Any music people here use Sonic Foundry/Acid Pro to record

[vi5]

on their computers? I'm trying to figure some stuff out but not having much success.

I can record tracks, and they come out sounding great. But I can't hear what I'm recording when I'm recording it. I can hear the other tracks, and I can play against those. But I just cannot hear what I am recording until I'm done recording it.

Is that just the limitation of my sound card? Or is there a setting on the program that I need to change?

[BigDaddyLove]

3. Isn't Acid more of a loop-based music creation tool?

That's what I alway thought it was for. I tend to use Pro Tools when working with/recording audio.....far superior to anything else (at least for the stuff that I do.)

Sorry I couldn't actually help.

:)

[Goldmund]

5. I've only barely used ACID...

...but usually there's an option called "input monitoring". Make sure it's enabled for your input channels.

And by the way, you should do yourself a favor and install that Sound Blaster, integrated sound cards are notoriously bad.

Also, they are wave files you're recording (I'm almost sure). .ACD files are simply project files, that tell the program which wave files to load on which tracks and what settings to put on them.

[kcwayne]

6. I use Cakewalk

I am using a Line6 POD to add effects to my guitar sounds. The POD has a S/PDIF digital output, and analog XLR outputs.

I also have an Aardvark with a Direct Pro Q10 I/O box. I hook up monitor speakers to the Q10, and put the Line6 output to one of the input ports on the Q10.

The control panel for the Aarkvark card lets me route my inputs and outputs, in the same way a traditional mixer does. So I map the input (the Guitar/Line6 feed) to the digital speakers (they don't have to be digital, they could be analog).

When I play, I hear the effected guitar as processed by the POD.

I can then use Cakewalk to record the input on a track. In Cakewalk, you also specify inputs and outputs, but it only processes a track as input or output, not both simultaneously. Perhaps some other software will do both simultanously, but I think that is pretty tricky to get done right in software because of the latency. It is much easier to do in hardware.


{TECH NOTE: This is because the signal coming into the soundcard must be converted to the intended output (which is the recording software). The recording software is also sending other pre-recorded tracks to the soundcard at the same time it is trying to write all the incoming data to disk, AND re-send the incoming sound out the soundcard. The routing of the input signal directly to a speaker is accomplished with much greater precision in the hardware (soundcard) that is capturing the signal in the first place}

I also have a Soundblaster Live!Drive card in the computer. The reason I bought the Aardvark Direct Pro Q10 was I wanted to hear what I was recording, and I could not figure out how to make the Soundblaster card do this with Cakewalk. I also wanted to record at greater precision (25 bits for the Aardvark vs 16 for the Soundblaster).

BOTTOM LINE: Focus on the soundcard mixing capability first. While you may find an application that can do this all in software, you will have sync troubles when doing sound over sound recording.

ANOTHER BOTTOM LINE: I am not recommending Cakewalk at this point. I want to record digital from source to disk, but Cakewalk won't accept the digital output of the Q10. In order to record with Cakewalk, I have to come out of the Q10 in analog, which Cakewalk then re-encodes digitally. This works, but is not optimal, and I am losing the value of my investment in the POD and Q10.

[Goldmund]

7. I've only barely used ACID...

...but usually there's an option called "input monitoring". Make sure it's enabled for your input channels.

And by the way, you should do yourself a favor and install that Sound Blaster, integrated sound cards are notoriously bad.

Also, they are wave files you're recording (I'm almost sure). .ACD files are simply project files, that tell the program which wave files to load on which tracks and what settings to put on them.

[AWD]

9. Cool Edit Pro is what I use.....

....MUCH more user-friendly and easier to add plug-ins.

[greyl]

10. What soundcard are you using?

If it's a creative, there's an option in the soundblaster mixer to "record what you hear" - check that out.

But in any case, unless your card is integrated into the motherboard, I think changing settings in the card's mixer will do the trick.

[Forkboy]

11. Switch to Cool Edit

I can run the question by my friend who uses all of them.If he comes over later tonight I'll log on and let him see the question.Maybe he can help.He records about a CD's worth of stuff a week,so he's beyond familiar with the program.

[paulk]

12. I use acid pro

I need more info on what you're trying to do. are you recording vst tracks or .wav loops?
What sound card are you using? Etc..

[vi5]

13. I'm using the sound card that came with the computer.....

I have an HP Pavillion. I have a Sound Blaster that I haven't installed yet because I'm afraid to screw up my computer.

I'm not doing wave files. I'm simply recording tracks and they are saving as ACD files or some such thing.

I wish I knew more about it but unfortunately I'm not overly skilled at computer recording.

[paulk]

1. Are you running a line in to your soundcard?

Sounds like it.

The problem could be that the soundcard that comes with the HP isn't a "duplex" card, that is, it can't play back and record at the same time. There should be something in the documentation that tells you - or get on the HP website and see if you can find something out.

Your sound blaster should also say somewhere...

[vi5]

4. That's probably it......

I have it running in through the mic line. It does play as I'm recording, just not the track that it is currently recording.

Hopefully once I muster up the courage to install the sound blaster card that will clear up my problem.

[Billy Burnett]

2. Try reading the manual ;-)

Its amazing how helpful the instructions can be. :-)

Try looking for a toggle (usually found in the preferences section) that enables "monitoring".

Screw the soundblaster card. Go for a professional external USB box. (From www.edirol.com for example) Get a box that features "Zero Latency Monitoring". Getting the converters out of the high radio interference CPU box will clean up the sound considerably (as well as making access to the ins and outs a lot easier).

Their UA-5 is a great mid range pro box. It goes all the way up to 24 bit @96khz and has pro inputs and outputs (including optical and coax digital in and out).
http://www.edirol.com/products/info/ua5.html


www.m-audio.net/products/m-audio/USBaudio.php is another source for good AD/DA USB boxes.


Shop around at www.bpmmusic.com or www.8thstreet.com for example, you can find such boxes for quite a bargain these days.

[Champion Jack]

8. ACD files are just the acid project files

to output to wave you go to:
tools-output to new track, you can save in a variety of formats.
I usualy save as 48k aif so I can bring it into Final Cut