Distortion

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rj7500
Posts: 259
Joined: Tue Jun 02, 2009 6:42 pm
Operating System: Windows 10

Distortion

Post by rj7500 » Tue Mar 21, 2017 6:11 pm

Hi folks
I was recording all day with the same settings, same mic, same A>D converter, cables etc.
At one point I encounterd the distortion heard on the attached .aup file and I have no idea where it came from or how to fix it. I do know that clearing the file from the destop and re-recording stopped the distortion but a random problem like this can be disastrous.

Running Audacity 2.1.1
Windows 10
Presonus Audiobox directly wired to the computer.

Thanks in advance
Bob H
Attachments
Sample For Audacity Forum.aup
(19.33 KiB) Downloaded 40 times

Gale Andrews
Quality Assurance
Posts: 41761
Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2007 12:02 am
Operating System: Windows 10

Re: Distortion

Post by Gale Andrews » Tue Mar 21, 2017 6:17 pm

An AUP file is not an audio file. Please see How to post an audio sample.

Also see http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/faq_ ... .html#sync - scroll down to "To fix speed drift, pitch and quality problems, try the following tips".


Gale
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DVDdoug
Forum Crew
Posts: 9416
Joined: Fri Sep 10, 2010 11:30 pm
Operating System: Windows 10

Re: Distortion

Post by DVDdoug » Tue Mar 21, 2017 7:03 pm

but a random problem like this can be disastrous.
This is going to sound "defensive", but it's usually not "Audacity's fault". During recording, Audacity has a fairly simple task of capturing the audio data stream from the drivers and sending it to your hard drive in a particular format.

People who are serious about recording often have dedicated computer that doesn't get messed-with. If the computer's settings/configuration/applications aren't changed, you are less-likely to have random problems.

And if you're recording something critical where there's no chance of "take two", you should have a separate back-up system recording in parallel. (That 2nd recorder doesn't have to be a computer.) ...Computers are the least reliable gizmos we own! ...Mostly because we mess with them.

rj7500
Posts: 259
Joined: Tue Jun 02, 2009 6:42 pm
Operating System: Windows 10

Re: Distortion

Post by rj7500 » Wed Mar 22, 2017 4:43 pm

Attached audio sample
Note...a totally random problem..........one good recording.......(no setting changes).....one bad recording.
Audacity was closed and reopened.........next recording wa flawless
Attachments
Sample For Audacity Forum.mp3
(1.23 MiB) Downloaded 24 times

Gale Andrews
Quality Assurance
Posts: 41761
Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2007 12:02 am
Operating System: Windows 10

Re: Distortion

Post by Gale Andrews » Wed Mar 22, 2017 4:58 pm

I think there is suspicion of dropouts so also look at http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Manag ... nd_Drivers.



Gale
________________________________________FOR INSTANT HELP: (Click on Link below)
* * * * * Tips * * * * * Tutorials * * * * * Quick Start Guide * * * * * Audacity Manual

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