Subject:audio dropouts with Win 7, Sound Forge Pro 10

Posted by: voiceman42

Date:4/29/2014 5:30:40 PM

After years of glitch free recording using Sound Forge 7 with Windows XP, I switched to Windows 7 and had to upgrade to Sound Forge 10. I also had to buy a new audio console which connects to the computer via USB. Now I am getting occasional audio dropouts in my voice recording. Most of the time it occurs during playback but the dropout often disappears when played again. However, the dropouts that happen when recording are actual audio dropouts requiring my re-recording to overdub the dropout. My audio/computer guru tells me that this sounds like a latency problem having to do with buffers, but I can't get an explanation on how to affect a change to fix the issue. I've tried changing the "buffer" number but it doesn't seem to actually correct the problem. Also, the tutorial displays a very different screen than my actual Sound Forge 10 "Preferences/Options/Audio" screen shows. I never had these problems when I operated in XP using Sound Forge 7. Any thoughts will be appreciated.

Subject:RE: audio dropouts with Win 7, Sound Forge Pro 10

Reply by: rraud

Date:4/30/2014 10:10:41 AM

There are likely applications and/or utilities running (in the background) that can be taxing your PC's CPU.
Disable all that are not needed, especially anti-virus and anti-malware, app.s, which are known to cause problems on some systems. You should disable any other internal sound cards as well as any players. (Apple Quicktime, Winamp, ect.)
The 'Options/Preferences/Audio' menu was changed some since SF7. What tutorial are you looking at?

Subject:RE: audio dropouts with Win 7, Sound Forge Pro 10

Reply by: voiceman42

Date:5/1/2014 12:40:01 AM

I don't recall how I got to the page that directed me to check settings for buffering, but at this point my concern is not being able to rely on Windows 7 and Sound Forge 10.
I had a recording project which I started out on Win 7-SF10 but the dropouts were too numerous, so after trying to work with my computer and failing, I rebooted my system in Windows XP and very successfully recorded in SF 7. My mixer audio level is vastly different in SF 7 than SF10. With SF 7 room noise is non existent and the wave is perfectly flat. In SF 10, there is noise in the wave when I'm not speaking and the record level has to be lowered. I've never had to turn off anti-virus or any other software in SF 7 with XP, so this difference is a real mystery. I don't have Qucktime or Winamp installed in Windows 7, but will consult with my computer Guru and see if he knows of any program that might be taxing the CPU. The strange business about the levels and the room noise is a puzzle.

The audio used to be connected via a analog to digital device and would enter and return from the Creative X-Fi Sound Blaster card via the SPDIF connection and now the audio is sent and received via a USB port, but since the difference in audio level and quality is still so unusual between XP and Win 7, I'm not sure what my next move is. I've tried adjusting the buffer in the Audio from the default to a slightly higher number, but it doesn't seem to make a noticeable difference. The wave pattern seems to visibly jump and the result is either a false dropout on playback that is OK when I play it back again, or it is an actual audio dropout on record which had to be re-recorded. My computer guy installed Windows 7 on the same computer where my XP version resides and I have a choice when booting up to select which system to work in.

We were able to install Sound Forge 7 on another computer with Windows 7 installed, but for some reason, it won't allow installation on this Windows 7 computer.

Subject:RE: audio dropouts with Win 7, Sound Forge Pro 10

Reply by: roblesinge

Date:5/1/2014 7:50:55 AM

And you're sure you have the correct device selected in Sound Forge 10? It sounds to me like you're recording the wrong source. That's the only explanation I can think of for the disparity. What USB interface are you using?

Rob.

Subject:RE: audio dropouts with Win 7, Sound Forge Pro 10

Reply by: rraud

Date:5/1/2014 9:24:28 AM

I also suspect a sound card/device issue.
Levels in different versions of SF would not be different so the issue is not SF alone.
I don't know of compatibility issue with Win 7 and SF-7. (SF-7 is pretty old)

Subject:RE: audio dropouts with Win 7, Sound Forge Pro 10

Reply by: ChristoC

Date:5/4/2014 11:55:58 PM

Here SF10 is extremely stable in Win7

OP "I also had to buy a new audio console which connects to the computer via USB. "

Sounds to me like the Win7 USB audio drivers for that device are flakey. What is the audio console? Does it have ASIO drivers? Have you tried updating the drivers?