Pauses/stutters/skips in recording

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tonguy

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I am recording using Cakewalk 9 on my Toshiba Satellite laptop (Windows XP, 1 GHz Celeron, 512 Meg RAM), and am getting pauses/skips/ stutters in my audio tracks. I have 2 microphones (Røde NT-1A and Shure SM-57A) running through a Tascam US-122, which is connected to my Toshiba through a USB 2.0 PCMCIA card. The only other USB device connected to my laptop is my CD burner, which is connected through a USB 1.0 port on the back of the laptop. I terminate all other backround apps when I record (including Norton), and have disabled non-essential XP services as well.

Is my 1 Gig Celeron processor the culprit, and should I expect performance issues with "only" a Celeron? Is this a latency issue? I would prefer to not have to invest in new hardware. Does Cakewalk 9 need more muscle under-the hood than a Celeron processor? Are there other recording software packages that will work more reliably on a Celeron processor? I don't make much use of effects - I just want to be able to record and go.

Thanks in advance for the help/advice - let me know if I can provide any more information regarding my setup.

Tony
 
A 1 gig Celeron should be enough to run PA9 without problems. I blame the USB device.

Just one question, though: Have you tried connecting the US-122 directly to the computer (as in not through the PCMCIA card)? I thought the US-122 was a USB 1.0 device.
 
Is the stuttering in the recording itself, or is it just happening in playback?

My guess is the problem is with the USB sound card rather than the Celeron.
 
Hey,

I have a Toshiba Satellite 1.4 gig P4 mobile, with 512 mb ram. I cannot play things with really low latencies, when I use my built in card, but with my Layla, it's just fine. Since you have a USB device, have you tried raising the latency? Just curious.

I've never used any sort of usb device except for a small midi interface.

-Kirstin
 
kgirl72 said:
Since you have a USB device, have you tried raising the latency?
Click to expand...
Great tip, but not really applicable for PA9... ;)
 
Ahhh, did not realize/ remember.
-K.

Usually best to ignore me anyway.
 
I only noticed the stuttering in the playback.

The early winner may be...

Moskus, whose suggestion (plug my Tascam US-122 into one of my laptop's built-in USB 1.0 ports instead of using the "faster" PCMCIA-based USB 2.0) will be tried this evening. It may just be that built-in USB 1.0 handles audio better than PCMCIA-based USB 2.0. I only have to unplug/reconnect one component - that's my kind of "fix", assuming Windows XP "finds" my Tascam US-122 on the "new" USB 1.0 port.

We'll see...

I'm still open to suggestions, but I'm glad to read that Celerons can handle audio with PA9, although it's known that P4's have more muscle.

Tony
 
moskus said:
Great tip, but not really applicable for PA9... ;)
Click to expand...
... and why not??? :confused: PA9 has the same slider control and buffer settings for raising latency as does Sonar.
 
dachay2tnr said:
... and why not??? :confused: PA9 has the same slider control and buffer settings for raising latency as does Sonar.
Click to expand...
And did you notice any difference when you tweaked those settings? :rolleyes: ;)

:)
 
...And the winner is...

Moskus's suggestion did the trick. Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions. I recorded some stuff this morning, and the playback was continuous and pause/stutter/skip-free. Apparently, my laptop's built-in USB connection handles the audio stream from my Tascam US-122 just fine, regardless of it being "only" USB 1.0. Lesson learned. Love the Tascam, by the way. It is perfect for my 2-mike acoustic guitar recording needs.

The good news is that I am now enjoying pause/stutter/skip-free playback. The bad news is that my guitar-playing technical deficiencies come through in a crystal-clear and uninterrupted audio stream. Gotta figure out how to turn down the "Suck"...

Tony
 
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