Audio Latency (And hello)

[ItsMikeontheMic]

Hey guys I just joined the forum and I'm excited to learn a lot through you other guys here

Now my issue right now. I don't have a professional setup. Just a USB mic (Terrible, I know), Adobe Audition 3.0, and a laptop.

I have the intrumental all laid out, good to go. I record, I'm on point and it sounds good. I play it back, and it is totally out of sync. My vocals are preceding the instrumental by a fraction of a second and it is absolutely frustrating because it has never done this before.

I'm recording on a Samson C01U (USB...terrible I know)
Audition 3.0 Windows Sound (Also terrible, I know...but whenever I try ASIO it crashes when I attempt to record. I gave up on trying.)
Asus laptop (K72JR-XN1)

I've got a feeling that it's because my mic is USB based and my sound isn't set to ASIO. But what sucks about that is that it has NEVER been out of sync like this before. When I plugged it in today I did have to get the computer "Edit Hardware" to check the mic in as input. I thought for a bit that I put it in an unusual USB slot, but then I tried with the one I normally used, I also had to go to "Edit Hardware" and it was still out of sync.

Any ideas? Buying a new mic isn't exactly in the budget right now. If you want to recommend one, feel free. I'll be happy to invest in the future. But I need to record NOW and at lease a temporary solution would be great.

Thank you guys so much,

Mike

 

[Richie2708]

Right, unless your using windows 7, and Adobe Auditon 3.0 supports wave RT, then I don't think your going to get the latency you need through a usb Mic.

Things can stop functioning properly at any time on PC's. It's then hard to tell if its software related, hardware related, or simply a virus. This is why most small studios use external sound cards (Audio Interfaces) It takes some of the problem out of the unpredictable box that is your PC. Plus most people that rely on the computer a lot for music advise you to only use it for that, and to remove everything else that's on it.

The hard truth of the matter is the things that will help are as follows.

1.An audio interface and an XLR mic. (This takes all the processing strain away from the pc. (unless you have effects on the armed channel and you are monitoring the channel as you record)

2.A faster computer. (Bit overkill for what your doing)

3.ASIO drivers (However, I can't guarantee that this will eliminate the latency enough, plus your saying they crash your system)

Other things you can do, not as a solution, but more as a work around, is to simply realign the vocal after recording with the instrumental track.

Another thing I don't understand is you said that the vocals are preceding the instrumental. As apposed to coming in late (Latency).

If I were you. I would get used to realigning the track for now, whilst saving for option 1 that I suggested.

Sorry I can't be of more help.

 

[ItsMikeontheMic]

Yeah I feel that #1 might be the biggest thing.

Hopefully, it was just a one time thing. Like I didn't know my comp was using a bunch of RAM at the time or something. If not, hopefully I can get away with just realigning. It was just weird because it has never happened before. Maybe I could even reinstall the program if anything.

Thanks Richie!

EDIT: PS...you have any ideas for a good and affordable microphone and audio interface? I'm just using it for vocals at the moment.

 

[bouldersoundguy]

Latency only refers to the delay in monitoring an input. If the tracks are misaligned then it's a different problem. In Sony Vegas it's called "record offset" but different software has different names. There's usually a control for it somewhere.