Subject:Stuttering/Recording/Playback problem

Posted by: aek12

Date:9/27/2002 12:20:29 PM

OK guys, I posted months ago and I am going to try again. This problem is bothering me so much that I have even contemplated stopping creating and recording my music on my pc using acid.

My computer specs:
XP Pro
1.8 Ghz Intel
768 MB RAM
Audigy Platinum EX
7200 Western Digital
Radion 7200 Video Card
Acid 3.0 (and Acid 2.0 is still installed)
Acid projects with 10-40 audio tracks

So here is the problem or actually problems...
Sometimes after I have been on Acid for a while, I will go to play the song and it will play for a few seconds and then stop and then start up again, and then stop (continues on and on - almost like a mini freeze of the system). Looking at task manager while this happens, the CPU never breaks 10% (usually around 5%). RAM usage of Acid in task manager is anywhere from 12MB to around 45 MB depending on the song. I will shut down Acid and start it back up and that helps for a little while, but then comes back. I usually have to reboot and then it goes away until, again, I have been on for a while. My conclusion is that maybe it could be an XP problem..?

Second problem:
After I am done recording a track, I have to go back in and manually line it up to where I wanted it to go. For example, I will place the curser to start recording on beat 1 of 4 but when I hit the record button, it starts playing and recording at beat 3 even though the curser visually shows where it should be on the project. Obviously when i record I usually give myself more room before I start recording. So if I were to record my guitar solo, I would start recording before the spot where I am supposed to play the solo. Only problem is that once recorded, it does not line up. So I have to go in and manually line up the wave forms in acid. Now this is a problem that does not happen all the time, but when it happens it happens quite a bit and I cant seem to find out what would have done it. It only rarely happens during just playback, though it has happened. I just usually plan for it sometime during recording. I have monitored task manager and it is usually the same as found above or maybe a little higher in the CPU usage. But no spike or anything that I might expect.

Things that I have done to try and fix these problems:

Changed buffer time for playback (increased and decreased).
Since I have an Audigy, I changed projects to 48000khz and 16 bit
defrag all the time
checked my RAM
making all my track loops
pumping up to 300 seconds for audio - will be pulled into RAM
installed newest drivers for Audigy and video card

Here is the killer for me... When I use Acid 2.0, this stuff doesnt happen. Only problem is I was stupid and saved these projects as acid 3.0 files... I was thinking of upgrading to 4.0 to see if it might help me with this stuff, but I am worried after reading some of the posts in here. But before any upgrading I would rather first see if I can fix these problems...

Subject:RE: Stuttering/Recording/Playback problem

Reply by: bgc

Date:9/27/2002 1:30:33 PM

What version of 3.0? a? b? g?

Subject:RE: Stuttering/Recording/Playback problem

Reply by: aek12

Date:9/27/2002 1:31:05 PM

I am running version g.

Subject:RE: Stuttering/Recording/Playback problem

Reply by: bgc

Date:9/27/2002 1:32:23 PM

Sounds like you've got sound card issues.
I hate to say what is the default question, but do you have the latest drivers installed for you sound card, especially for XP?
bgc

Subject:RE: Stuttering/Recording/Playback problem

Reply by: bgc

Date:9/27/2002 1:34:58 PM

OK, go here:
http://www.americas.creative.com/support/welcome.asp?centric=208

This page talks about the XP driver "schedule" which frighteningly sounds like they're still working on drivers for XP. (I'm not really searching any deeper since it's not my card.) Maybe there're some answers in there.

bgc

Subject:RE: Stuttering/Recording/Playback problem

Reply by: bgc

Date:9/27/2002 1:36:37 PM

OK I lied and looked deeper:
http://www.americas.creative.com/support/files/download.asp?Centric=207&OS=13

Are you using the latest and greatest from here? If so, maybe uninstall the drivers for the card and reinstall them. Or, contact Customer Support or the FAQ and see if there are known issues with the Sound Blaster card.

Subject:RE: Stuttering/Recording/Playback problem

Reply by: aek12

Date:9/27/2002 1:44:00 PM

Yes, I believe I have installed the latest and greatest. I installed it not too long ago. Ofcourse I could always, clean out the drivers and reinstall. I might have tried this before, but not with this latest driver. Any other ideas?

Subject:RE: Stuttering/Recording/Playback problem

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:9/27/2002 3:47:41 PM

Other than what bgc's suggested:

-If it's been quite awhile since the PC's been formatted, maybe consider formatting the system and starting clean.

-I would also suggest that the less that's in your system, hardware or software, the less the chance that something could go wrong. It would be ideal if only anything DAW-related was installed or connected. This tip applies not only to ACID but to other apps as well like SONAR, Cubase, et al.

-Did you pick up Service Pack 1 for XP yet? I know it can be huge, but it could help.

HTH,
Iacobus

Subject:RE: Stuttering/Recording/Playback problem

Reply by: aress

Date:9/27/2002 4:30:50 PM

defrag.

what 3rd party plugins are you using?...

Subject:RE: Stuttering/Recording/Playback problem

Reply by: aek12

Date:9/30/2002 7:42:24 AM

I made the cpu last november. I have not formatted since. That would be a last resort I think. I have not downloaded SP1 for XP as an entire download, but have done all the critical updates on the XP site. so indirectly I have SP1.

As far as making my cpu a DAW specific machine, I would love to, but unfortunately I need to use it for other stuff as well. Once I sell a few of my songs I can buy a work/fun specific cpu! ;) Honestly thoughI dont have too much on my cpu. IE, norton utilities, a few games, and thats about it. The only thing that I would think might be a problem would be norton. But I disable both virus and internet protection before usin acid.

Subject:RE: Stuttering/Recording/Playback problem

Reply by: aek12

Date:9/30/2002 7:43:57 AM

I defrag once a week atleast. no third party plug ins. Just SF based found in acid. I limit the effects during recording. I delete all track eq when recording and try not to add effects until final mixing.

Subject:RE: Stuttering/Recording/Playback problem

Reply by: justifiedalive

Date:9/30/2002 9:28:41 AM

Audigy is known for the problems you are having.

Subject:RE: Stuttering/Recording/Playback problem

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:9/30/2002 11:42:58 AM

Hmm...Norton does raise a red flag, mostly because it's such an invasive program. You do disable it though so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. Games never usually load so that isn't a problem either.

If I remember correctly, isn't there an option to disable Norton on startup of XP? Just thinking aloud as I know it might be better if it didn't load at all before using ACID. You could use the System Configuration Utility and disable anything under the Startup tab, but that's no guarantee; I've seen apps that will add the damn line back in. (RealOne Player being one of them.)

Also try setting your projects at 48 kHz sampling rate. Check out this KB article for more details.

HTH,
Iacobus