PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production RealBand Recording Problems

Hi All,
Just recently learned that RealBand is a DAW and comes with BiaB. This is about all I know about it. To start with I want to explore replacing Audacity with RealBand for the purpose of recording my electric bass on top of MP3 audio files. The consensus at this forum is that RealBand is superior to Audacity.

I watched the introductory video and followed it’s suggestion of verifying basic operation by opening the Latency Adjust file. This audio played thru my desktop speakers, all seems to be working properly. I then opened up the MP3 file that I want to record on top of and this audio file also plays perfectly.

[A bit about my setup. My bass is plugged into my practice amp. This amp has a Line-Out that is sent to Channel 1 of my Tascam 208i Analog to Digital Converter. The output of the converter is sent to my Win10 computer via a USB port.

In RealBand my audio track is on Channel 1 and I clicked on the “2” to tell it I want my bass recording on Channel 2. I then played a few notes and the Input line of the Levels Meter shows activity but the signal strength peaks at around -18dB(seems low to me).

I then hit the Record button and a countdown display comes up, which is nice. Then my audio track begins to play along with an annoying click, probably a click track.

Q1. How can I get rid of this click?

So I played a few bars on my bass and hit stop. It asks if I want to keep the Take, I say yes. I now have what I believe is a waveform on Channel 2. But when I rewind to the beginning and play it, I hear my audio file but no bass recording. If I bring channel 1’s volume to zero and replay I do hear my bass but it’s extremely faint, which agrees with the -18dB above. So I think my 2nd question is:

Q2. How can I adjust the gain of the 208i from within RealBand?

Next to the Master Volume slider there is an Audio Settings pull-down menu. I selected Recording Devices and the 208i does show up with a green check mark. And drilling deeper there is a “Microphone” fader for it. So I slid it to maximum and made another recording attempt. This time the wave form of the recording is bigger but on playback my bass is still very faint and the noise on that signal increased dramatically.

At the PGMusic website I have viewed
1. Getting Started Recording Audio 4 of 5
2. Getting Started Recording Audio 5 of 5 and
3. Recording Audio with Windows 8/7/Vista

These videos don’t help with my problems and seem dated around 2014 so I’m not sure how applicable they are for a Win10 box.

Q3. Are there more recent videos available for recording in RealBand?
Q4. Is there a downloadable Users Manual for RealBand that is reasonably up to date?

Note that at this time I’m not interested in RealTracks or MIDI. I just want to record my bass.
To get an idea of what I’m trying accomplish, visit my SoundCloud space. Every track there I recorded with Audacity.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

THUMPER.
Lets take this one step at a time.
Is your 208i this ? >>>
https://tascam.com/us/product/series_208i/top

Have you read on pg here the on line
Manuals and faq’s for RB in detail ?
If not i would urge you to take the time to go thru them.
This will help you lots.
RB is a great daw , with nice features...but there is a time needed to learn it...and its unique features.

The metronome settings are in RB preferences.
Re low gain…does 208i not have an instrument
Input ? there might be a level mismatch tween bass amp and 208.
Where are you inputting into 208 ? the combo xlr jack ?

If the 208 i IS your interface in addition it looks like it has fancy ...User control display.

Please post back a pic of the 208 user
Control display AS well as a pic of 208 driver selection in RB. are you WAS OR ASIO set in RB ?
the more us users know bout your set up the more we can help you...otherwise we are flying blind.

In addition…lots of folks record traks at -12.
You can always boost the -18 with gain.

I would also like you to do the following crude test.
In RB record on trak one a clik guide.
(right clik over trak…and youll see a LONG menu.)
2.NOW tap your bass or tap a mic and record this playing back WITH the clik.
IS EVERYTHING IN SYNC (assuming you tappedc accurately.)
on playback ? IF IT IS then it looks your drivers are OK.

As i said one step at a time.
Get back to me.
Best
om
ps i notice rharv has posted. LISTEN TO HIM...
he knows his stuff....is an expert.

pps.,. rharv..lovely doggie pic.

