Jitter and Lag Problem

[steve]

But I don't think the program file was corrupt initially because I used it for a considerable period of time.

It's probably worth checking the hard drive for errors/bad sectors as koz suggested. Files should not go bad. I would also be doing a full system scan with my anti-virus program just to be on the safe side.

[blugrassfun]

You're right. I just ran ckdisk - no errors. Defrag says this drive does not need defragmentation. Like I said, I just ran it recently. Also recently I went through a major virus cleanup. Someone else got this comp infected and it was a long ordeal to get it clean - but it is clean now. Every antivirus and antimalware prog in my arsenal says so. Zero bugs/infections/malware.

Now what it could be.... machine-wise.... is not enough ram. Especially since I have several antivirus progs running in the background. But! It's more than the min required. And, it ran fine for a significant period of time. And, that's why in my OP I mentioned rebooting to clear the machine out.

And now, I'll share one more symptom that I haven't mentioned. Just before all this started I opened Audacity. I've left it so that screen with the links to support still pops up. So anyway, I opened Audacity - then I was distracted by something and I opened a couple more programs and did whatever I needed to do and when I got back around to resuming Audacity when I clicked the top-right "x" to close that white page with the support links..... it didn't close. Audacity did not respond. I closed it through Program Manager (program not responding) and rebooted. That's when the lagging and skipping started. So I rebooted a couple more times. Then I started looking for what was wrong and after I couldn't figure it out I posted here.... and you know the rest.

And I've been working on learning to record since I reinstalled. Seems to be working ok. (Knock wood!)

Actually, my hardware kind of has me befuddled at the moment. You don't know a good place to get some hardware/routing/computer interface kind of info do you?

[blugrassfun]

P.S. I'm reluctant to get another comp at the moment. I have a vista machine and I don't want to buy another of those. XP is getting pretty old and I'm afraid ms is going to stop supporting it so I'm hesitant to get another machine with xp. I was considering win7 but I notice there are some problems being reported on the board here so that kind of puts me off win7 - at least for the immediate future. Do you have a suggestion? Thanks.

[steve]

XP is getting pretty old and I'm afraid ms is going to stop supporting it so I'm hesitant to get another machine with xp.

That's why I switched to Linux a couple of years ago. The original retirement date for XP was over 5 years ago and it's only because Vista was such an underwhelming success that XP has had its lifespan doubled. Linux is not without its own issues and the sound system can be a pain to set up, but it is a modern operating system and works exceedingly well. You can try it out without installing it by using a "Live CD" (the standard Ubuntu installation CD can be used as a Live CD - see the Ubuntu site for details).

When I first tried Linux I still had programs on XP that I wanted to use, so I set up my computer as a "dual boot" system - that means that when you boot up the computer you can choose whether to boot into Windows or Linux. After about a year I realised that the only time I was using XP was to update it, so now I've removed it completely.

[blugrassfun]

Thanks for the tip. I've been considering Ubuntu and now I think I'll get it on my do list and see if I can do a transition over time. Btw, can you tell me what my tracks should look like in Audacity? If I'm creating multiple tracks within a project should each individual track be recorded at a level just below clipping or should I shoot for a minimal track wave or should I be somewhere in between? I really have no idea. Any guidance is appreciated!

[steve]

If I'm creating multiple tracks within a project should each individual track be recorded at a level just below clipping or should I shoot for a minimal track wave or should I be somewhere in between?

When recording I aim for a peak level that is over half way (+/- 0.5) which is the same as -6dB. Somewhere near +/- 0.5 is close enough, you don't need to squeeze the last 0.1dB out of the recording. It IS important that you do not exceed hit 0dB while you are recording as this WILL cause distortion.

I then Amplify the track to full scale (peak at 0db = +/- 1.0) This is not to improve performance, just to make it easier to see. If you are working in 32 bit audio (recommended for multi-track projects) amplifying tracks up and down is virtually lossless.

If you have multiple tracks that peak at 0dB, then there is a very good (bad) chance that the "mix" of these tracks will exceed 0dB and you will get clipping distortion. To avoid that situation I use the volume sliders (either the ones on the left side of the tracks or the "Mixer Board" (from the "View" menu) to reduce the volume of all tracks.

More recent versions of Audacity 1.3.x are more "forgiving" about peak levels while you are working. Provided that you are working in 32 bit, Audacity can handle signals that are greater than 0dB. You still need to take care though as some effects will clip (distort) signals over 0dB, as will your sound card.

[blugrassfun]

You're a good writer. I understood that perfectly. Thanks!

[kozikowski]

Of course, if Windows® is starting to get to you, Linux isn't the only option ...

Koz

[blugrassfun]

Do tell.

[steve]

Koz is a Mac user