Topic: Need help setting buffers in Wavelab and some other lappy ???'s

[tim in jersey]

Hey all, need a little guidance setting my buffer settings in wavelab 4.

I'm running V3>FW 410> Lifebook 2040 (128MB SDRAM, Win 2k SP3 optimized for audio). Latency for the FW 410 is set at max (2048). Using the WDM driver for the sound card. Will using the ASIO driver improve performance, or doesn't that matter?

Anyhow, I took out the lappy for the 3rd time and I am still getting random pops and clicks recording @ 24/48, recording directly to file. Grrr!  The first two times I used the default buffer settings this last time out I upped both the amount of buffers and the buffer size, but I'm still getting quite a few pops on my recording (like maybe a dozen to a dozen and a half for a two hour+ show). If I up the buffer number and size to their max values will that have any affect, either for good or bad?

Any ideas?


Also, I have a partition for OS and recording software and another partition for audio data storage. I'm beginning to think maybe the HDD is thrashing accessing the two different areas of the HDD the partitions lie on. Would I be better off using a non-partitioned drive (bear in mind I use the lappy strictly for recording)?

[tim in jersey]

Bump.

Please help!

[caymanreview]

i have no idea what the buffers should be set too, ive never had to adjust mine

ive never had to adjust the latency of the 410, or the buffer in wavelab

i ran dual boot with just the 2 partitions for the 2 OS's and used 2kpro, and stored the audio on the same partition as the 2kpro OS

im doing 24/96 with zero problems... not one click ever

i would try to use a non partitioned drive and see if that helps, that is the only thing i can think of

i had been using about the same specs lappy, 128mb ram, 667mhz picturebook, but i just upgraded to a P3 256mb lappy, have yet to try it out yet, i will be testing it when i get off work in 2 hours though

[tim in jersey]

thanks. I just wiped the HDD and am installing 2k to a non-partitioned drive. I'll be recording Del McCoury on Friday. Keep your fingers crossed for me. 

[caymanreview]

definantly, and def report back

im doing my first shows with the new lappy this weekend also... hopefully all is smoot, my first tiem using xp as an OS

[dklein]

sorry...wish I saw this sooner.  You should give the ASIO drivers a try.  They are less work for your machine and were designed by Steinberg (makers of Wavelab) to handle multiple channels and hardware monitoring.

[tim in jersey]

I think I nailed it.

I reformatted, used no partition, and ran the ASIO drivers. I'm about half an hour into the recording and no clicks so far. 

[caymanreview]

is this a dumb question, but what are the ASIO drivers?

having some clicks with my new lappy with the 4310, but i adjusted the buffer up in the 2nd and 3rd shows i taped this weekend and have yet to check them for pops/clicks

[tim in jersey]

ASIO is just another type of driver that communicates w/ the audio recording software. In wavelab go to options>preferences>audio card and select the drop dow menu under playback and select the ASIO driver. When you do this it will grey out the recording tab. It's supposed to do that, unlike the WDM-MME drivers it's a global setting.

Another window will pop up and you can select the amount of outputs and the input source.  1+2 are analog ins 3+4 is the S/PDIF in.

[caymanreview]

thanks man

i started fresh tonight. after 3 shows this weekend experiencing exactly what you did...

i was using XPhome (tweaked for audio) BUT it had 2 partitions, the OS on one and the audio on another... that was the only option with the factory restore discs i had..

used a program to clear the whole drive entirely anmd laying down a fresh XP Pro as i type...

[Craig T]

I ran a 24bit/48k test thursday using a DVD-Audio with a 240 Hz square wave test tone into a VxPocket.  I recorded 105 minutes flawlessly with the default buffer settings.

I used it to record this past weekend and had problems both days.  Saturday I have maybe 6 dropouts.  Sunday was a mess - it only recorded 4 minutes of the first set - mostly noise, and for the second set I got maybe a half hour of noise, music, and silence followed by maybe a half hour of flawless music.  I've been using nTrack for a few years now with minimal problems.  Guess I'll be going back to nTrack until I can figure out went wrong.   

[Craig T]

I ran a 24bit/48k test thursday using a DVD-Audio with a 240 Hz square wave test tone into a VxPocket.  I recorded 105 minutes flawlessly with the default buffer settings.

I used it to record this past weekend and had problems both days.  Saturday I have maybe 6 dropouts.  Sunday was a mess - it only recorded 4 minutes of the first set - mostly noise, and for the second set I got maybe a half hour of noise, music, and silence followed by maybe a half hour of flawless music.  I've been using nTrack for a few years now with minimal problems.  Guess I'll be going back to nTrack until I can figure out went wrong.   

Turns out it's my VxPocket, it has nothing to do with Wave Lab.  The connection is bad and even the lightest bump causes it to lose signal.   

I ran another 2 hr test with the default buffer settings and it came out fine once I got the VxPocket connector seated correctly.

[Dr.FOB]

Which configuration uses the least system resources?

When watching both SF6.0 and WL4 record my resources levels are pegged with near constant disk access.
Will the use of the ASIO drivers reduce the resourse demands and increase battery run times?

There is a distinct advantage to recording wav in WL in that you can use the split on file size limit function.

[Scooter]

Def use the the ASIO drivers!  As for resources, i found that with Win2k Pro and Wavelab the resource use is lower than running same config on XP Pro platform.  Not a drastic difference, but still...  I've only ever had to lower the buffer settings on my card (VX Pocket or US-224) to get rid of the clicks pops, never had to touch the settings in Wavelab.  If I understand the buffer thing correctly, you can up them as much as you want as long as your not doing overdubbing.  I've been recording to a second partition for the audio files as well, maybe I'll try keeping the files on the OS partition...  Good info .

[caymanreview]

when i had my vx pocket i was always having problems with it at first.... then i got the mod digi in/out only dongle and it solved everything... those original dongles are terrible

if i wouldnt have gotten antoehr one i would ahve probably clipped all the cables i didnt use