"Q1. How can I get rid of this click?"
In Options-Preferences-Metronome uncheck the boxes needed to get your desired result. Sounds like you want the click on for count in, but not while recording.


"Q2. How can I adjust the gain of the 208i from within RealBand?"
You don't, Realband uses the input device for this control, so raise it at the 208i.
Alternatively, 'after the fact',you could use Edit-AudioEffects-GainChange and highlight the whole recorded track/waveform then raise it by X amount, or use PGPeakLimit plugin to raise the volume of the recorded track, but both these methods also raise the noise floor, so better to get a good signal into RB in the first place, however -18 level should be close to serviceable.
ALSO record your bass onto a different track than the imported MP3 (which I assume is on track 1), so record the bass onto Track 2 as an Audio track.

Q3 - I don't know
Q4 - you can see the current manual by going to Help menu option

Can you post a picture of the Microphone fader you mentioned?
I'm guessing it does not control the 208i but rather the onboard sound, and if you are using that you need to make sure you are recording the actual 208i input, and not the system's mic input.
If you go to Options - Prefs - Audio and click the Drivers button, what is RB using to record your input? It may be set to something other than the 208i and causing the deception; you may be recording your bass via the computer microphone input, which is a terrible way to record when you have a 208i sitting right there. Might be a simple setup issue, and you just need to make sure RB is using the input you wanted it to ..

Thanks for the reply guys.
justanoldmuso: Yes, the image in the website you provided is my unit.
I had no idea the click was a metronome, and it now is disabled, problem 1 solved!

I have not read the manual; didn't know there was one online. I searched the PGMusic website, found it and will be reading it in the coming days.

I am inputting into the 208i on Channel 1 on the front face, and yes it does have a gain knob. I increased the gain from 12 o'clock to 3 o'clock and now when I record I get a ton of distortion and red in the RB track.
Also on the 208i I have it set to Inst(Instrument). In fact other than the change I made to the gain, as near as I can tell everything is set identical to when I made successful recordings with Audacity.

I cannot post back with a pic of anything. A few days ago I chatted with "Ember" at PGMusic after I discovered that a simple copy and paste of images do not work at this forum. He/she said I need to use and "upload website". I told "Ember" that I don't know what that is and can you suggest one. Ember said they cannot recommend a website.

So can one of you guys tell me how to post pics?

Until I read the manual I can't tell if I'm WAS or ASIO

rharv, just like in Audacity, my MP3 audio is on Channel 1 and my bass is on Channel 2.

Microphone Fader: Audio Setting (lower right hand corner)/Recording Devices/Select "Microphone 208i Series Default Device" with green check mark/Properties/Select the "Level" tab/ You will see the Microphone Fader here.

Options/Preferences/Audio: Audio Driver Type is set to MME

justanoldmuso, I just discovered where the WAS and ASIO settings are. What should it be? I'm thinking this is indeed a setup problem.

"Options/Preferences/Audio: Audio Driver Type is set to MME"
The type isn't what I was looking for (which should probably be ASIO for the 208i), but rather the actual driver in use; click the Driver button to reveal this info

Posting images is pretty easy if you use the 'Reply' button instead of typing in the readily available Quick Reply area in a given post.
By clicking Reply, if you scroll down a little you'll see the File Manager option that allows uploading an image to the forum.

I posted image below using this feature

If you posted a pic, it didn't make it; I see no pic.

I do see the File Manager and followed the instructions but my screen shot doesn't appear.

Does it make sense to work this out in a private chat?

Now they both show up !!!

