Delay when recording

[supersize]

when ever i go to record vocals, it will move it, im matching up with the beat perfect, but then when im done recording, it moves it to the right a little and its off track. so then i got to go in and move it back over to the left. Why is it doing this and what can i do to stop it or set it back to normal? thanks!

[kozikowski]

That particular delay you can fix.

Edit > Preferences > Audio I/O > Latency.

Koz

[supersize]

my buffer is at 100 and my correction is at 200, what should i change them to make it line up perfect?

[steve]

See here for how to set up latency correction: http://manual.audacityteam.org/index.ph ... tency_Test

[supersize]

i dont understand how to correct it. it still has a major delay

[steve]

Are you talking about the second recorded track being out of sync with the first track, or are you talking about hearing a delay in your headphones while you are recording?

If you are asking about the second recorded track being out of sync with the first track, are you able to slide the second track into position using the time-shift tool (double headed arrow) so that the two tracks line up correctly? If not, please describe why you can't.

[supersize]

yes it will let me slide it back over but it never used to make me do that before.. and its a pain in the ass because its hard to get them to line up again

[kozikowski]

<<<it never used to make me do that before.>>>

Before you got a new computer?

Koz

[supersize]

no its the same computer i always used. same version, same everything. it just randomly changed. now when i record, theres a delay, and its a PITA to have to shift it and it never lines up the same again. so how would i correct it?

[steve]

but then when im done recording, it moves it to the right a little and its off track.

If the track is moving to the right then you have latency correction set too high.
The bigger the latency correction number, the more Audacity will move the track to the right.
The more negative the latency correction number, the more Audacity will move the track to the left.
If latency correction is set to zero, Audacity will not automatically adjust the track.

Start the latency correction test with "Latency correction" set to zero.
The second recorded track will be a bit to the right of the original track.

Zoom in, and set the time boxes at the bottom of the track to show "hh:mm:ss+milliseconds".
Look at how far to the right the second track is from the first track - it will probably be somewhere between 50 and 250 millisecond to the right of the first track.
That figure is the "latency" delay of your system.
You want Audacity to automatically correct this.

To tell Audacity to move the new recorded track to the left (so that it will line up), you need to set the latency correction to a negative number.

For example, if in the above test the second track is 126 milliseconds to the right, set the latency correction to "-126" (minus 126).

Delete the second track and repeat the test.
The second track should be much closer now because Audacity adjusts the position of the track.
If when you repeat the test the second track is still a bit to the right of the original, you need to set the latency correction a bit more negative - for example to move it an additional 3 milliseconds, change the "-126" to "-129".
If when you repeat the test the second track is now a bit to the left of the original, you need to set the latency correction a bit less negative - for example to move it 3 milliseconds less, change the "-126" to "-123".