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#71520 05/01/10 06:42 AM
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DanL Offline OP
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I've tried two different interfaces in the past few years and I've yet to get anything that didn't sound like a distorted robot. This is true for audio and synths. I thought that my brand new computer and brand new M-Audio ProFire 610 interface would certainly work, but there it is again...what the heck am I doing wrong? MME works beautifully.

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seems that for some asio works n others not.
just a stab in the dark...is the maudio set for 16 bit ??
if not , try that. 44.1/16.
if you can post a pic of your maudio control panel.
as well as a pic of your audio driver preference settings in rb.
please do so cos it helps to get comments.
if your brand new puter is W7.
make sure that the correct w7 compatible drivers are chosen.


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Well my PCMCIA Creative Audidgy 2 ZS Notebook with KX Drivers @ 8 MS works fine.
The internal Realtek AC97 card with special 3rd party ASIO drivers @4 MS works fine.
Don't use them though!


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Older M-Audio works here also. It's likely a setting, buffer or bitrate or such.


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Ok, Bob and Manning1, I checked the M-Audio settings and it was the buffer...way too low at 256. It's working now! Thanks!

Dan

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False alarm. It was still using MME, which sounds great. I still get the bad sound using ASIO. I'm stumped now. Something's not set up right.

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Sounds to me like you used them on another program and they were not released. Open all audio programs and unassign ASIO in all of them and try again.


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Also try d/l'n the latest ASIO driver for your interface and OS. If that doesn't help, you may wanna experiment with the ol-ASIO4ALL driver out there in cyberspace.

ASIO is normally used for real time playback/recording of a VSTi. Otherwise, MME works a treat as well.

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Quote:

.... I've yet to get anything that didn't sound like a distorted robot. ....




A file set to one bitrate and the soundcard set to another can do that.

Ideally, you want to set your soundcard's Control Panel such that it allows host program to dictate bitrate. Even then, you have to know what bitrate the file was recorded at and then set the host program internally to suit. This does not work as invisibly as it does with Windows Sound Drivers, which can often confuse folks who expect ASIO to work exactly the same.


--Mac

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Mac, I did that. I matched 16/44.1 for everything, but still got the the distorted robot sounds. So, I tried some trial and error with the settings and this seems to be the culprit:

There is a box next to the Audio Driver type that says "Allow IM effects recording (ASIO-only)." I unchecked it and now the audio playback sounds normal. Any ideas about that?

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IM means 'Input Monitor' which means the computer was trying to run the input signal thru any DX FX you had loaded on that track while it was recording it (in real time).

That puts quite a load on the system, and if FX are not loaded or not quality FX it creates even more problems.


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Yeah, another classic example of just how tricky this stuff really is. It's not anybody's fault it just reinforces the need to be a computer nerd and know the language of audio engineering to accomplish anything. It's also why so many people think a program is buggy when it's not. Trying to emulate a recording studio in your computer is not easy because the programmers have no choice but to use the language of recording studios. If you have no experience at that, then you have to read up on it in order to learn those terms or you wind up frustrating yourself.
Even though a basic PC will work, a higher end one (of course much more money) is better so when someone asks what PC should I get, the answer should be the most powerful one you can afford. The new quad core Intel i7 chip with the latest Asus motherboard is $829 at Newegg. That's only the chip and motherboard, nothing else. I'm preparing to build a new system and I just saw that yesterday but I don't think I'm going to go that much. That's more than a whole bunch of complete PC's but I'm sure it will run many tracks with live DXi effects.

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Problem is, Bob I'm no newbie. I've been doing this stuff for years, using PG products and Sonar. I know what IM effects are and my computer and audio interface are pretty decent. What I don't understand is why unchecking one thing suddenly clears up the problem, when I have yet to even try recording. This is affecting playback of audio and MIDI tracks. I just want to know why it's affecting that.

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Because when that is enabled, the input is being run thru effects in realtime. I believe you can sing into the mic and hear the effects even if record is not enabled.. may have to double check that, but I think it does. Even if it doesn't they are taking up RAM and processor attention.
Look at it like It's another service running, and under ASIO which means it is requiring more attention to begin with from the system in general.

So if the computer is running those effects the whole time it IS a load on the system. Maybe switching to a different 'thread' for the processor will help, maybe not.
Only explanation I can think of.

Last edited by rharv; 05/03/10 02:53 PM.

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My guess is that it is putting a load on the system. Since it is routing the signal thru the IM loop. maybe there is a effect somewhere that is having a well .... er ... effect.

One thing i have noticed is that PG programs especially yhe PTPA based stuff is sensitive to these things. I can not even get ASIO to play with mine now, and i have used it for years.


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Trust me, I know how it is Dan. You can have years of experience but overlook something like this. Yes, live DXi effects definitely puts a big strain on your system. Maybe you never noticed it before because you only had them applied to one or two tracks but depending on your system of course, do that on ten or more tracks at once and see what happens. These sorts of details will drive you crazy sometimes.

Bob


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I've now tried this out and tried everything. I don't get it. I have a brand new quad core system with 8GBs RAM. I have a fast Firewire interface. There's no way that IM with effects is straining my system. There's something else wrong here.

With my last, computer - a wheezing old Compaq - I used WDM drivers in Sonar and a mere 1GB or RAM. With that, I got decent latency and had no problems running multiple VST effects when IMing. That was with multiple tracks, synths, and effects running.

Now, with my new system, I can't use ASIO in RealBand with the IM effects monitoring. It won't even work when I'm just playing back tracks with no effects loaded in the mix.

There is something wrong and I don't think it's my "system being overloaded." That just can't be. If my computer is being overloaded, then how does anyone get this to work?

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I have problems with Rb and ASIO on my system. It runs the CPU meter in the RED, but with MME it stayt very low. So i use MME.


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I just got a new interface that's strictly for bass/guitar. It's ASIO only. Doesn't even have WDM drivers. Works great. It's a Stealth interface by IK Multimedia. Came with my Ampeg SVX Studio.


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DanL

in control panel under ieee on your system what fw chipset do you have ??
be aware that lots of fw sound devices like to interface with a TI fw chipset.
this is a known issue with many fw sound devices.
best bet is to ask the manufacturer of your fw sound device
what fw chipsets on the host computer it likes.
otoh this might not be your problem.
just because you have a nice quad isnt the whole story.
sometimes its how the drivers or the fw or the fw sound device control
panel is set up mate.
ive seen on various recording forums where folks have fw issues.
many times its not related to the music software used.
but just a set up issue.
please post a pic of your maudio control panel settings
plus a pic of your rb settings.


retired puter engr....powertracks on amd......NICE !
"what is the black art of audio engineering ?"
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