multiple sound card issues

[F1ng3r5tyl3]

I have two sound cards installed on my computer: an AWE 64 and an AWE 16. I have found that, with my cards, recordings come out much MUCH cleaner and crisper when I'm not recording and playing back sound on the same card at the same time. So this is why I have two cards installed. I can playback on one, while recording on the other, and the recordings come out...well... crappy. The sound quality is good for each track, but there's one little problem: The tracks aren't in sync with each other. They start in sync, but then gradually go out of sync. By the end of a song about 2 minutes long, the two tracks are off by about an 8th note. So one card is working slighty slower than the other or something. I dont quite understand how this happens because the pitches are the same in each track. The program I'm using to mix and record tracks is called Internet Audio MIx. I've tried adjusting settings in that program, as well as those for my cards in the Windows Control Panel, but I cant find a solution. Is my situation hopeless? Will I have to resort back to recording and playing back on the same card simultaneously, and accept all the noise that it creates? If you have any advice, it'd be greatly appreciated.

 

[Dragon]

This should be in the FAQ by now, but if you have 2 sound cards you cannot sync them unless they have external sync inputs, which no card under $300 will have. So you can't just drop two SoundBlasters into a computer and record 4 tracks at a time.

The reason for your quality problem is that you're using SoundBlaster cards in the first place. Good sound cards don't do what you're describing!

I can't comment on your software because even I've never heard of it. Try n-track instead.

 

[F1ng3r5tyl3]

Well, I guess you're right about synching my cards. I did, however, figure out how to get the recording quality better while recording and playing simultaneously on the same card. It turns out the AWE 64 cant record and playback in 16 bits simultaneously. So I was actually recording in 8 bits, though it didnt occur to me that it was the case, since my software didnt let me know. By setting the playback to 8 bits when I'm recording I have eliminated the problem.