Re: PC recording studio

"RK" <R@J> wrote in message
news:43ca0875$0$1809$edfadb0f@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> Thanks John!
>
> I'm using a SB live soundcard!

That may be the problem right there. The SB _drivers_ may be where the
latency is coming from.

That card and its drivers are simply not designed for the task you are using
them for.

You'll get *much* better latency and fidelity with something using ASIO
drivers, like a USB 2 or Firewire audio interface.

This is the one Roger McGuinn says he uses now:

http://www.rolandus.com/products/details.asp?CatID=12&SubCatID=51&ProdID=UA-25

Most of the interfaces on this page will be a great improvement:
http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.list&ID=mobileinterfaces

MOTU also makes quality products:
http://www.motu.com/

There are others, but I don't know much about them. If you look at them,
be sure to look on Google - including the groups tab- for the experiences of
others.

For one very simple audio recording application ( a mono feed of spoken
words - administrative law hearings), I use the Transit USB. It's small
and inexpensive, but the mixer doesn't really exist as it does for the
Firewire 410 I have.

I use the m-audio firewire 410 with ASIO drivers for music recording. I
don't get latency issues. My sister uses a MOTU 828 for much more
ambitious recordings, and again there are no latency issues.

However, having used it and other firewire devices for some time, if I were
buying new I would seriously consider USB2. This is because Firewire is
not as forgiving as USB2 in the circumstance of accidental (or deliberate)
disconnect while the interface and computer are powered (also known as
hot-swapping). It's entirely possible to blow the firewire ports on either
or both the PC and the interface by hot-swapping, requiring repair or
replacement. It's much harder to damage USB devices this way. M-Audio
has stated that their Firewire devices are intended to be removed with
everything powered down.

I've had to toss several Firewire/USB hard drive cases and have the MOTU 828
repaired for this reason. MOTU was very good about this, with a flat fee
of $50 or so to cover repairs and shipment back - to a registered owner.

However, FireWire devices can have greater bandwidth, and this could be an
issue for larger projects.
http://www.directron.com/firewirevsusb.html


See if you can borrow or rent a box like this - it may be that a dealer near
you will do this, on the understanding that you'll buy it if it addresses
the problem. Or, to simply return it if it doesn't.

It won't take you long at all to find out; install the drivers, plug in the
device, let the drivers load, restart the machine, select the new device in
both Windows and PT10 and try a mix. I'm sure that at this point you know
exactly what to do to produce the problem.

I think you'll find that a higher quality interface with low-latency ASIO
drivers will greatly aid what you're doing - including simple playback.

HTH
-pk

>
> and PT10 with the latest patch
>
>
>
>
>
> "John King" <kingsx@xxxxxxxxxx> skrev i en meddelelse
> news:uknyf.4449$_S7.1244@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> RK wrote:
>>> Is it possible to use a PC for multitrack mix down? I have had
>>> (professionally) 24 analogue tracks converted to 24 wave tracks, to make
>>> a mix down (and perhaps adding a few DXi effects) in the convenience of
>>> my own home. But, I wind up having problems with stuttering, total
>>> pause, latency and the wish to get back in the old analogue environment.
>>> My PC is a pentium 4, 3.2GHz, 1GB ram which, according to many should be
>>> adequate.
>>
>>
>> As previously stated: So many questions...
>>
>> Powertracks... Latest Version and patches?
>>
>> Sound Card ?
>>
>> Driver type?
>>
>> I *highly* recommend asking your questions on the
>> PowerTracks forum at the PGMusic site. They have folks
>> there that can answer about any question you have.
>> There are some *seriously* sharp people in that forum.
>>
>> Be prepared to give more complete info than you have
>> given here.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> John King
>
>


.

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