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Problems with audio playback during recording


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  • Noob

Hi all, 

 

I am desperately looking for some help doing some home recordings. Nothing fancy, just one microphone and a laptop, yet still can't manager to get it going properly.

 

So, what's the problem? 

 

I have a Zoom H2 recorder. I use it mostly for rehearsal recordings, but now I'd like to try to make some multi-track recordings at home. As I only have one mini-jack input/output channel on my laptop, I try to use the USB interface of my H2. I connect it to my computer, choose Audio i/f, and then I have to choose 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz. 

 

Now the problem: I want to hear myself when recording directly, plus hearing the previous audio that I play back on my laptop. I've got my headphones on the Zoom H2 recorder. When I choose the 44.1 kHz option, I hear myself great and record with good enough quality. However, if I play back from the laptop, the sound is cracking very much and is very loud on my headphones. When I choose the 48 kHz option, I can't hear myself, no matter what I try to do with the laptop audio settings...

 

Thanks for reading my post, if you have any experience or advice on this, that would be great. Really looking forward on just having this issue dealt with so I can entertain myself with some multi-track recordings to get me through all this time at home...!

 

Cheers, Bart

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Hey

 

As Patchez has highlighted, it takes a lot of effort to reasonably answer a question where the original post has lacked key information. kudos to Patchez for investing

 

From your description it couldbe distortion, introduced at one or more points in your signal chain. Each element in your hardware chain has an input volume and an output volume. There is usually an input gain control and an output volume. Additionally, you have input gain and output volume for every software component. If at any point in your signal chain you blow the level, you will introduce digital distortion. At certain points you can also introduce analog distortion, depending on your set up.

 

Without essential info you might as well ask, "how long is a piece of string?". We can guess, but being correct is more luck than anything else.

 

No sense in me repeating the details he asks for, though once you post it up I will happily contribute my two cents if it is needed :)

 

Cheers

 

John

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  • Noob

Hi guys,

 

Wow, I didn't expect such an elaborate response so quickly already. I really appreciate the effort put into the replies, and I'm sorry if I didn't give enough information about the problem I'm having. Truth is, I've been using this Zoom device for a while, but never got to use it as an audio device and have no idea what I'm doing. I've searched for ages on the internet about this kind of problems but only messed up the audio settings of my previous computer at some point. Now that I have a different laptop but the same problems, I thought: why not ask this, who knows, maybe someone just knows what's up.

 

So, let me try be more clear on everything. Not sure which information is necessary, sorry if I miss important details or share irrelevant details. 

 

The set-up:

- H2 Zoom: 

  o USB output -> USB input laptop

  o Phones/Line out -> Headphones

 

That's about it. Nothing fancy. 

 

Software:

- MixPad by NCH Software. 

 

Results:

- I can hear myself well;
- Recordings are good quality;
- All sounds from laptop to headphones (through H2) are very bad quality / cracking, thus making it shitty to record over a previous recording

 

The Plan:

- To be able to record multi-tracks just to work on new ideas for songs

 

@john Thanks also for your response. Could be digital distortion, sounds a bit like it. However, I can't find a way to change any input/output volumes. I can play all sounds at a lower volume, but it'll be just a cracked sound with lower volume... 

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5 minutes ago, Bart de Man said:

Hi guys,

 

Wow, I didn't expect such an elaborate response so quickly already. I really appreciate the effort put into the replies, and I'm sorry if I didn't give enough information about the problem I'm having. Truth is, I've been using this Zoom device for a while, but never got to use it as an audio device and have no idea what I'm doing. I've searched for ages on the internet about this kind of problems but only messed up the audio settings of my previous computer at some point. Now that I have a different laptop but the same problems, I thought: why not ask this, who knows, maybe someone just knows what's up.

 

So, let me try be more clear on everything. Not sure which information is necessary, sorry if I miss important details or share irrelevant details. 

 

The set-up:

- H2 Zoom: 

  o USB output -> USB input laptop

  o Phones/Line out -> Headphones

 

That's about it. Nothing fancy. 

 

Software:

- MixPad by NCH Software. 

 

Results:

- I can hear myself well;
- Recordings are good quality;
- All sounds from laptop to headphones (through H2) are very bad quality / cracking, thus making it shitty to record over a previous recording

 

The Plan:

- To be able to record multi-tracks just to work on new ideas for songs

 

@john Thanks also for your response. Could be digital distortion, sounds a bit like it. However, I can't find a way to change any input/output volumes. I can play all sounds at a lower volume, but it'll be just a cracked sound with lower volume... 

 

Another possibility occurs, and that is digital crosstalk if you have cabling overlapping. So for example, if you have an analog cable connecting one device to the other, and you have a digital or midi cable in close proximity, it is possible that you will pick up crosstalk. The exact kind of crosstalk noise varies. MIDI give a distinctly different crosstalk from say digital audio, or mains power cables or even another analog line. If it sounds like bursts of crackles it tends to be MIDI, digital audio tends to be more regular clicks, mains tends to be 50Hz -60Hz hum and analog depends greatly on what is being transmited across the analog line at the time.

 

Solution, separate your leads sufficiently to minimise crosstalk.

 

:)

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