Laptop Issues...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Atom Bomb
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Atom Bomb

Atom Bomb

Wtf is a PRS
So hey.

I have been spending alot of time tweaking my stupid effin laptop. Casue after the holidays i need to crack down and get serious about getting some new material together and recorded.

I have one issue that has plagued me even after all my tweaks?

I find im still getting little lags and millisecond dropouts if i try and record anything longer then say 2 mins for arguments sake. Some folks have suggested looping guitar tracks, but i dont like doing that. It just doesnt feel right.

So. anyways.

i have an HPZD8000 XP SP2 Media Centre Edition.
1GB RAM.
3.14ghz Intel CPU
Just switched to Reaper
M-Audio Fast Track USB.

I have a majority of the services turned off. Did alot of the XP tweaks outlined at sweetwater.com My virus software and stuff are all turned off and disabled thru the task manager i turn off my wireless connection, and all that interntish stuff so its not running before i start recording.

But im still getting lame and extremly frustrating drop outs here and there.

Im thinking it may have alot to do with that cursed fast track USB. and the ram. I have to upgrade the ram for sure anyways. i beleive ihave the latency on the m-audio control panel set to 512. Would i have better luck with making that number bigger or smaller. I dont do any live monitoring while i record. I mute all tracks and just listen to drums tracks. Even if i have mulitple guitars or vox etc. I usually tend to mute the track im recording for extra measure.

In my opinion i got it down as bare bones as i can get it. I may stand corrected.

Would the fans kicking in during the recording contribute to anything? I think there may still be some weird background service kicking in momentarily that eats alot of CPU too. So i may need ot get educated there as well.

GRRR.

Suggestions.
 
Problem most likely is related to latency and buffer size. 512 should be enough, but on a slower computer, you may still need more. Set the buffer higher and use direct monitoring.

I assume you are using ASIo drivers?
 
No. No asio drivers. Not supported with the Fast Track USB i have come to find out.

By buffer size do you mean to move that slider thing in the MAUDIO control panel to a higher number greater then 512? Or set the buffer size to a different number with in Reaper?
 
yes, larger buffer on m-audio control panel. I don't use reaper, but in the audio setup section of Reaper, you may have to make sure the buffer you set on the m-audio control panel matches.

I was just looking at the m-audio website, and they do have ASIO drivers for XP but not sure about media centre edition. You may want to ask support what ASIO driver to use with media centre edition. (if you haven't already)
 
1. Very few companies manufacturing audio gear support Windows Media Center edition. (M-audio does not officially support it) the extra coding on top of basic XP can cause a lot of driver problems apparently

2. The M-audio Fastrack Drivers are ASIO drivers

3. smaller buffer means less latency but *Can* mean more dropouts if the computer is not up to the job

4. depending on the setup of the lap top fans kicking on *could* cause audible clicks in the recording


generally speaking with the exception of Mac books and purpose made audio laptops your average big name brand laptop is not designed for audio production. The biggest factor in this is the coding in the BIOS and the resuting poor resource allocation which leads to lots of compatability issues and pops clicks and dropouts if you can get it to work

Some people get lucky or do tons of research and trial and error to get a workable system. Others get unlucky and struggle continously with the machine
 
Weird.

I cant utilize the asio drivers for some reason? I only have the choice of the WDM drivers. I'll have to investigate this further tonight if possible.
 
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