This is a compilation of the frequently asked questions on digital recording studio troubleshooting. This is a helpful guide for beginners and novices that are encountering some technical issues with their studio.
To make this a user-friendly guide, it will be grouped into the following topics:
a.) Hardware related issues
b.) Operating system related issues
c.) Digital audio workstation (DAW)/Recording software issues
Hardware related issues
Q.1) I already bought a USB audio interface, but the computer is running out of USB ports; any advice?
If you are really serious in completing your digital recording studio; you should assign a dedicated USB port for your audio interface. You should have at least 4 USB ports to get started. The following are the most important peripheral devices that will be using the USB ports in your PC:
a.) Mouse
b.) Keyboard
c.) Audio interface
d.) Spare USB port for external hard drive/etc.
If you don’t have enough USB ports for the above peripheral devices (highly unlikely unless your computer is very old); it is much better to buy a new computer with modern motherboards. This means assembling a new computer dedicated for recording and music production use.
The main benefits are increased USB speed (modern motherboards supports fast USB connections such as USB 3.0) and lots of available USB ports. They also support faster CPU and memory devices.
It is not recommended to connect your USB audio interface to the USB hub because of performance issues; see the next related question for details.
Q.2) Can I connect my USB audio interface to a powered USB hub?
USB hub provides an easy way to connect more USB devices than the available USB port in your computer. The problem with this setup is when you are running out of available USB bus bandwidth typically if there are other USB devices connected to the hub.
The best practice is to directly connect your audio interface to the dedicated USB port in your computer motherboard. Do not use the USB hub. This will allow your system to provide the most efficient bandwidth allocation for your audio interface. Take note that this is a critical performance factor in your digital recording studio. Lack of bandwidth can cause dropouts, latency and recording issues during actual use.
There are desktop computers with USB ports in the front panel. Take note that these can be powered differently or wired in a USB hub configuration than the USB ports in your motherboard.
Thus in some aspects; it cannot supply enough power or bandwidth to heavy duty USB devices like the audio interface. Always use the USB port at the back of your motherboard.
Q.3.) How about Firewire; does it have the same rules and best implementation practices as USB with regards to audio interfaces?
Yes. You also need to ensure that Firewire audio interface is connected to a dedicated Firewire port in your motherboard. You should also not connect it to a Firewire hub.
In addition; you need to check that your motherboard Firewire chip is compatible with your audio interface. Check the manual of your motherboard and audio interface for details.
Read the following tutorials for more information about optimizing USB and Firewire:
USB vs Firewire audio interface- Select which one is best for you
Optimize Windows XP for Firewire &USB Audio Interface during Recording
Q.4) What are the best hardware practices on avoiding noise in digital recording studio?
Always use balanced cables and recording gears designed for professional music production. For balanced cables; this means both ends (the connectors) as well as the wiring itself are designed to work with a balanced connection. Professional recording gears accepts both balanced input and output connections. Most PCI soundcards and all on-board sound cards do not accept these types of balanced connections. It is why they are noisy. It is recommended you read this balanced and unbalanced audio guide.
Q.5) What hardware specs are optimal for digital recording applications?
If you have the budget to buy the most recent hardware specs then go ahead. More powerful hardware specs translate to better performance when used with a digital audio workstation. If you want to know the least/minimum specs requirement; the following are recommended:
a.) Pentium 4 equivalent processor (Intel Core i3 equivalent speed and above)
b.) At least 4GB RAM
c.) 1TB SATA dedicated hard drive for your recording/data
d.) 500GB SATA dedicated hard drive for your operating system
e.) Motherboard that supports both USB and Firewire connectivity (USB 3.0 and at least with Firewire 400 support)
f.) 19inch to 21 inch LED/LCD monitor
g.) UPS (Uninterruptible power supply) for protecting your computer against sudden power surges and brownouts. The above hardware specs work out perfectly for older 32-bit operating systems such as Windows XP. For more details read this post on 13 important factors in computer audio recording
Operating system related issues
Q.6) My computer is very sluggish. And when used with recordings; there are lots of drop outs and latency issues, any advice?
First, make sure your computer hardware can fully support the operating system installed. You can refer to the recommended hardware specs on the previous question. If your hardware is OK; the next thing to do is to back up your PC important files. After that; you need to reinstall the operating system. This will reset everything and remove all those issues that slow down your computer. You also need to update again your operating system for security and stability reasons.
Don’t install any non-recording related software (games, etc.). Then proceed to install your audio interface drivers and recording software. This will solve 90% of the operating system related issues; the remaining 10% is related to hardware problems (defective motherboard, etc.).
Q.7) What is the fastest and quickest way to optimize my OS?
Most operating system like Windows provides options to run for best performance. Make sure you enable that option. When enabled, this will turn off any fancy graphics and sound; thus making your computer run efficient and faster.
For more information, refer to this post on Windows XP/7 audio recording DAW tweaks & optimization tips
Q.8) I think my operating system does not support the audio interface; is this really the case?
The simplest way to troubleshoot this is to look at your audio interface manual. There should be some information pertaining to the supported operating systems. If it is not clearly stated, you can contact the technical support.
