Dropouts when recording

  • Thread starter Thread starter TripleM
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TripleM

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I use Sonar. Over the last week I've started having dropouts when I record. There's no pattern to it. It can happen 5 seconds after I start recording, or I can get through a 4 minute song. I haven't installed anything new in a long time - hardware or software. Whenever it was, it was well before the dropouts started. Playback is always fine.

I de-fragmented my disk, thinking it was possible that the computer was having trouble writing out WAV files. It didn't help. There is plenty of free disk space. The computer is pretty old though - probably 2004 or so.

Any ideas?
 
I don't wish to be a dick, but it is likely your computer that is failing you.

The fact that you have intermittent issues, leads me to think that you have some program trying to run, in the background. Could be anything. Anti virus software updating or even a device hooked up to your computer, that is looking for something. Problems like these are only figured out, by disconnecting/disabling things until you find what is causing the issue.

I have had issues like this, even with a balls out PC, that was built only to record audio. It ended up being a defective $30 KVM switch, that I used to share a video monitor. It just a long process of removing whatever, until you find whatever it is, that causes whatever. Then reinstall whatever, until you figure out which whatever was causing...... guess?........whatever.

Start with the obvious culprits (internal software updates, USB port connection, setup of computer for performance, etc...)

Then whittle it down, in a consecutive order, until you find the cause of the issue. Not gonna be a 5 second fix, unless you have angels singing above you. And a halo. If you see them tho, send them my way. :)
 
Also, a precise description of your setup, will help a bunch man.
 
jimmys69 said:
I don't wish to be a dick,
Click to expand...

but yet.......Never mind. :p

OP, if it's a write speed issue you should be able to find out pretty easily.
Bring up your task manager and look at the stats for disk IO. If it's topping out or going red or whatever, that could be the issue.

If you're writing to the system disk then a separate audio drive would definitely be recommended, whether internal or external.
It's a good idea even if it has nothing to do with this issue.

If it's not that then, yeah, your computer could just be struggling to cope or maybe there's something causing a conflict.
Jim's right; If it goes down that road then make sure all your drivers + DAW software are up to date, remove any unnecessary peripherals, kill any unnecessary programs and network connections etc.....
Just one big massive process of elimination.

You don't say what interface you have, but if it's USB, try a different port.
Avoid hubs or front ports.
Same goes for firewire.

I'd put my five bucks on writing to the system disk being the issue, though.
 
You down to 5 bucks? Man, move to Colorado. I'd give you a $15 per hour job. :)
 
Thanks for the responses....

I don't have a complete list of all the HW specs. My "interface" is an M-audio Delta 44 card, which has been working for a long time. It's a WinXP machine with 2GB of RAM. Single core Pentium. Now before anyone says I need a higher powered machine - it's been working for years.

The computer isn't hooked up to the internet. One thing I did that I forgot to mention was that I brought up task mgr and got rid of every process that didn't look like a system process. Didn't help.

I'll take a look at Disk IO. I haven't done that.
 
TripleM said:
Thanks for the responses....

I don't have a complete list of all the HW specs. My "interface" is an M-audio Delta 44 card, which has been working for a long time. It's a WinXP machine with 2GB of RAM. Single core Pentium. Now before anyone says I need a higher powered machine - it's been working for years.

The computer isn't hooked up to the internet. One thing I did that I forgot to mention was that I brought up task mgr and got rid of every process that didn't look like a system process. Didn't help.

I'll take a look at Disk IO. I haven't done that.
Click to expand...

I am sure that you have had good experience so far with your setup. It is times like these, that you may realize that it is time to upgrade a bit. You are working with minimum system specs, to even run a DAW.

Still, look into what has changed, and why your stuff is freakin out. I could be something simple. Usually is.
 
OK I'll keep looking. I know the PC is small by today's standards. But something had to change to start the dropouts.

Meanwhile, I complete tracks by punching in from the point of the dropout. Oh well.
 
jimmys69 said:
You down to 5 bucks? Man, move to Colorado. I'd give you a $15 per hour job. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer, but I'd only gamble it away on forum speculation.

TripleM said:
I'll take a look at Disk IO. I haven't done that.
Click to expand...

I definitely would.

TripleM said:
OK I'll keep looking. I know the PC is small by today's standards. But something had to change to start the dropouts.
Click to expand...

You're right. If it did work fine and nothing obvious has changed, then something behind the scenes has changed.
Could be dying hardware. Hard drive maybe.... Memtest would be worth a go too.
Either that or your sessions are just more intense than before.
 
A few of things with XP, first (just sayin') hopefully you reboot every so often. XP has memory leaks.

Second, check to look at your disk space. If it is getting up there 80% plus, then virtual disk, write speeds, etc. start to have issues. Time to move old projects to another home.

Third, really, really important on an XP machine, defrag and do a disk check. These machines need defragging a lot when doing a lot read and write. Double so if it is FAT32 format. But even the NTSB was susceptible to fragmentation issues.

These are the easiest to check. I can't say these will help, but I know they are easy and won't hurt.
 
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jimmys69 said:
I don't wish to be a dick, but it is likely your computer that is failing you.

I have had issues like this, even with a balls out PC, that was built only to record audio. It ended up being a defective $30 KVM switch, that I used to share a video monitor. It just a long process of removing whatever, until you find whatever it is, that causes whatever. Then reinstall whatever, until you figure out which whatever was causing...... guess?........whatever.
Click to expand...

I don't wish to be a dick, either, but sometimes I just spontaneously go bald on top and sprout hair from my feet. Didn't you once tell me you had flawless performance from your PC?
 
Doctor Varney said:
I don't wish to be a dick, either, but sometimes I just spontaneously go bald on top and sprout hair from my feet. Didn't you once tell me you had flawless performance from your PC?
Click to expand...

Yeah Mr. Doctor. Did you read the post? It was a monitor switching device, that I stupidly used, to share a monitor with my internet PC. PC is still flawless, and you are still acting like a dick. :D
 
Hahaha! Someone get me a bucket of cold water... :D
 
No, Jimmy I didn't read your post. I just selectively picked out what happens to fit with my primitive beliefs.

jimmys69 said:
Then whittle it down, in a consecutive order, until you find the cause of the issue. Not gonna be a 5 second fix, unless you have angels singing above you. And a halo. If you see them tho, send them my way. :)
Click to expand...
 
Did you find find the cause of the problem Trip?

I have a very similar set up to you. P4, 2.56kHz single core, 4GB RAM. The last time I had drop outs with Reaper I went through everything I could think of to solve it. In the end, I formatted with a fresh install of XP and all my software, plugs, etc and it was and has been fine since.

That gave me the opportunity to get rid of a load of the stuff installed i never used or needed and a good clean set up. Might be worth thinking about. I know it's a massive ballache but worth it in the long run.

Hope you got/get it sorted. :thumbs up:
 
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