Static While Recording

[Chonchko]

Alright guys, I'm getting a little frustrated so posting here is a last ditch effort. I already searched these forums for people with similar problems, but I don't believe any of the responses applied to me, so here goes:

I record through a POD XT Live that's connected to my computer (HP Desktop, 6 GB RAM, Windows Vista) via a USB cable. I also attach an amp through the POD XT's output so I can hear what I'm recording. I use Acid Pro 7 as my recording software. I also use a Blue Snowball USB mic for vocals. Well yesterday, I recorded acoustic guitar through my Blue Snowball with absolutely no problems. Later on, I went to add some piano into it, so I plugged by keyboard into my POD XT...and now every time I go into Acid, I get a crackling static sound. When I go to plug my USB cable into my computer, I also get a sound in my amp similar to the sound when you plug an instrument cable into it, which never happened before. I used multiple USB cables, and got the same thing, so that's not the problem.

If I minimize Acid, the static goes away. If I play without Acid opened, and just into the amp, there's no static. From reading other posts, the problem sounds like it could be with a sound card, but this set-up has worked for me for the last five years...even just finished recording an album earlier this year using this exact same method. And recording works fine with my USB mic. Could there be another issue? I thought maybe from the sound when I plug in my USB cable, that it was some weird feedback, so I even moved my amp, and it STILL makes the sound. Maybe some settings on my Pod XT, or in Acid can fix it?

Sorry for the newbie question, but I'm at my wit's end, and just want some ideas of things to try. Thank you guys very much!

 

[MrWrenchey]

If it only happens with ACID open, it sounds like it's your buffer size. Increase the buffer size, then see if it fixes it.


Interfacing audio with Sony software

It looks like this page will tell you how to do that, if you don't already know how.

I suggest that if you haven't downloaded ASIO4ALL (assuming you aren't using ASIO drivers already through your POD or something), go ahead and do it, because it's probably going to be better than your current sound driver.

EDIT:

Didn't read the whole page before linking to it... But it looks like the buffer size setting will be under "Preferences" in ACID

 

[Chonchko]

Alright man, the buffer fix did not work (tried hundreds of combos and still the static), so I installed ASIO4ALL (I must say, that was a fix I read before and didn't do, so my bad), and set that as the Audio Default Type, replacing Windows Media Mapper. The good news: There's no static while recording. The bad news? There's no sound either. I can hear stuff already recorded, but I cannot record anything new as no sound comes out.

Is there something I need to do to get Acid to "recognize" the ASIO driver, or should it be working? My apologies again...even though I've been recording for a while, it's been with just this set-up, so when things go wrong, I have no idea how to troubleshoot them. Even searched the internet 'til I thought my brain would explode and that turned up nothing, so I really appreciate your time. Thank you!

Aaron

 

[MrWrenchey]

There should be a way to set up the ASIO driver as the default "playback engine" (not sure if that's the right terminology for ACID, I use Pro Tools). It would probably be under the preferences menu in ACID as well.

I'm not sure why you wouldn't be getting sound while recording anymore... It sounds like you're not using an actual audio interface, which that alone is usually bad juju when it comes to recording. Typically, you'd just select the audio interface you're using in the preferences and it makes the whole mess a lot easier, because the interface BECOMES your sound card.