Hey all! I’m having some issues when using Audacity concerning latency. I know about the click test, and I know about the latency correction option.
The problem I’m having is that the latency is variable between each and every recording. I correct for one difference, and the next recording has a new value (or it makes no difference at all). Also, over the duration of the recording the latency gets worse until I’m entire seconds behind or ahead rather than just milliseconds. I use Audacity to record my live commentary when recording video game Let’s Plays for a YouTube channel, and the latency becomes most notable after 20-30 minutes of continued recording.
My microphone is a wireless Behringer ULM100M, and though I don’t know my computer’s specifications (I’m not a big tech guy) I do know that it’s considered a top-of-the-line desktop PC for 2014/2015.
Any help would be appreciated!
Try to close as many applications and services as possible before recording. That gives you the best chance of consistent recording latency.
However if the recording is made slower or faster than the playback it indicates sample rate mismatches between audio devices and/or applications. You can help that by using the same device for playback and recording, whereas I assume you are using different devices. For example the wireless mic is probably a different device in Windows than the motherboard audio, and either is a different device than USB headphones (if you were using those).
What version of Windows do you have? See http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Windows_7_OS#sample_rates for how to work with audio device sample rates in Windows Vista and later.
Usually recording mic and game audio is best done with an app meant for that purpose like FRAPS or VoiceMeeter.
For FRAPS see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMTGy-wbdSU or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOSzyv2vJeM. You will probably need to turn down the volume of the in-game sound so that your microphone can be heard.
For VoiceMeeter try https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6rp9lkiFBU.
Gale
Thank you for the reply. When I record I make sure to close everything that isn’t required, and I am using Windows 8.
I record my gameplay (video & audio) separate from my live commentary. The gameplay is recorded through a program called Bandicam when recording PC gameplay, and through a program called Game Capture HD (Elgato) for consoles. I checked the sample rate for my different recordings and they are all recorded at 48,000 hz.
VoiceMeeter looks like a promising option, though, so I’m going to give that a try and see if it works out!