Subject:SF8 Recording Meter Bug? Switching Back to SF7

Posted by: Andreas S.

Date:3/23/2005 7:32:20 AM

Simple, and extremely problematic issue with recording so far in SF8...SF7 doesn't exhibit the same behaviour:

When recording with any settings in SF8 the recording meter peaks at -6db. This is to say that -6db is the new peak level...any input reported ABOVE -6db clips. The display also shows the waveform only up to -6db and then the audio is clipped.

I've checked the settings and the help file, but can't find any info on a change. Is -6db suddenly the "new 0db?!"

I should mention I'm trying to record 16-44.1 wav files. I've tried this with any combination of 8-24 bit, and 8-96KHz. The problem is persistent.

I dunno...maybe it's just me. I'm using a P4 with lots of hp and ram - and an M-Audio Audiophile 2496 card.

update: I've switched back to SF7 until SF8 is fixed. I have two sound cards in my system. One a SB Audigy Platinum, and the m-AUdio 2496. The Audigy does NOT exhibit the problem outlined above. However, since the issue doesn't exhibit with SF7, it's an issue with SF8. Since there are other "meter" issues, I suspect this one to add to the list.

Dang.

Subject:RE: SF8 Recording Meter Bug? Switching Back to SF7

Reply by: Halowe

Date:3/26/2005 5:15:33 PM

Thanks for your reply to my other post about Windows Media Player.

Unfortunately, I never got around to doing any recording, while I still had SF8 installed. So, I have no idea if I had this problem or not (actually, we're not using the same sound cards anyway, so I'm not sure I would have had the problem anyway.

Good luck and I hope they get it resolved for you.

Hal.

Subject:RE: SF8 Recording Meter Bug? Switching Back to SF7

Reply by: Sonic

Date:3/28/2005 7:30:11 AM

Are you recording mono and are you using a single channel or both channels of the input device?

J.

Subject:RE: SF8 Recording Meter Bug? Switching Back to SF7

Reply by: Andreas S.

Date:3/28/2005 8:28:48 AM

I'm recording in mono using the left channel analog of the Audiophile 2496 (designated in the input selector as Delta M-Audio AP 1/2).

I see where you're going with this, so I just tried recording in stereo. The levels report on the meter, and waveform graphics draw normally.

Question: why was this changed in SF7? I always need the track in mono...ultimately this adds a step to processing (to copy/paste the channel into mono, or just combine left/right). I'm working in broadcast. If there was a particular reason/purpose for the change it would be nice to know I have more capacity to do something new, and it would ease my frustration.

Thanks...

Subject:RE: SF8 Recording Meter Bug? Switching Back to SF7

Reply by: Sonic

Date:3/28/2005 8:52:00 AM

If you are using channels 1/2 and only providing input to one channel, recording to mono mixes it with the other channel of silence, hence the -6 dB. You should be able to explicitly select a single channel of the device in the record dialog, which sounds like what you'd want for mono records, anyway.

For me with a Delta 44 that under Windows Classic, they're exposed as e.g. "M-Audio Delta 44 1/2 - Left", etc. Under ASIO, each channel is listed by itself, e.g. Analog In 1 Delta 44 [1].

Sound Forge 7.0 and earlier simply passed a mono format to the device and let the driver decide what it was going to do. It has been a long-standing feature request to allow you to pick an individual channel, or mix them or whatever. This is why the behavior was changed. With device choice and destination format, you can configure channelness however you want.

J.

Subject:RE: SF8 Recording Meter Bug? Switching Back to SF7

Reply by: Andreas S.

Date:3/28/2005 9:10:51 PM

Hi Sonic. Thanks for the response.

Okay. Crisis averted. I gues it's just an old habit that will have to die hard. I liked it better the other way...but apparently I'm in the minority.

I'm also glad to hear that the upcoming patch, whenever released, will have an 'supress file open' for the batc converter. That's a bit of a bugbear and slows things down considerably. But considering how big my batches are (usually several in the hundreds of files each) I usually just wander off for a little sparkling water anyway. But the supress file open will be a big hit.

Thanks for your explanation. Sorry to see you're so busy.