1.3.7-3 and USB cable problem (Debian 5, kernel 2.6.30)

[craig61107]

Reports of recordings from USB turntables freezing or having dropouts are not that uncommon. Generally they are not caused by Audacity, but by poor quality equipment and cables, or lack of sufficient USB bandwidth.

This explanation seems inadequate. I use a Numark TTusb and have tried three different USB cables with no success. (They work with a Windows machine running Audacity 1.2.6.) Might there be a bug somewhere?

I would be glad to use an earlier version with Linux, but Synaptic pulls in 1.3.7-3.

Thanks for any advice.

[stevethefiddle]

This explanation seems inadequate.

I see what you mean, but it is very often the case. Perhaps not so often a cable problem, but certainly we've seen a lot of problems caused by unstable USB chips on external devices, and lots of problems from insufficient USB bandwidth.

The main problem with USB audio is that the available bandwidth must be continuous. Whereas a printer (or many other USB devices) can simply wait for a fraction of a second until the USB connection is available, realtime recording/playback of audio (or video) can not wait. If there is not continuous, uninterrupted bandwidth at (or preferably above) the required rate, then there will be "drop-outs" (bits of the audio missing). In extreme cases this creates continuous noise, or even disconnects the device completely. In less severe cases it causes clicks or rasping distortion types of effects.

Might there be a bug somewhere?

That's always possible, but you have not said exactly what problem you are having.

I would be glad to use an earlier version with Linux, but Synaptic pulls in 1.3.7-3.

Better to use a later version, but currently that will mean building from source.