What should I buy first?

flapo1

flapo1

New member
I have an AMD k62 running at 500 mhz, 64 megs RAM and a 5 Gb HD (I don't think it's a very fast one), with the crappy soundcard that usually comes with them, and am using the ntrack demo so far.

The problem is that when I try to record when playing back other track (even without plugins) the playback starts jumping and doing strange things. But when I play back even several tracks without trying to record, everything goes fine.

What should I buy first to stop that problem? a soundcard? more ram? Upgrade to a PIII?, a better HD? Well, I know someone is gonna tell me that everything, but I'd like to know what my weak link is.

Thank you.
 
Sounds like your sound card isn't fully duplex. That would be my first replacement. But first, what kind is it? Right click "My Computer" select properties, device manager, and then double click sound, video and game controllers. Hit cancel, not OK when you close that screen.
 
Flapo,

I noticed the same kind of thing when I first set up n-track. I read the help for the software and found a blurb that says to adjust the buffering (more and/or bigger buffers). You get to that through File -> Preferences - -> Buffering.

So far it seems to have solved that problem, but it has a side effect. It now takes a noticeably long period of time before I hear the effect of change on the mixer. For example, say I'm playing back or recording and I hit the solo button for a track. It can take anywhere from 5 - 10 seconds before I finally hear that track being solo'd. That hasn't hurt me yet, but it's just kind of annoying. The online manual describes this behavior.

I would like to try fiddling with the values to see if I can find a happy medium - I went to the extreme. But I just haven't done that yet since I haven't gotten much recording time lately.
 
Me again

Thanx guys for your answers.

Well, let me see...
My soundcard doesn't exactly have a brand, it came with the motherboard...?!, so I think it's not a good one at all. I tried to change it with a Yamaha some friend was trying to sell to me, but my system wouldn't recognize it because some kind of conflict (i think the two cards can't coexist peacefully).

On the other hand, i've tweaked the buffer control from one way to the other and I notice almost no improvement. Someone told me that the whole problem is because the card doesn't send information to the computer fast enough. Is that right? Or i need especifically a Pentium or more RAM?
 
If you've tweaked the buffers it sounds like a soundcard problem. Have you tweaked your OS? Have you fixed your Virtual Memory at 2* your RAM? Have you cleaned up your system tray and background programs (virus checkers, etc.)? Are you recording mono tracks instead of stereo?

MikeDog
 
This is not a highly technical solution, but I usually reboot before starting a recording session. The longer my PC has been up and the more applications I've used, the lower my available memory seems to get, even when I have none running. I've seen it go down to about 40% with nothing but Windows running.

Also, running Windows 98 doesn't help much either. :(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top