Multitrack Problem

[EmHalavac]

I have cool Edit Pro(2 I think) and I have a problem when I record in Multitrack View. I put the instrumental on the Multitrack, and then press R on the second block. I record my verse/whatever, and when I press the Record button to stop the Recording, the sound that was recorded somehow get shorter. When I press play to see how it sounds, the voice doesnt go with the beat. It is off for some reason. (My computer is a Pentium3 600Mhz, it has a generic sound card.) Can anyone help me solve this problem???

[thajeremy]

does the newly recorded track seem to be faster (like the chipmunks) or slower (like a dragging tape) than the instrumental?

[manning1]

em. sounds like your getting latency. ie: tracks not lining up.
also - when finished recording a track you should press STOP , not record again. i suggest you look at a better sound card possibly.
also - be aware cool needs quite a bit of memory.
i would suggest 512 mb.
if you download diskbench from prorec.com and run it on your drive and post results i'll help interpret for you.
if you have the budget you might want to consider a computer upgrade
some time.
amd semprons are around 450 bucks.

[EmHalavac]

"does the newly recorded track seem to be faster (like the chipmunks) or slower (like a dragging tape) than the instrumental?"

yes thats what happens. I think the recording shortens down and that results in the lines(blocks) not lining up correctly. I have enough memory(at least I think). I upgraded to 512 a couple of months ago. And yes I need to get a new soundcard but dont really want to spend that much money. somewhere around 100$ or so. I cant really send much on this. Is there any way to solve the latency problem?
I've been experimenting with the (Options>Device Properties) menu. What should I have for "Wave Out" because when I scroll down I can choose from Wave Mapper and YAMAHA AC XG WDM Audio. Then when I go to "Wave In" I can seen there there is also a scroll down menu, so should I choose the microphone for this one? And then in the "wave in" menu there is the "Multitack Latency" option.
Is there any way to know what number I should pur under the "Multitrack Latency" option so that the recording matches with the instrumental?

[EmHalavac]

And one more thing, sometimes the recording at the beginning starts to line up with the instrumental correctly, and then after a couple of seconds if goes off. It was all lining up correctly with the instrumental for a couple of seconds and then when the beat changed in the inst. the recording started to go off the line.

[thajeremy]

Manning...im wondering if this problem could be that his instrumental may be at say 44.1 and maybe his new track may be say 48000 or higher. Do you know if that is possible to have 2 different sample rates in one session?

[thajeremy]

try putting your instrumental into the edit view and look along the bottom of the window. If you have taken this track from a CD, it should say something like 44100 16-bit.

now...insert your vocal track, or whatever you are recording, make sure it also says 44100 16-bit. if these 2 values arent the same, then that is your problem. when you record your new track, you need to make sure that you use the same sample rate as the instrumental track.

[lpdeluxe]

Don't forget to go to Options/Settings and tell Cool Edit Pro to synch up recording and playback. This is important if you're not synching to a wordclock.

[manning1]

good point jeremy. yes - for christs sake dont mix tracks with different sampling rates and bit depths.
so if your recording at 44.1 16 bit then all tracks should be 44.1/16 .
or if your 48/16 then all tracks should be.
itb would help to know his sound card brand. sounds like yamaha. i suspect also there are a number of sound card issues.
try in wave in - WDM if it exists and wave out WDM as well.
see if that helps.
peace.

[EmHalavac]

I tried everything but still does go with the beat. Is there anyway to default the whole Cool Edit Pro program? If I default it, will everything go back to normal and maybe there wont be this problem again??? Did any of you have this problem, and if yes, how did you solve it?

If I reinstall it and it still has the same problem then that would suck. How could've they made a program which doesnt work correctly. Or maybe its just my computer I DUNNO. But should I try reinstallin the program, will that help?

[manning1]

em. post your computer confign IN FULL.
processor. amount of memory, drives...etc so i can diagnose. i'm going into a session now. will check back tomorrow.

[EmHalavac]

Aight, here(all the info I can find):
Comp name: SONY VAIO
Operation System: Win 98
Processor: Penium III, 650 Mhz
Memory: 254MB RAM(my bad on what I said, I thought I had 512MB, because sometime when I turn on my comp it has info and says I have 500 something MB. Guess that was a diff. thing.
Page File: 149MB used, 1644 MB Available
DirectX Version: DirectX 7.0

Now for SOUND:
Name: YAMAHA AC XG(my dash key ain't workin on the keyboard) WDM Audio
Device ID: PCI/VEN 8086DEV 2415SUBSYS 80A41
Manuf. ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM

DRIVER
Name: yacxg.sys
Version: 5.12.01.2123(English)
Certified: Yes
Other files: yacxg.sys
Provider: YAMAHA Corp.

