Recording dropouts which sound like a phaser...

[Freddietrew]

Hi there,

Whenever I try to record I am getting dropouts which, over a period a second or so cuts the sound down to nothing, and it doesn't return. Either that, or there is a cyclic decaying phase effect, where the overall sound of the track deminishes as the sound phases in and out every 6 seconds or so. It is exactly like a phaser, or Yah-yah effect, except I don't have any effects running :s

I am recording my guitar from an amplifier with minimal gain, there is no clipping, and as far as I can tell I have configured all the inputs correctly. Has anyone had similar problems, and is there anyone with a suggestion?

Thanks!

[steve]

I suspect that it is Windows applying affects to "enhance" the sound quality. If you're recording via an on-board sound card, check the sound card settings to see if anything such as "Echo Cancellation" or "Noise Reduction" are enabled. Disable all effects.

If that does not fix the problem or you need more info. please give details of how you are recording, including what hardware, operating system, software versions and how it's all connected. Too much detail is better than not enough.

[Freddietrew]

Sorted! Thanks, I greatly appreciate the help. I'll try not to be such a noob next time

[steve]

For the benefit of other users that may have the same problem, perhaps you could describe exactly where the problem was and how you fixed it.

[Freddietrew]

Sure.

The problem was as you said, due to windows running sound enhancement on the microphone. It forced a dropout in the recording after several seconds. I went to the control panel, audio device management, recording properties and swithced the enhancement off and that sorted the problems. I'm not sure how the enhancements forced the dropouts bbut in any case, if anyone has the same issues, this should be the first thing to try.

Thanks again

[sambolino44]

I don't have dropouts, but recordings of acoustic guitar sound like there's a phaser on there. This is with a single mic on a mono channel, with no effects (that I can find) from my sound card. I've made several tests, making sure it wasn't being caused by moving the guitar, or by my picking hand touching the guitar top, or moving in front of the mic. The phase shift does not have a constant rate; it sounds like it follows the envelope. In other words, every strum has its own phase shift. Any ideas?

[steve]

I don't have dropouts, but recordings of acoustic guitar sound like there's a phaser on there. This is with a single mic on a mono channel, with no effects (that I can find) from my sound card. I've made several tests, making sure it wasn't being caused by moving the guitar, or by my picking hand touching the guitar top, or moving in front of the mic. The phase shift does not have a constant rate; it sounds like it follows the envelope. In other words, every strum has its own phase shift. Any ideas?

What operating system?
Which version of Audacity?
How is the guitar connected to the computer?
What sort of sound card?
Any other information that may help? (too much detail is better than not enough)

[sambolino44]

OS: Windows XP Professional Version 2002, Service Pack 3
Audacity version 1.3.13-beta (Unicode)
My computer has an AMD Phenom 8650 Triple-Core Processor, 2.30Ghz, 1.87 GB of RAM.
I'm recording an acoustic guitar with a single omnidirectional condenser microphone into a mono channel. The microphone is plugged directly into the integrated audio of my computer's motherboard.
The motherboard is a Biostar A740G M2+. From the documentation for the motherboard, the sound is listed as: ALC662 5.1 channels out High Definition Audio. From the Device Manager, under Sound, video and game controllers, there are eight entries; I'm not sure how many of them are relevant, but here are two of them:
ATI Function Driver for High Definition Audio - ATI 791A, driver version 5.0.40001.9 (7/13/2007)
Realtek High Definition Audio, driver version 5.10.0.5969 (10/28/2009)
Other info that pops up when I click on the Realtek HD Audio Manager icon in the system tray:
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0
Audion Controller: HD Audio
Audio Codec: ALC662
In the Microphone tab of the Realtek HD Audio Manager, neither Noise Suppression nor Acoustic Echo Cancelletion is selected.

[steve]

Thanks, that rules out a lot of possibilities.
Could you post a short sample recording - just 4 or 5 seconds in WAV format.

[sambolino44]

Please see the thread "unwanted phase shift" in the All Things Audio/Recording Techniques forum.
http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 26&t=57200