Please help, kind sirs....

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ape the Ghost
  • Start date Start date
A

Ape the Ghost

New member
Please excuse my ignorance...I am an artist not a techie...

For many years I have been successfully recording using a 1997 Gateway running windows 98 and recording with Acid. I was getting great results but as you can imagine I had to employ many work arounds since the machine was slow to process and had only 6 gigs of hard drive.

So, I just bought a Dell Inspiron 1525...I want to use it as my workstation. I don't need a bunch of fancy stuff..I just want to record like I did before.

On the Gateway I ran guitars and mic into a Boss BR 8, used it's effects and ran that straight into the line in. Worked great but after I'd recorded 6 tracks or so the machine couldn't process quick enough so mixing was an issue. No problem, I worked around it. My main gripe was that the slow processor wouldn't let me do complex mixing and that I had only 6 gigs so I basically had to complete a project, burn to disc and wipe the hard drive clean to start the next.

On my Dell, I have downloaded Audacity and have begun to experiment with recording using a simlilar set up but am experiencing the most frustrating latency. I cannot record multitracks because the latency is impossible to work with.

I borrowed a friend's Line 6 ux2 and the latency is even worse. I have tried to install Asio but it downloads to my machine but then I don't know how to employ it.

I am seeking ANY advice on how to get back to most simple multi track recording possible. How can I get my latency issue fixed?
there are so many directions to research and I'm just lost...I'm really searching for the simplest route. Please help..I know I am asking a lot...but really I just need some gentle prodding in the right direction from some kind soul.

Thank you in advance.
 
Is it with firewire? Cuz I don't get any latency problems with it
 
Oh thank you for replying.
No...the Line 6 thing is USB....the Boss br-8 is just running rca from the Boss into the 1/8th inch line in.

I just downloaded the trial version of Cakewalk Sonar 7 and am trying that out...seems pretty complicated though....ugh.
 
Ape,
Using the Boss through your onboard soundcard is a big no-no.
I'm not sure if the Line 6 can act as an audio interface - if not, you hsould really get one. Doens't have to be fancy, but will be miles better than your onboard soundcard.
Asio4all should work without any problems - their website/wiki has all the details. You can adjust the latency/buffering once you get it working.

Also, you may want to use hardware monitoring for guitars and vocals.

Update any drivers (e.g. Line 6).

Read Tweakheadz Guide.

Use Google.

Have fun!

-Rich
 
Rich,
thanks for the reply..I'm beginning to think I am beyond help.
The line 6 is an audio interface, I updated all the drivers for it.
I have tried all of the options you suggested...asio4all...google...tweakheadz..etc.

I'm college educated you know...I'm not an idiot but I just can't seem to get anything to work.
 
As Rich said you really need to get a Good audio interface (preferably Firewire) or get a PCI based setup to run your Boss into.

As far as ASIO goes, once you install it, just open up it's control panel and select the audio card or device you want to use and go from there.
 
I am truly grateful for all of the quick replies, thanks guys.
I guess i was hoping to just plug and play and I'm frustrated by the whole process...I'm going to try the asio again and settle on a different interface.

Ugh.
 
The ASIO will at least help for now with the best latency settings for your plug and play method.
 
stupid question...how do I open up the asio's control panel?
 
depending on where you installed it to you'll look for "ASIO4ALL off-line settings"

I get to mine from Start--->programs--->ASIO4ALL--->
 
thx...I didn't check the box for offline settings the 1st time I installed it...
I'm sure I'll be back with more questions...you have been very helpful.
 
Update!

So I got Acid Studio 7 working....awesome.
But when I plug my Line 6 Tone port in Acid just locks up.
WTF?

I know you said it was a no-no but I also tried running a mic into my BR-8 and rca's out into the 1/8 inch mic/line in....sounds just fine to me when I record but..I can't get it to monitor the track back out to the headphones while I'm playing/recording.

Any Acid guys out there? WHAT AM I MISSING?
 
Not familiar with Acid so hopefully someone will chime in.
 
I've used Audacity a lot and early on discovered the latency issues. The way I got around them was by using powered monitors. Reduce (lower) the playback volume (in Audacity) and turn up the monitors. I know this sounds ridiculiously simple but it really helps. Another thing with Audacity is to keep tracks as short as possible, beyond about 4 minutes tracks tend to get out of sync with themselves, almost like tape drag on cassette machines. I can't say if these are Audacity issues or if they are with the stock soundcard, I tend to think mostly soundcard, stock cards just can't keep up with all the data going in and the data going out at the same time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top