Yes, I see them both too, maybe your browser just needed to reload the posts ..
As far as using PM, the solution may help others, so I'd rather keep it out in the forums for now

I do not see any inputs in your lower boxes on the right hand side of your posted image, which is unusual in my experience.
See below for what I see
Make sure you actually have selected your 208i in this screen, and then selected the Input/Output in the lower two boxes.
You can ignore the arrows in this image, it was done previously for someone else's different issue, but the lower two large boxes demonstrate you should be able to select the input/output drivers/ports for your device.
Looking more and more like a config issue to me at this point

THUMPER.
Please confirm your sig chain.
bass>>bass amp>>208 combo xlr input ?.
What is your bass output jack ?
A phones out ? a proper line out ?
PLEASE NOTE IMPORTANT...
LOW IMPEDENCE OUTPUTS LIKE TO "LOOK INTO" HIGHER IMPEDENCE INPUTS.....SO...
look up the impedence of your bass amp output jack your useing and post back its impedence and ensure it looks into a higher impedence input on the 208.

i GET that you want to use the bass amp sound in rb...
just gotta watch the sig chain and impedences.

IDEALLY you want a LINE OUT of bass amp going into LINE INPUT of 208...which i assume the xlr combo allows ie a line input.

rharv and i just want you set up correctly.

as to your pics as i'm vision impaired i had trouble seeing your pics, but i could see rharvs.

Another major point that catches out lots of new people is the modern
Audio interfaces like your 208 have become VERY SOPHISTICATED…
And usually come with their own fancy control software/display…
With many settings THAT MUST BE UNDERSTOOD otherwise probs can occur.
it looks your 208 has its own such display.
so please check its settings....and post a pic of your
208 user control display...so we can have a gander.
IF YOU HAVE LOW RECORDING LEVELS ON A RB TRACK IT MIGHT PURELY BE A GAIN SETTING // FADER IN THE 208 user control display.
for example on my fancy interface i can do things like set mic or line, mute, set levels and sample rates etc etc. thus i urge you to familiarise with the tasc 208 control features.

best
om

My ASIO Audio Drivers screen now looks like yours.

But now when I play my MP3 file I get no audio out of my speakers
I can physically see the waveform on Channel 1 and when I play it the green Level bar on the track giggles back and forth. The green Levels (Output) bar at the bottom of the screen also giggles back and forth and the black cursur moves from left to right all telling me that it thinks it's playing; but no audio.

I then went into the Speaker screen and did the test and the test chimes play just fine.

I guess 2 steps forward and 1 step back.

THUMPER.

What brand of speakers ?
If you plug in headphones into 208 phones out do you hear sound ?
Make sure speakers are plugged into stereo line out of 208.
I assume your not using the pc speakers ?
MAKE SURE IN RB ASIO YOU HAVE CHOSEN THE CORRECT OUTPUT DRIVER !


Make sure output in the 208 user control display isnt muted.
Please post pics of your win recording and playback settings in win
And that the 208 is the default device in win.

PLEASE NOTE , ITS IMPORTANT FOR A SUCCESSFULL DAW ONE UNDERSTANDS 3 THINGS...
1. WIN AUDIO DEVICE SETTINGS.
2. RB DRIVER SELECTION AND SETTINGS.
3. THE USER CONTROL PANEL SETTINGS OF THE INTERFACE BEING USED...AS PROVIDED BY THE AUDIO INTERFACE MANUFACTURER.
in this case tascam.

the above is vitally important whether you use rb or pro tools or reaper or any daw multitrack software.
in your case the 208 is a advanced device...thus lots of user control settings i suspect.


Best
om

I have cheap desktop speakers that came with a Gateway computer years ago. So yes, I am using PC speakers, have been for years.

The good news is that Audacity can still play my MP3 files thru these speakers no problem and the audio in YouTube videos also play just fine . . . whew ! So the audio issue is contained within RB.

Another datapoint is that I just opened my latest BiaB creation, Reggae Rendezvous, in BiaB and the audio there plays perfect . . . whew again !

I've never plugged headphones into the 208i, I think for that to work I need to be recording something live. And in real-time I could listen to my recording thru the phones. I don't need that capability because when I record(in Audacity and hopefully soon in RB) I hear my playing thru my bass amp, I hope this makes sense to you. Clearly I am now far away from being able to record anything in RB. Step one now is to get my audio in RB back working.

