Is this a software or hardware prob?

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-- Is this a software or hardware prob?

Posted by Shudder on May-04-2009 21:40:

Is this a software or hardware prob?

Recently all my recorded sets have come out with a little or a lot of distortion. Right now I use audacity and have a xone 92 and am running line - in cable from the mixer to my pc, which has onboard sound.. Before though, I used to have Creative sound card and soundforge. now the distortion happens on both audacity and soundforge

The main issue here is in order to not have distortion in my recordings, i need to turn the gains way down instead of leaving it at the default 12 o'clock position like i did on my previous mixer (vestax pcv 175)

anyway I was just wondering if this was a software or hardware issue and what were some good recording programs to use

thanks

Posted by RichieV on May-04-2009 22:19:

Take a look at the waveform of the recording. If you see alot of clipping ( peak areas close to 0db) , it is a hardware issue.

Posted by Tony Morello on May-04-2009 22:31:

make sure you're using a line in to record on your computer and not the mic in, if you only have a mic in, make sure the pre amp boost is turned off

i usually record my sets so they peak at -6db then handle normalizing and any other post production needs during mastering

Posted by Nemesis44 on May-04-2009 22:33:

The other thing to look out for is if your meters are peaking, it can depend on how your onboard sound card handles a signal that is 0+.
Audacity in itself is fine for the job and you don't need to change that. Same with sound forge.

Also check which line outs you are using, I don't have a Xone 92 but I have a Xone464 and that has various different line outs and they push out various levels.

An external sound card will always out perform an onboard soundcard.

cheers
Nem

Posted by Tony Morello on May-04-2009 22:40:

it could just be as simple as turning down the recording input in your computer's audio settings