Aardvark DP 24/96/CEP2 Dropouts Arg!

[joe4324]

I've had a Direct PRO 24/96 for a few months now, I've done some experimenting with it and am at least semi comfortable using it. (but I'm sure I'm not getting every drop of ability out of it yet)

I've built a DAW for it, heres the general specs,

K7S5A (yeah its supposedly not compatible now... wish I had known before I BOUGH IT lol)

512MB PC2100
80GB WD SE 8MB cache
ATI Rage Mobility Video
(no flopy, no cdrom, nothing enabled but the network connection, no usb or onboard sound)

I cant say that I've ever had this rig 100% stable, but the same exact problems occured in win2k that I'm having in XP so I dont think its that simple...

At what seems to be a random point in time it will simply stop recording, I used to think it was due to too much information to write to the hard disks (4 tracks, full of sound at 24/96 simultaenously)

But now I dont believe thats the case as it still cuts out even with 1 track recording, But it seems to only dropout when there is alot of sound being picked up. if it was just dead air I dont think its ever dropedout.

I'm using the 7.04 Drivers for the aardvark and a FRESH install of winxp (with all the updates)

I'd put more information down but I have to run for lunch, I'll be back in a couple hours to add more (if I can think of it) and answer feedback.

thanks!

[This message has been edited by joe4324 (edited 05-01-2003).]

[Mr. Moon]

Joe,

Have you tried disabling the network card in the device manager when you're doing any kind of recording and/or monitoring; re-enabling it only when you need internet/network access? I have to do this with my system, or I get audible sound artifacts popping up when I record and/or playback audio files.

Also, since you report not using any USB devices, have you disabled USB in the system BIOS? This will help free up IRQ's and other system resources for the Aardvark to utilize. Be sure to disable all unused intergrated peripherals within the BIOS rather than the OS (except for the ones you'll use on a semi-regular basis, like the net card).

Hope this helps!

-Mr. Moon

[Herman Munster]

Originally posted by joe4324:
...a FRESH install of winxp (with all the updates)...

thanks!

Yes, seconding Moon's comments, you should definitely try disabling everything nonessential on your system just to rule them out as the source of problems.

Also, have you tweaked the system for audio? If not, check out www.musicxp.net (http://www.musicxp.net)

Finally, the latest XP update from MS may be causing you additional slowdowns:
http://forum.cubase.net/forum/Forum2/HTML/046829.html

Good luck,
Herm

[Mr. Moon]

HM,

Thanks for the info regarding the M$ patch causing slowdowns! I have been noticing this overall performance slowdown on every machine I've been running this patch on... What a bunch of crap!

Luckly, my DAW doesn't run online too often, so I can remove the patch. What about the rest of the machines that cannot have it removed because they're used extensively for internet browsing? Any idea when M$ will release an updated patch?

Here's more info: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=819634

-Mr. Moon

[This message has been edited by Mr. Moon (edited 04-29-2003).]

[joe4324]

Heya back again!

Ok, first off, Yes EVERYTHING is disabled in the bios except for the onboard NIC. I will try disabling it all together next.

I've done some of the tweaks to xp for the sound, but not all thanks for reposting that link!

Have any of you seen this problem before? nothing ruins the mood like jaming really good thinking how great of a beta demo recording it would be, only to look up and see that the software is still recording but there is no levels (no sound!) thats the bizzare thing, Cool edit pro keeps acting like its recording but all the sound comming in is gone. as if there is no sound on the inputs. (note, but it still registers in the aardvark control pannel, so is it CEP that has a problem???)

I need to dust off my sonar disk again and play with that some more, I just never devoted the time to trying to learn it, I know cooledit quite well and have done some good recordings with it, but its always seemed a little "buggy"

[Mr. Moon]

Joe,

Sounds like the same problem I had when I was using my USB mouse with my system, looked like it was still recording but even the VU meters on the Aardvark control panel were no longer moving. I was using Sonar 2.1 at the time... Once I disabled USB and used a USB/PS-2 adapter for my mouse, all was stable.

BTW: I usually disable my net card in the device manager, so I can enable it easily when I need web access, rather than the system BIOS.

I'm assuming your video card is AGP, correct? If not, get the cheepest 16 or 32 MB AGP ATI video card to replace it. If it is AGP, nevermind...

How many PCI slots did you try with the Aardvark card on your system when you installed it? Have you tried more than one? Does this problem replicate when it is installed in each PCI slot? Took me a couple of tries to find the best PCI slot on my system; just keep moving it from PCI slot to PCI slot until you find the one with the best PCI BUS efficiency and that is stable...

