Recordings are Skipping. Any ideas?

[steve]

Just a thought - do you have any other USB devices connected to your computer?

[butter]

Koz - As for the virus scan, this PC was just rebuilt before i began to use it for recording. Just to cover all base's, I will initiate a virus scan as well as run an adware scan today.

No other USB devices connect to my laptop other then the mic.

[steve]

We must be missing something here - so looking for clues...

Could you post some screenshots of the following:

Audacity "Preferences -> Audio I/O"
Open up "Task Manager" on the "Applications" Tab, start Audacity then take another screenshot.
Switch the Task Manager to the "Processes" Tab, start Audacity recording, and take another screenshot of the Task Manager.

[butter]

When my mic is connected, the Recording Device window shows the Blue Snowball.






CPU reads 1%





CPU reads 17%

I'll take another round of screen shots when the mic is connected to compare the cpu levels and the I/O preferences.

[steve]

The cpu seems to be peaking fairly high, but not excessively (a bit hard to see in the picture)
I'll be interested to see how it compares with the snowball plugged in.

It may also be worth checking out this thing that I found:
http://audacityteam.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=2086

[butter]

I thought that might have been the issue when I read that link but the controller installed in my laptop is manufactured by Intel.

Intel 82801DB/DBM USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller 24CD

I plan to test with a different laptop tomorrow night. I'll post my results as well as the other screen shots of CPU usage when the mic is plugged in.

[alatham]

Because you tried using the Beta version with the "Hold all data" option, I think we can rule out poor hard drive speed. That option makes Audacity store all the audio data in RAM until you're done recording, and then writes all the data to disc at it's own pace (thus bypassing any slow hard drive problems).

You're also hearing these clicks at the same time every time you play the files back (correct?) That means the audio data is bad, not the audio playback (so it's not your sound card).

The only things that are left are 1) data corruption (seems unlikely), 2) bad data from the mic, 3) bad data from the USB port (also seems unlikely), and 4) some other program that is hogging resources.

You can test #2 by using the mic elsewhere. You can test #3 by plugging the mic into the other USB port (though it could be that all the USB ports aren't working properly, I can't think of a way to test this).

#4 is the place I'd be looking most closely. Your screenshots indicate that you have 70 processes running on that laptop. That's a TON. I've only got 27 running on my desktop (remember that desktops generally have more power to work with and can get away with more). Granted, my desktop is pretty well taken care of, and I don't run any virus checkers or other superfluous software.

Your best bet might be to simply streamline your operating system. Even if it doesn't fix the mic, it'll at least run nicer. Here's a short list of tweaks you can try:
http://www.micsupply.com/laptopoptimizing.htm

There are probably many other sites that will be even more helpful, google should help you out here. I searched for "optimizing a laptop"

[steve]

It's those CPU usage peaks that get me - on my old box I'm at over 84% usage when I record, but it's pretty stable within a couple of percent, so it records without any drop outs or glitches (yes I know I need a better machine )
Whatever is running that causes those spikes is probably the culprit.

Anyone have experience of what a "normal" cpu usage plot on a modern computer looks like when recording?

[waxcylinder]

My cpu runs at between 10-22% while recording, 366MB PageFile Usage - no other processes running - machine is a Dell Dimension 2400 running Windows XP-HE-SP2.

WC

[butter]

okay, I made all the changes listed in the http://www.micsupply.com/laptopoptimizing.htm article.

I still show 73 processes running but i managed to kill about 25 of them. My CPU is now fluctuating between 5% - 10% with spikes no higher then 24% while recording.

I'll give it another go tonight and see if that helped out. i'll take some screen shots with the Mic connected and recording as well.

thanks for all the suggestions. I'll post my results in the morning.