and I bundled the files) ... is that a possible sign of my soundcard not being up to par, too? Or does the soundcard typically affect your audio when you're recording it into the computer?

andychap
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Post by andychap » Sat Mar 27, 2004 3:40 am

Best way to check is export the tracks to a wav file and burn it to CD, play the CD in a HI Fi and see if the crackles are still there.

If they are then they were part of the recording and nothing to do with your soundcard. If they are not on the CD then it is down to the A/D convertors on your soundcard.

When you create the CD nothing goes through the A/S convertors on your soundcard, the process is entirely digital. As soon as you out put the track from your sound card they have to be processes Digital to Analogue and this is where the crackling will occur.

The same with recording. If you rip a track from a CD or create tracks purely with softsynths that is totally digital. As soon as you connect an instrument or mic then your sound card has to convert Analogue to Digital and this is where the crackling comes from when recording.

This is all down to the process of resampling. When the resampling process is being carried out it has to be a smooth process, abit like burning an audio CD you need some sort of buffer to ensure the smooth flow. The larger the buffer the smoother the flow but at the expense of latencey.

The trick is to set the buffer just as large as you need to get a clean recording and playback and as small as possible to get minimal latency. This is not possible on lower spec's cards and inbuilt cards because they are just not capable of smooth resampling without large buffers.

The pop you experience at the beginning of the track is a latency problem because you need your buffer set high to obtain clean playback but then you suffer high latency. The pop is your recording track trying to play catch up as soon as the track starts.

Does that make any sense :D it is quite late at the moment and I've just finished a long mixing session so my brain is a bit muddled. Hope it helps.

RC

Post by RC » Sat Mar 27, 2004 10:02 pm

Andy,

I think I'm following you. I truly appreciate all your help.

Ryan

RC

Post by RC » Sun Mar 28, 2004 12:12 am

Andy,

Do you think an Audigy card is all I need, or would I be better off with an Audophile. The cost difference between the two doesn't bother me if it means a better chance of addressing my problem.

andychap
Posts: 685
Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2003 7:26 pm
Location: UK

Post by andychap » Sun Mar 28, 2004 4:45 am

The audiophile would definately be better if you are serious about recording. It doesn't have any midi so you would need to use softsynths and has no multimedia facilities at all. No gaming and you would have to rip CDs before playing them on the PC. It will beat the Audigy hands down.

A good all round solution could be the Terratec DMX 6 Fire. It has the specs for recording whilst still retaining it's multumedia functionality. Bit of a bugger to set up on some systems but once up and running they are great. It's got a break out box as well.

I use an Ego Sys Waveterminal 24/96. It has no multimedia facilities but at least it can play CDs. Using Softsynths is far better than general midi any way.

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