LATENCY ISSSUES...Can't record properly!

Audacity 3 Help Forum Windows
1

I’m trying to lat down multiple tracks (drums, guitar) and can’t due to latency issues. The tracks won’t line up (rhythmically). For example, laying down quarter notes on the snare for track one and then doing the same for track two, they are off by a fraction of a second. This is SO frustrating as I have been trying to figure this out for days. I even went into the “preferences” drop down and tried playing around with the latency numbers…nothing has worked. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

2

There is a detailed tutorial here: http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/latency_test.html

3

Thanks for your response.

However, the issue is this: I play a chord on the guitar, and the sound comes out half of a second later. I hit the drums (which are also plugged into the back of my computer as it is an electronic set) and everything plays a fraction of a second later. How are you supposed to be able to record like this? Sorry, but I’m a bit frustrated.

4

can’t due to latency issues.

There’s two latencies. The one that creates the most trouble is machine latency. If you listen to the computer while you play, your sound will always be “one computer late.” Outside of changing the Audacity program, you’re stuck with that.

We recommend listening to your mixer, microphone or USB adapter instead of the computer to get rid of that.

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The other latency is Recording latency. That one you can set. That one lets you create new tracks that overlay the old ones correctly.

Audacity > Edit > Preferences > Recording > Latency Correction. It’s a little bit of a dance to set it, but basically you record a click track and play it with your headphones pressed against your microphone. Set the correction value to the amount they miss.

http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/tutorial_recording_multi_track_overdubs.html

If you don’t have a microphone in your system, then it’s a little harder. Record a backing track and play drums in time to it. Play those two back at the same time and measure the time difference. That’s a lot more hit and miss, but I think that’s the only way to set it.

Koz