Experiencing digital errors when recording vocals

[davebmetal]

Hi Everyone,
I am a new Pro Tools 10 Standard user. I am recording metal utilizing the Superior Drummer plug in. I have guitars and drums done on my current session and am ready to record some vocals. I am not using MBOX. I am running the Line 6 UX2 Studio with Pod Farm 2. I have recording guitars using the instrument inputs and have had no issues. I plugged in a condenser microphone into the mic input with phantom power on. I had two problems when first recording an audio track. The first was latency. I went to Pod Farm and put the latency at the lowest setting. In other words, the least amount of latency. Next, I went to Hardware Setup in Pro Tools and activated the latency compensation setting. That fixed the latency issue. However, my other problem continues. That problem is that when recording I hear popping and distortion out of my right speaker channel. Also, the audio will record for about 10 seconds and then the mic volume output will cut out for a few seconds and then come back in. To me, this sounds like digital errors. Does this have something to do with the bit conversions? I do not believe it is the microphone or cable. I just bought a Mugami cable brand new. I also tried different mics and also tried using the 2nd mic input on the UX2. I still experience the problem. Then, since I was frustrated I went back to recording guitars. The popping/clipping issue followed. I had to turn off the latency compensation in Hardware Setup in Pro Tools. I then tried changing from 16 bit buffer to 24 bit buffer and back to 16. That fixed the problem with guitar once I rebooted my PC. Any help is greatly appreciated. I hope I was detailed enough.

[sunburst79]

You should be tracking at a bit depth of 24 not 16. You gain a lot of headroom. If your mic is is inputting to hot of a signature you can get digital "overs" which will create all sort of ugly noises.

[dr_daw]

Sounds to me like your buffer sizes are set too low for your machine. What are your buffer sizes on your POD and in PT? You should also read this to help others out:

http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=300050

Don't get confused between Bit depth and Buffer sizes, I'm seeing this far too often. There are some great sites out there that explain digital audio theory and they are worth a good read if you intend on continuing to record.

[davebmetal]

Thank you guys. I will look into what you said. I have a feeling my buffer sizes are too low. I just got a new PC tower with plenty of hard drive space and RAM so I know the PC can handle it. I know I created the session as 24 bit when I started it so I think I will have to adjust the buffer size and make sure everything is 24 bit on my recording ins and outs. I will try this today and let you know. Thanks again!

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by davebmetal

Thank you guys. I will look into what you said. I have a feeling my buffer sizes are too low. I just got a new PC tower with plenty of hard drive space and RAM so I know the PC can handle it. I know I created the session as 24 bit when I started it so I think I will have to adjust the buffer size and make sure everything is 24 bit on my recording ins and outs. I will try this today and let you know. Thanks again!

Sorry to break the news, but "plenty of RAM and disk space" are meaningless if the system is either not compatible, or not properly tweaked, Post a Sandra report

[davebmetal]

OK, so here is my update for you. I changed the bit depth to 24 bit and increased the buffer size in PT 10 to 2048 samples, CPU usage to 60%. In Pod Farm (UX 2 Tone Direct), I increased the default bit depth to 24bit and default buffer size as high as it can go which is 4096. The popping and clicking is gone when I record vocals. However, one last problem persists. I will be singing a verse and the first 10 seconds record fine, but then I completely lose input (complete silence) for 10 seconds and then it comes back.
Also, I followed the link you provided for Windows 7 optimization. I completed those steps.