I'm thinking the output driver in RB is, in fact, the culprit.

When I click on "Drivers" notice the "GetChannels Failed" error message I now get.

--Steve

PS> If this image gets thru, thanks a bunch for showing me how to do it. Somebody should tell Ember that a 3rd part website is not required.

THUMPER.
this is not how a project studio is normally set up mate.

prolly audicity and bb is set up with vanilla default win mme...check that. THUS YOUR NOT USEING THE LOW LATENCY 208 ASIO DRIVERS..
but prob with mme is you get LATENCY ! which ASIO solves.

for example my rig has very low latency less than 4ms.
A KEY QUESTION ...THESE PC SPEAKERS ...ARE THEY HOOKED
TO THE PC AUDIO OUT OR TO THE 208.
please dont say the pc audio jack out.
that would explain the problem i feel.

speakers should be connected to the 208 stereo out.
thats how things should be set up.

i suspect you have the wrong 208 output driver selected in rb.
one step at a time.
please post back and list in BOLD what rb shows for your asio 208 output drivers. there prolly will be more than one.

also as rb is flexible as to port selection right clik on a track and tell us what ports are selected.



om

OK, you're asking too many questions in one posting for me to answer in a single post. So I will try to break this up into manegable chunks.

Audacity and BiaB could very well be using vanilla drivers/settings. I don't see that as a problem. In fact, they both work fine independent from one another and they work fine together as a team. The evidence is every track at my SoundCloud site.

Below is a screen shot from Audacity.
Note that I do not want to alter settings in Audacity for fear of messing Audacity up. I'm happy with Audacity as-is but am exploring the usage of a more capable DAW like RealBand or Reaper.

Yes, my cheapo desktop speakers (which work fine for recording purpopes) are connected to the output jacks of the computer. There has never been any other connection. Actually they are connected to an A/B switch box which is then connected to the computer. Why, because this allows me to choose between low quality speakers for recording in Room A and much higher quality tower speakers in another part of the house in Room B. Once again, this setup has worked perfectly fine for years and does everything I need.

Below is a screenshot of the BiaB settings that I think you are asking for. Not to keep repeating myself, but again, I don't want to "fix" anything in BiaB that isn't broken.

"also as rb is flexible as to port selection right clik on a track and tell us what ports are selected."

Here is a screen shot of RB. My Snip tool won't allow me to snip the drop down menu when I right-click the problem track (Southern Man). But it says Port ASIO:(0,1) OUT1 + OUT2

Can you tell from all this info what the problem is?

THUMPER.
i'm afraid i am bowing out of this thread , as its very difficult to advise further without knowing lots of info bout your rig. as i have an incomplete view of your set up.
all i can tell you is irrespective of daw.. reaper, or pro tools or rb /whatever daw....
1. there are certain protocols that needed to be followed for success..
2. if a user gets problems its usually related to one of the following.
a. wrong settings in win audio devices.
b. ditto for the sound interface user control panel.
c. ditto for the daw , in this case rb.

all i will say is ive used the biab/rb/reaper combo to
do 90 original songs and can highly recommend the software combo.

best
om
ps...from info so far, and i might be wrong it looks like
the reason your hearing nothing on speaker is you dont have stereo speakers hooked to stereo out of the 208 line out.
BUT rb is sending stereo out via the 208 which is the proper protocol.
i hope you get this resolved.
i'm not an audicty user but it looks like youre useing
win vanilla drivers rather than 208.

om, I truly appreciated your time on this. It appears we both did our level best to solve the problem, sometimes defeat is in the offering.

If you don't mind me asking, are you the RealBand tech support guy?

If not, is there such a person?

Please don't send me back to Ember at the PGMusic chat box. Recall that he/she instructed me to use a website to attach images . . .

THUMPER.
i dont work for pg...i'm just a long term user.
om

OK, thanks again, we did our best.

PS> Just downloaded Reaper, imported my MP3 file and (no surprises here), it played perfect.