Audio Jitter during analog recording

  • Thread starter Thread starter LarryS
  • Start date Start date
L

LarryS

New member
I have been trying to record old reel to reel tapes to CD. When I create a .WAV file on disk using either the Creative Wave Studio or the Spin Doctor from Adaptec I get what someone called audio jitter. Some of the web documents seem to suggest that it is actually happening during playback, but Wave Studio seems to show it is physically in the file. There seems to be nothing about it on the Creative Labs web pages and only a single technical paper in this BBS which I also found searching. What can I do to eliminate the jitter (and what causes it?
 
Well if no one will talk to me maybe it's that I haven't given enough information.

1. I am recording from a TEAC a-6300 (told you they are old recordings)
2. into an old (extra) yamaha r-900 receiver.
3. using the record out from the receiver to a SB128 line in.
4. Computer is an AMD k2 450 on a GA-5ax motherboard

When I record using (Spin Doctor, or Wave Studio) I find a hicup in the recording, when it goes to disk, sort of like Max Headroom but to a much lesser degree (perhaps 4 times during a 3 minute recording). I found some information that describes the problem as audio jitter which is caused by timing considerations during the recordings. The stuff I read said that it is a function of playback. But when I play it back using the Wave Studio, the jitter is in the recording. I have tried to stop all unnecessary tasks, defraged the harddrive, checked the connections, etc. to try to speed up the computer.

So the question is; will a faster cpu, sound card or industrial strength software solve my problem. Where is it comming from and how do I stop it, Greatful Dead pirate tapes need to go to CD. Any help or reference to something or somebody will help

My real
 
My real problem is how can I get the stuff I've got from reel2reel to CD if I get extra jitter, its old enough as it is. My poor worn out Greatful Dead, Moby Grape and other unobtainable music is about to die along with the reel2reel.

[This message has been edited by LarryS (edited 05-01-2000).]
 
Have you ruled out that the jitter is not caused by the old tape deck malfunctioning?
Or dropouts on the tape?
 
Thanks for asking. The tape recorder seems to do just fine when recording to cassette. The sound going in to the SB128 although not real clean does not contain any noticable jutter. I'm wondering if it is the speed of the soundcard or if Win98se is getting in the way. I've tried to remove all extra tasks and deamons which seems to help. It gets down to where is the jitter comming from and which part gets upgraded/fixed
 
A few things that may be worth trying if you havn't already. Update your sound card drivers to the newest version, update your current directx if not already.

Also, maybe try a different audio editor, I've never tried either of the ones you mention.

Here is a link to some demo's and shareware recorders.
http://www.harmonycentral.com/Software/Windows/audio_editing.html

Also, you say you have removed all extra tasks etc. Have you ctrl-alt-deleted and closed everything but explorer and systray (before launching your recording software)and have no screensavers activated?


[This message has been edited by Emeric (edited 05-02-2000).]
 
Also make sure you don't have any virus scan software active. They are known for causing wierd things to happen at the wrong time.
 
Thanks for your comments! things are getting better! one question about hardware, is the soundcard (sb128) fast enough to work well. I was pricing some of the programs and they seem to be more than my soundcard, any suggestions for audio only transfer (no midi, soundmachine etc.)

[This message has been edited by LarryS (edited 05-03-2000).]
 
Have you figured this out, and is it working now? Fast doesn't really apply to sound cards, more a function of the rest of your system. Your current hardware should have no problem recording 2 tracks at a time. There are lots of cards out there, but get this one working first. Because it should, any other card may just do the same thing.
 
Thanks for all the help. I found the problem to be that the Western Digital code used to do access large disks was out of date and win98 placed the drive in real mode which slowed down the read/write to the disk. After removing the the OnTrack, (the new CMOS can handle the bigger drive geometry) I was able to record with everything running and no jitter. The next think is an editor Cool Edit looks good and so does Gold Wave. Thanks again for your support.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by LarryS:
...I found the problem to be that the Western Digital code used to do access large disks was out of date and win98 placed the drive in real mode which slowed down the read/write to the disk. After removing the the OnTrack, (the new CMOS can handle the bigger drive geometry) I was able to record with everything running and no jitter.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
I am having a similiar problem. How did you confirm your hard drive code was out of date? Controller code? What is Ontrack? What is real mode?
Thanks,
BruceB
 
sorry that I didn't get back sooner since the problem was fixed I hadn't looked back at the thread.

go to the control panel in the settings folder. Select the system icon. find the hard drive and select it. if there is a problem with the drive then it will displayed there. if no problem it will also state it. the code that is out of date is the driver from Western digital that allows the harddrive to be larger than 2 gb. you need the newest driver so that win98 can run in protected mode. Western has a bunch of info on their domain. also when you record turn everything including the screen saver off. see one of the replys above. hope this helps
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top