-Mr. Moon

[joe4324]

Moon thanks!

Yes I'm using an AGP card.

The aardvark is the only PCI card in the system. I dont believe I have tried any other slots but the one its in.

Im thinking that considering my mobo is the "only" one specifically listed on the aardvark site as being incompatible (go figure...) I should probably bite the bullet and get an Nforce2 board. In the meantime I'm probably going to use my main rig as the DAW if I cant get this "issue" worked out. I'm using a A7N8X-Deluxe in my main rig. lots of people seem to think that board is all that and a bag of potatoes when it comes to a DAW, maybe I should just go that route instead.

If throwing a little bit of money at this problem ($100 actually for a Epox board, wich is what I want in my system and I'll put the A7N8X in the DAW) I'd rather just do that if its going to mean fighting with this current rig for a while, I'd rather spend the money then the time...

IF any of you use MSN Messenger add me: joe4324@hotmail.com

we can chat about this stuff alot easier!

[Mr. Moon]

Sorry, I don't do the messenger thing... I type much slower than I think... http://www.audioforums.com/forums/smile.gif

But it sounds like you've got the right idea going out and getting a new MB, especially since Aardvark clearly states not to use the one you've got. I'm currently using an ASUS A7S333 with the SiS 745 chipset, and I love it! I've heard the new nforce2 MB's are supposed to be good, but I have no experience with them.

Good luck!

-Mr. Moon

[This message has been edited by Mr. Moon (edited 04-29-2003).]

[joe4324]

Today is my last attempt at trying to get this current system to work. I went through "everything" in those winxp tweak guides. disabled onboard lan, you name it. last night I recorded 2:19:29sec of 96khz/24bit audio with a condensor mic near my pc speakers. I played several games trying to "stress" it out, some were loud and some were quiet, it recorded the whole session without a single hitch...

Of course like always what happens at home isnt the same as what happens in the studio...

So if this doesnt work tonight I'm going to re-build this DAW with a different motherboard.

[jdier]

Joe,

I am curious about your problem. From the description I cannot tell if you:

1. Have drop outs during recording
<<OR>>>
2. Loose the ability to record

If you have problem #1, I am not interested, but if you have problem #2 I have a few questions:

- What does Aardvark say?
- Once the signal is lost what do you have to do to reestablish? (reboot? restart sonar? restart aardvark services?)

I ask, because my frustrations with my Q10's are of variety #2.

Jim

[joe4324]

jdier: to be honest I dont know witch one of those is the case...

Here is what happens.

I begin recording, everything appares fine, a few minutes go bye, maybe even 7-8 minutes, then at a randome time all my levels drop to 0, cool edit pro keeps recording but there is NO sound, then after a while cooledit stops recording altogether.

I dont know if this is a problem with cooledit or if its supposed to stop recording after a certian amount of time of dead silence.

To get my sound back i have to exit out of all my sound software and bring it back up again. then it acts like nothing was wrong. I think it could be something in my system affecting the aardvark drivers. or a REALLY picky intall of CEPII...

[joe4324]

Ok, Well I just back from practice. bad news... same crap. but since I'm sick and I was able to do my usual screaming I spent alot of time with the computer and this is EXACTLY what happens.

Ok I was trying to record 3 tracks at one time, at 96/24.

I hit record, everything starts going fine. the Harddrive flashes every few seconds no big deal.

As the music gets louder and more intense the harddrive flashes more. Then eventually it start acessing the harddrive nearly 100% of the time, and it starts to make my levels in CEP stutter (computer freezing) then the harddrive is acessing 100% and the computer freezes. for 5-10 seconds. then when it recovers it stops the recording all together...

what the heck can cause this?!

[joe4324]

Ok, I put the dp 24/96 into my main rig at home. Its got a A7N8X-Deluxe motherboard in it. and right off the bat it seemed to work great, I notice that there is some issues with minimizing windows while its recording, and I havent changed ANYthing yet on the system to make it more DAW friendly.

Of course what doesnt make any sense is that this same thing happend with the K7S5A it worked great at home recording mp3 files and stuff through the speakers with mics. but soon as I'm recording real instruments it seemed to start having a bunch of problems, ARG!

[jdier]

Joe,

Your problems are of variety #2, like mine.

If you have done all of the classic Aardvark suggested fixes, I cannot help any more.

You might want to call Aardvark and see if they have any new drivers that might fix your problem.

Good luck, I will keep you up on my progress.

Jim