Hardware Sound Accel. Level: Full Acceleration

Now when I press "Music" on dxdiag, it says on the bottom "Problems were found in the system registry. Details are available in the saved text file. You sould reinstall DirectX."
Well...should I reinstall DirectX, maybe thats the problem?? If I need to reinstall it, then how do I do that?

Thats as much as I can give you.

[EmHalavac]

I have 2 hard drives by the way. One has plenty of space(12 GB), cuz I upgraded my comp with a new harddrives.

[thajeremy]

i hope you mean 120 GB....12 GB won't get you very far when recording.

go here and get the latest version of DirectX : http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/default.aspx

I dont wanna step on any toes here...i know Manning knows his shit when it comes to computers, so go by what he says, but id say with the exception of your low RAM and onboard sound card, your computer should be fine for recording. I used a P3 650 mhz for a while and as long as I was recording at 44.1, I could easily do 20 tracks...i never tried much more than that but im sure i could have done a few more. It got really tough getting even 6 tracks at 96000. Now im on a P4 3.4 ghz. Dont know exactly what I can do with that. I think im up to as much as 39 tracks now...but could EASILY do more...

[EmHalavac]

When I run the setup for Directx9, there comes a window saying it cant download. I'm getting DSL in 2 or 3 days so maybe I'll wait to download this then. I probably need the newest version of DirectX... maybe then it will work fine..I hope. When I download directx, and still have problems in a couple of days i'll come back for more help then.

[thajeremy]

i may have DirectX 8 on floppy somewhere...ill look and if i do, you can try to upgrade to that and then to 9.

[thajeremy]

see if you can install it from my server...this is DirectX9

http://webpages.charter.net/caoboy/DirectX/

let me know if this helps...

[manning1]

em. sadly ive got to be brutally frank. there have been some problems with VAIO in the past. it seems like some other manufacturers there is
custom engineering stuff done inside those systems. for next time you buy a pc , make sure its a "CLONE WHITE BOX' ie...its open clone standards.
you have several problems with that system. the soundcard for one and the lack of memory. i'll say it again - cool edit in particular like LOTS OF MEMORY from my experience.
now i dont want to cause you worries , and cool is a very fine program ,
but one program i use seems to run well on underpowered systems with poor sound cards and no latency. in fact ive got 20 tracks out of it on systems way worse than yours when helping friends with terrible pc's and terrible old laptops. if you dont want the expense of upgrading your system i highly suggest you try the demo of magix music studio from magix.de. its
the only program ive found that seems to run on any terrible computer confign i throw at it. and is one reason i respect its programmers highly - as i'm a computer engineer - thats quite an accomplishment. anyway give it a try with the demo and tell me if your problems disappear.
i'm trying to help really , but theres no glossing over the fact VAIO's
have been known to have issues.
peace and hope ive helped.

[EmHalavac]

thax for all of you for help. I'm downloadin the magix music maker demo, hopefully that will work out better. I still need to upgrade the DirectX. I will buy a new comp as soon as I get the money, something good. But for now, I'll try this magix music maker and if it works, I'll just mess around with it till I get a better computer.

[manning1]

EM. NO !! you want magix MUSIC STUDIO not music maker.
music studio is better imho. but try both if you wish.
peace. and tell me how it all works out.

[manning1]

one thing i forgot em. if music studio works out - remember you can still use cools range of effects (music studio has vnice ones as well) by exporting from studio and importing to coll then exporting back to studio etc.
also - have done a mixdown in studio you could import into cool
to do mastering if you wish. so - what i'm saying in esssence is the two programs together could give you an infinite number of effects and mastering options. check out the mixer in music studio ...its
absolutely great. also the clip editing. also music studio makes it very easy to line different tracks up.
all the best. tell me how it works out.

[EmHalavac]

I couldnt find the file to download the Music Studio, so I'm downloading the file "audio studio demo usa" is that the same thing or no? Also how is the demo, does it let you multitrack and save?

[manning1]

maybe they changed the name of it. audio studio is what i use.
the way to tell if you have the same as me is after installation
you should see a display of tracks with track numbers and pan and volume and metering going down the left side in fancy colours.
also if you look in windows temp you should see a folder labelled samplitude.
i dont think the demo lets you save. you can sometimes find it discounted for 70 bucks if you search around. if you get the main screen up ok. tell me , because there are some tricks to setting up mono and stereo tracks to be aware of. also up in the menus you MUST tell it which soundcard drivers to use like any multitrack software. also THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT ,
there is a recording dialogue. YOU MUST tick the box that says something like playback previously recorded tracks (with the current one your recording). if you have the right demo , if you go into the mixer view ,
and right click over an eq knob , up will come a display for a very nice parametric eq, and you will see "Q" settings. tell me if you see "Q"
settings. if you do - then you have the same as i do.
peace.