Okay, in my last post I described a particular problem with
synchronization when using Vegas with my SoundBlaster Live!
Platinum. To recap, it basically records at a different
speed than it plays back, which means if you record a track
while simultaneously listening to other tracks, the newly-
recorded track starts out in sync with the other tracks,
but progressively falls behind by the end of the song. I
don't know if this problem has ever been addressed before,
but just in case I want to let everybody know I found a fix:
To fix it, you must always record and play back at 48 kHz,
16-bit.
Now for the explanation why: The SoundBlaster Live (all
versions, including the regular, Platinum, or Value
versions) is based on the EMU10K1 processor. It turns out
that this processor functions entirely at 48 kHz. Whenever
you play something at any other frequency, the sound card
transforms it to 48 kHz... if you play a 44.1 kHz sound
file, the card literally transforms it to 48 kHz in real-
time to process it. What's more, if you're recording a 44.1
kHz project, the card is actually processing a 48 kHz
signal and downsampling to 44.1 kHz.
The problem is that the SoundBlaster Live has to do all
this in real-time, and doesn't seem to do it perfectly.
This accounts for the sync problems... it can't keep up
when it tries to resample everything. I don't know if it's
the fault of the hardware or the drivers, but it definitely
isn't Vegas. I'm hoping it's the drivers - if the drivers
are at fault, then perhaps there will be a fix in the
future (I'm using the latest drivers released May 5, so it
hasn't been fixed yet).
The upshot of all this is that you have to record
everything at 48 kHz if you want it to work correctly. I've
tried this and it works perfectly. This sort of presents a
problem for those of us who are recording CD-quality audio
projects - we'll have to resample the finished product from
48 to 44.1 when we have our final mix. I don't know if I
like that solution or not.
As for the E-MU Audio Production Station, I just want to
point out that it's based on the same processor as the
SoundBlaster Live, and therefore may exhibit the same
problems. I haven't worked with this card, so I don't know,
but if it's a problem, the fix I've described should work
for the E-MU APS as well.
synchronization when using Vegas with my SoundBlaster Live!
Platinum. To recap, it basically records at a different
speed than it plays back, which means if you record a track
while simultaneously listening to other tracks, the newly-
recorded track starts out in sync with the other tracks,
but progressively falls behind by the end of the song. I
don't know if this problem has ever been addressed before,
but just in case I want to let everybody know I found a fix:
To fix it, you must always record and play back at 48 kHz,
16-bit.
Now for the explanation why: The SoundBlaster Live (all
versions, including the regular, Platinum, or Value
versions) is based on the EMU10K1 processor. It turns out
that this processor functions entirely at 48 kHz. Whenever
you play something at any other frequency, the sound card
transforms it to 48 kHz... if you play a 44.1 kHz sound
file, the card literally transforms it to 48 kHz in real-
time to process it. What's more, if you're recording a 44.1
kHz project, the card is actually processing a 48 kHz
signal and downsampling to 44.1 kHz.
The problem is that the SoundBlaster Live has to do all
this in real-time, and doesn't seem to do it perfectly.
This accounts for the sync problems... it can't keep up
when it tries to resample everything. I don't know if it's
the fault of the hardware or the drivers, but it definitely
isn't Vegas. I'm hoping it's the drivers - if the drivers
are at fault, then perhaps there will be a fix in the
future (I'm using the latest drivers released May 5, so it
hasn't been fixed yet).
The upshot of all this is that you have to record
everything at 48 kHz if you want it to work correctly. I've
tried this and it works perfectly. This sort of presents a
problem for those of us who are recording CD-quality audio
projects - we'll have to resample the finished product from
48 to 44.1 when we have our final mix. I don't know if I
like that solution or not.
As for the E-MU Audio Production Station, I just want to
point out that it's based on the same processor as the
SoundBlaster Live, and therefore may exhibit the same
problems. I haven't worked with this card, so I don't know,
but if it's a problem, the fix I've described should work
for the E-MU APS as well.