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I'm using Windows Xp on my Acer aspire 5100 notebook. I'm using the cheapest genius mic for recording stuff. Whenever i hit record in any audio software the recording starts normally and then all of a sudden the waveform's amplitude in the program's display shrinks. When i playback what i've just recorded, again it starts normally and in the place where the signal has gotten tighter it sounds like from a barrel or something like that. It also has a slight flanger effect to it. I didn't had this problem before. When i play solos in higher octaves there's a less chance that that will happen. But whenever i play riffs on the lower strings it always happens. I'm using a Squier Stratocaster which i connect to a Marshall AVT 50X. I put the mic in front of the amp and plug the mic into the laptop's mic input. If you need a sample i'l upload it and post the link.

Comments

TheJackAttack Sat, 01/23/2010 - 16:35

1st) I'm afraid in my experience Acer brand laptops exhibit tons of in built latency. This is difficult to overcome when it can.

2nd) What you are experiencing is an I/O error with the ASIO driver. Usually this occurs when more than one device is trying to be primary controller for the ASIO driver. Tweak your operating system and try again.

anonymous Sun, 01/24/2010 - 09:59

What you are experiencing is an I/O error with the ASIO driver. Usually this occurs when more than one device is trying to be primary controller for the ASIO driver. Tweak your operating system and try again.

I uninstalled ASIO drivers. The problem was very rare today. But it seems to come back randomly :frown:. Any ideas? Except that now the waveform shrinks more. But i tried with a nylon guitar today (mic to guitar hole).

TheJackAttack Sun, 01/24/2010 - 10:19

I reread your post. You say you are using a genius mic? If this is what I think this is, you are using a computer video chat mic to try to record? You need a better mic and an interface of some sort. The mic/line ports on a computer are not adequate for recording music. At the very least you'll need one of those usb microphone things.

anonymous Mon, 01/25/2010 - 06:47

TheJackAttack, post: 298368 wrote: I reread your post. You say you are using a genius mic? If this is what I think this is, you are using a computer video chat mic to try to record? You need a better mic and an interface of some sort. The mic/line ports on a computer are not adequate for recording music. At the very least you'll need one of those usb microphone things.

Can you suggest me the best solution for this? I have no idea what are professionals using today to record on laptops with mics. I've heard that extern usb sound cards and real mics are used by professionals. Is that the best combination for laptop recording ?

TheJackAttack Mon, 01/25/2010 - 08:16

Depends on your budget. You basically need a small two or four channel interface from a reputable company like Presonus, Mackie, TC Electronics, M-Audio or similar. Avoid the cheapest units and avoid Alesis. As to microphone, your best bet is to start off with a Shure SM57.

As an alternative, you could look into the Zoom H4n which can be used as an interface but is primarily a mobile recorder. It has built in microphones plus the ability to expand to different or better mic's later through the bottom jacks.

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