sound problems

im totally new to these types of programs so please bare with me if this is a silly question that is easily fixed but i just installed the demo and when im playing the sound is kinda choppy/blotchy/delayed a bit.. im clueless so i have no idea what to do but if anyone has any input it would be much appreciated

 

You need to adjust your output latency. Go to Guitar Rig Menu/Preferences and adjust the latency.

If your latency is too short you'll get broken up sound. If it's too long, you'll get a delay from when you play to when you hear the sound. So there is an optimum latency for a given audio interface.

You need a fast audio interface to eliminate the delay problem. You can eliminate the choppy sound by increasing the latency regardless of the speed of the audio interface card.

The fact you are getting both choppy sound and a delay indicates you have a slow audio card and have the latency set to long but not long enough for your card.

So what audio card are you using and what is the latency set at currently?

For instance, an 800MHz Powermac G4 will allow you to set latency to 10ms (you shouldn't hear any noticeable delay and should also not be choppy). You'll hear a delay above 20ms or so.

 

well first of all thanks ALOT for the reply.

im using sound blaster live. is this a good sound card for this type of stuff? maybe i just need new drivers or something? *shrugs* ill go mess around with the latency to see if i can get something good but id really appreciate it if you could try and help me out also

 

No a SB live is not a very good card to use with such programs as Guitar Rig. You will alomost certainly be using the default windows sound drivers. These will have a high latency (i.e. the delay between sound entering the card and getting to the software). The simplest route to low latency is to use a card that supports 'ASIO' drivers. This covers most of the 'serious' music cards (SB live being classed as a consumer card for games etc).

You can get unofficial ASIO drivers for some older SB cards, but they can be tricky to setup and install.

 

im in canada. so could you recommend me a good card for a decent price??

 

A difficult question to answer I'm in the UK so dont know what prices are like for various brands in Canada. It also depends on what other sound I/O stuff you want to do (i.e. how many inputs and outputs you want etc etc).

I presume you have a desktop PC? If so then the major brand names to lookinto include:

Emu - Their new cards are getting good reviews.
Echo - Well respected cards like the Gina
M-Audio- The Audophile 2496 is a big seller
RME - Wide range of options


I guess the entry level would be about 150 Canadian dollars?

FT

 

Another option

There is a free product called asio4all that may help you as well...it is designed to provide better performance for cards like the sound blaster & onboard audio (found in most laptops). I don't know much about it...but it may be worth looking in to.

http://michael.tippach.bei.t-online.de/asio4all/