Here is the Sandra report:

SiSoftware Sandra

ID
Host Name : Dave-PC
Workgroup : WORKGROUP

Computer
Model : OEM System Product Name
Serial Number : System Ser**********
Chassis : Desktop
Mainboard : ASUS P8Z77-V LK
Serial Number : 1210034********
BIOS : AMI (OEM) 0817 09/10/2012
Total Memory : 8GB DIMM DDR3

Processors
Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3570K CPU @ 3.40GHz (4C 3.81GHz, 3.8GHz IMC, 2x 256kB L2, 6MB L3)
Socket/Slot : FC LGA1155

Chipset
Memory Controller : ASUS Core (Ivy Bridge) DRAM Controller 100MHz, 2x 4GB DIMM DDR3 1.6GHz 128-bit

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : G.Skill F3-2400C10-4GZH 4GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-19200U DDR3-2400 (11-11-11-29 5-40-13-6)
Memory Module : G.Skill F3-2400C10-4GZH 4GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-19200U DDR3-2400 (11-11-11-29 5-40-13-6)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : ACR V223W
(1680x1050, 22.0")
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 (2CU 384SP SM5.0 1.2GHz, 256kB L2, 1GB 5GHz 128-bit, PCIe 3.00 x16)

Graphics Processor
OpenCL GP Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 (384SP 2C 1.2GHz, 256kB L2, 1GB 5GHz 128-bit)
Compute Shader Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 (384SP 2C 1.2GHz, 256kB L2, 1GB 5GHz 128-bit)
CUDA GP Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 (384SP 2C 1.2GHz, 256kB L2, 1GB 5GHz 128-bit)

Storage Devices
WDC WD1002FAEX-00Z3A0 (1TB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm) : 932GB (C:)
ASUS DRW-24B1ST c (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : N/A (D:)

Logical Storage Devices
System Reserved : 100MB (NTFS)
Hard Disk (C:) : 931GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD1002FAEX-00Z3A0 (1TB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm)
Optical Drive (D:) : N/A @ ASUS DRW-24B1ST c (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : ASUS Panther Point LPC Controller
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : T0 C5-62
Audio Device : ASUS Panther Point High Definition Audio Controller
Audio Codec : Realtek Semi High Definition Audio
Audio Device : EVGA GK107 HDMI Audio Controller
Audio Codec : nVidia GeForce 6800 LE [NV40.2]
Serial Port(s) : 1
Disk Controller : ASUS Panther Point 6 port SATA AHCI Controller
USB Controller 1 : ASUS Panther Point USB xHCI Host Controller
USB Controller 2 : ASUS Panther Point USB Enhanced Host Controller #2
USB Controller 3 : ASUS Panther Point USB Enhanced Host Controller #1
USB Controller 4 : ASUS ASMedia XHCI Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel ICH SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)
Printer : Canon Inkjet iP2600 series (600x600, USB, Colour)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller (Ethernet, 100Mbps)

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 7 Home 6.01.7601 (Service Pack 1)
Platform Compliance : x64

Windows Experience Index
Current System : 5.9

[albee1952]

Where is your separate recording drive? What sample rate is your session?(if its 88.2K or higher, what happens at 48K)?

[davebmetal]

Hi Albee,
Again, I am a newbie with PT so please bear with me. I do not use a separate recording drive. I just save sessions on my C and back up to removable USB thumb drive. I do it like that because I am just recording my own band project with one other member. I am not recording bands so I do not need a ton of space.
My sample rate is 96khz. Should I try changing the sample rate? I am not sure where to change the sample rate but I can figure it out.
Update for 4/22/13. I tried an instrument mic to test another mic. It does not drop out like the condenser mic does. The instrument mic obviously isn't made for vocals so it is not very clear when singing into it. So would you recommend buying a vocal mic or should I try some other tests first?

[dr_daw]

I wouldn't suspect the microphone causing the issue. If you're recording at 96kHz to the system drive, you are almost for sure going to experience issues. You absolutely, should be using a seperate drive...it doesn't matter how fast your computer is or how few tracks your recording.

You are asking a spinning drive to do WAY too much at once. That drive is busy running data for the OS, running PT and other background tasks...then you're going to try and ask it to record a huge file and playback a huge file at 96k! It's not going to happen.

Avid doesn't just recommend a seperate drive because they want you to spend money...they want you to be able to record. Follow ALL optimizations, read the manual, and use the internet for instructions. Pro Tools is not plug and play, there are rules.

Good luck.

[davebmetal]

Awesome. I will get the drive. I had no idea. Thank you all!