help with recording to pc

[wez]

Hi all....just received my new soundcard so i can record my own mixes on mi comp,but theres a problem.ive been testing it and when i playback whatever ive recorded theres crackling noises every thew seconds,anyone know what this is?,im new to all this so mybe im doing something wrong....im running it through soundforge....im also not sure wich connection it goes into in the back of my mixer,when i put it in one,it plays back but i cant allter the volume through the mixer,the other just desables my crossfader and both channel sliders,and if i put it through my amp socket(were my amps pluged in)i can control the volume on soundforge but not the main volume whats coming through my amp..

hope this makes sense,anyone help

[Barely Human]

Is this a laptop by any chance?

[wez]

no mate its not a lap top...

cheers

[Mirsha]

On my mixer I've used my master output sockets to plug it into the pc without any problems, I've got a seperate volume control for the monitors which I use so it's not a problem.

Make sure that in the sound control panel (windows -> run -> sndvol32) in the advanced options you've switched to recording and you have the line in input selected.

Anyway the noise could be coming from a loose connnection, make sure all the plugs are firmly seated in their sockets. Make sure as well your decks as grounded on the mixer as well, though if this was the case you would probably hear the noise in the mix.

[wez]

thanks for that mate....do i need certain phono leads or can i use any..

[wez]

ive tryed all that but still the same....it sort of crackles n stutters if ya know what i mean

[Mirsha]

The lead I use it a typical 2:1 with line plugs since thats where I'm taking the output from on my mixer.

Oh one other thing that just popped into my head as I used to have a similair problem as this, was that my pc was just too slow to record all the sound which would always lead to artifacting the sound. If you've just upgraded though I could be barking up the wrong tree but have you reinstaleld the latest sound drivers for your new card? Using incorrect ones could bugger it up for you.

What sort of spec is your PC?

[wez]

ok,this could be it..ive got a v low spec as mi comps nocking on abit..but it says in the manual that my comp spec is ok....am i buggered then? :cry:

[Mirsha]

I used to be able to record stuff on my old shitty pc until one night it crashed then I lost all sound and had to reinstall my sound drivers at which point it became impossible to record sound until last month when I got a new all singing and dancing pc.

Try playing a mp3 in winamp and recording it, if you get the same problem it's likely either a problem with your pc specs or it could be you are picking up static from somewhere. Make sure when you record from your media player to disable the sound recording in the sound control panel to make sure that you aren't picking up noise frmo any external devices plugged in. If you can record from a playing mp3 fine but not from the line in then the problem lies somewhere in your equipment.

[wez]

ok mate really appreciate the help ;)

[wez]

ive just checked the manual at troubleshooting and it says it could be a thew things(didnt see this when i checked the 1st time )..the one ive tryed says ive to go to my disk drive,proporties etc and tick the DMA box and apply, soon as i did this it works fine..dont know what the disk drive as to do with the sound playback.but my comp is nocking on abit,and the its a low spec system,mybe this is why....all is well now tho ;)

cheers for the help

[Barely Human]

The dma setting is a faster protocol for harddrives to run on. If you didnt have this switched on, then its likely that your harddrive couldnt keep up with the amount of data getting bumped onto it, hence you get all the skips from when its buffered ;)

[Dave Elyzium]

is it crackling or is the sound actually cutting up and skipping on playback??? what hard drive have you got? it could be the harddrive speed also wack teh buffers up in soundforge mate

[wez]

its a bit of both mate,only a shitty 5 gb hard drive (i think)..like iq said,my h drives not fast enough hence the stuttering etc..works fine now ive changed the dma...i must seriously upgrade my comp...

anyway thanks guys for the help....

[Dave Elyzium]

its a bit of both mate,only a shitty 5 gb hard drive (i think)..like iq said,my h drives not fast enough hence the stuttering etc..works fine now ive changed the dma...i must seriously upgrade my comp...

anyway thanks guys for the help....

sorry mate i didnt read through teh responses properly before I chirped in! :) yeah man my PC is probably an old friend of yours from the war..i need an upgrade badly...good job my birthday is rond the corner.....one opiece of hardware from each of you..thanks!

[DJTrubass]

its a bit of both mate,only a shitty 5 gb hard drive (i think)..like iq said,my h drives not fast enough hence the stuttering etc..works fine now ive changed the dma...i must seriously upgrade my comp...

anyway thanks guys for the help....

5gb harddrive, upgrade your pc m8, i try to leave about 3 gig space on each drive to let it run nicley

[Agent 24]

I had various issues with crackling and static when I was using my laptop for production. It seems ok now as I've done lots to it:

- delete files to free up memory
-don't have too many programs on at once
-unplug all non essential USB devices and pluginswhen recording/playing back (eg wireless mouse and PCMCIA card)
-change the power options, as power saving modes can affect sound recording and playback
-regularly update drivers, especially soundcard drivers (if you have them)