Q.9.) Hi. I wanted to ask you about an issue with using Window’s software Sound Recorder. I can’t get the Sound Recorder to record using my microphone(s) on my Vista computer. I click Start Recording then, when I’m done, I click Stop Recording, save the recorded audio as a Windows Media Audio (WMA) file (it’s set by default), but when I play the saved recording there is no sound.
I followed the instructions here. I can see, in the Sound window (in the Recording Tab), the microphones’ volume level fluctuate when I speak through it so the microphone is working okay. The volume icon for my computer is turned up, and it’s not muted.
The levels (Hardware and Sound > Manage audio devices > Recording tab > Properties > Levels tab to find volume slider) under microphone properties are turned up too. I have both a sound card and speakers installed on my computer.
My sound card is updated. I’ve read somewhere to Right-Click in the blank white area in Recording Tab and select “Show Disabled Devices” that, if supported, new selections will appear such as: Stereo Mix, What U Hear, etc. Right-Click on “Stereo Mix”, “What U Hear” or similar and you to select “Enable”, and Right-Click on the same item again and select “Set as Default Device”, then click OK.
But nothing comes up and “Show Disabled Devices” was already selected. The only existent selections apparently in Recording tab are my microphones. I’ve done pretty much what I’ve read to do and am stumped on this problem.
Other software, like the free software Audacity gives me the same issue. Toshiba (my computer brand) told me my warranty expired 2009 and will have to charge me over $40 to assistance me with something that may not need any fixing but is just not working due to something I’m overlooking. Doing a web search, I’m apparently not the only one with this issue.
Any help you could provide me with on this subject would be is appreciated.
Potential Issues and Solutions
Looking upon your problem, one could the issues:
1.) Your player does not support the playback of Windows Media Player (wma) files. Have you tried playing the recorded audio in Windows Media player as it natively supports wma files?
Of course this assumes there is no problem in the recording.
2.) Try saving the files as other file types such as WAV instead of WMA. Then play it in media player after recording.
3.) Since you are using a default sound card, set the bit depth and sample rate to 16-bit/44.1KHz. You should find in Sound Recording – Properties.
Sound Recorder
If you record beyond that, your players might be having some playback issue.
4.) Make sure you have enabled the microphone for recording. You can see this in your sound device. See screenshot below:
Microphone enabled
5.) It would also mean that your sound device drivers are corrupt; even though you find it working. Try reinstalling the drivers; do this at your own risk. Make sure you install the right drivers for your sound recording device.
6.) Windows has some guidelines on how to troubleshoot sound recorder related issue. You can read it here.
If the above suggestions still do not work. I recommend doing a hardware troubleshooting process as suggested by Microsoft. You can read the details on that page. Good luck.
Digital audio workstation (DAW)/Recording software issues
Q.10) I cannot record with my audio interface using the preferred DAW software?
First, uninstall the recording software completely. Then you need to make sure that you have fully installed the audio interface drivers before re-installing your DAW software. Refer to the audio interface manual for the full procedures on installing the drivers.
When you are sure that you have correctly installed the audio interface drivers; install again your DAW software. Then go to audio devices section in your DAW where you can configure the recording and playback devices. Make sure it is set with your installed audio interface.
For example if you are using REAPER Digital audio workstation software, you can go to Preferences — > Audio — > Device. See an example configuration below:
audio interface configuration
The installed device is Saffire Pro 40 and it appears as “ASIO Saffire”. If you are not using REAPER; read your DAW software manual on how to add your audio interface. There are times when you cannot really add the audio interface to work with your software. Below are the primary reasons:
a.) The audio interface is not supported by your DAW software. For example; some very old DAW does not yet support ASIO. This makes it very hard or impossible to use the audio interface with the software. The solution is to install modern software that supports ASIO.
b.) The audio interface driver is corrupt or needs updating. This makes the operation highly unstable and it cannot communicate properly with your software. You need to install the latest drivers.
Q.11) The recording quality is bad, any tips for best capture quality?
Always set your audio interface and DAW to record at 24-bits/44.1KHz WAV format. This should be the minimum recording resolution. If you are recording at 16-bits, it will degrade easily in the mix because of less headroom and lack of detail in the capture. Don’t use MP3 when recording, mixing or mastering. Instead use a lossless file format such as WAV and record at minimum resolution.
Q.12) Is there any way to minimize the latency issues in the digital audio workstation software?
First, make sure you are using ASIO drivers. Modern professional audio interface used in music production are usually using ASIO drivers. Second, check if the computer hardware is powerful enough to handle digital recording applications. Refer to the hardware specs question in the hardware FAQ section.
Third, you need to make sure that the operating system is optimized for audio applications. As simple as enabling the best performance mode can make some difference. When all factors are complied; there should be little latency in your system. Latency of around 10ms to 20ms is OK for most applications. Modern DAW software like REAPER will provide some information pertaining to latency. You can also tweak the audio interface latency options (if available) by changing it to “short” latency.
For more details, refer to this guide on audio dropout and recording latency troubleshooting guide.
Content last updated on October 8, 2012