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Mic records a while , then crashes to noise. Why?

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 5:33 am
by JetBlack
I'm using a Blue Yeti USB mic to record the weekly meetings of my tabletop RPG group. I usually use Audacity on my laptop running Vista Home Premium, and everything always works pretty well.

I'd like to be able to record the sessions on my desktop (also Vista) that lives in the meeting room (basement) full time. However, every time I try to record from the mic on my desktop everything goes fine for a short time (1-2 minutes) and then suddenly the input turns into a solid blast of white noise and nothing I do can bring it back. If I start recording a new track, everything is back to normal, but again within a couple of minutes the sound crashes. I don't get it.

I've tried different USB jacks on the desktop, I've played with all the controls on the mic itself, and I've carefully checked the cable and the connection at both ends. It sounds like the trouble in is my desktop somewhere, but I've checked the drivers and updated all the patches and software. It SAYS everything is working fine. I'm stumped.

I'd be grateful for any suggestions or even stories of similar issues. Thanks.
-John

Re: Mic records a while , then crashes to noise. Why?

Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 7:31 am
by Trebor
If you are using Audacity 1.2 upgrade to 1.3.12 (Beta)...
We continue to recommend the ongoing Beta series for Windows 7, Windows Vista and Mac OS X 10.6, rather than 1.2

http://audacityteam.org/

If that doesn't fix it maybe something here might help ... http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Troub ... Recordings

Re: Mic records a while , then crashes to noise. Why?

Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:15 pm
by Irish
That looks very like the symptoms of a bad USB connection, causing the computer to lose the USB synchronisation. When that happens, the computer doesn't know what to make of the data coming in on the USB link, hence the white noise. It could also be caused by a large number uf USB devices competing for the computer's time.

Try reducing the number of USB devices in use to a minimum.
Don't use a USB hub, but connect the mic directly to the computer.
Try replacing the USB cable, if it is not permanently connected.

POL

Re: Mic records a while , then crashes to noise. Why?

Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 4:55 am
by Trebor
janrycjoven wrote:Is there any software that we can use to edit noise of recordings?
See ... http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Noise_Removal { BTW you should have started a new thread Janrycjoven, rather than adding to this one]

Re: Mic records a while , then crashes to noise. Why?

Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2011 1:15 am
by JetBlack
Thanks for the suggestions. I know the USB cable is OK because I've used it successfully on my laptop. I'm not using a USB hub, but maybe I'll try disconnecting some other USB devices. I also haven't tried the beta version of Audacity. I'll try these ideas out and let you know what happens. Thanks again.