Troubleshooting your software or hardware to record music.

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Troubleshooting: Getting your DAW Stable

Much of the helpful information in this section is n-Track Studio specific. But much of what is covered here can be applied to other digital recording software as well. From stability issues to complex connection methods, if you're having difficulty getting your software or hardware to do what you want, read on. Recording mulitple audio tracks into your computer can put an extra load on it's resources. The tips and tricks that follow will help your workstation run smoother. Visit us in the forum for additional help.

Stabilize It

If your PC isn't stable before you install n-Track, it won't be stable after. It's important to understand that digital recording places a high amount of stress on both hardware and software. Tweaking a PC for digital recording is often necessary in order to achive decent performance. These tweaks involve a number of things, but the first step is making sure that the foundation of Windows, processor, and RAM is stable. Prime95 is a great freebie that will help you identify hardware issues by stressing your processor and RAM. If your PC passes the Prime 95 Torture Test, you can be confident in the stability of these components. Download and install the program, and then enter the password (9876) to enable Advanced Features. Click Options.. Torture Test. There is info in both the ReadMe.txt and Stress.txt file that you'll find helpful.
Often, instabilities can be traced to orphaned registry entries. RegClean is a freebie from Microsoft that scans and repairs your registry. Run RegClean, Fix Errors, Reboot. Repeat the process until no more errors are found.
Generally, the amount of RAM you have determines how many plugins you can run at once. Adding more RAM is a great way to improve performance. But heads-up; using mis-matched sticks of RAM can lead to problems. Timing can differ from brand to brand, so using matched sticks is recommended. If you're having stability issues, run Prime95 using a single RAM stick. Once that stick is proven good, swap it with another. If all sticks prove good independently, then start testing them together.
n-Track crashing or freezing? Check first to make sure you have the latest sound card drivers and video drivers. A PIII-800 with 256 mgs of RAM should easily run 15 tracks with a few effects and zero crashes/freezes. If yours doesn't, something's wrong. Check that your hard disks have DMA enabled. DMA (direct memory access) allows Windows to access your disks without involving the processor. DMA speeds up disk access 10 fold. Windows 2000 and XP activate DMA by default. In Win9x, DMA must be enabled manually. If you need further help, ask us in the forum.
Are you using the best driver for your sound card? Most cards support MME (high latency, good stability) and WDM (lower latency, good stability) driver support. Some also support ASIO (lowest latency, fair stability). Which to use? Try them all to find which works best for you. Tweak Headz Lab has a good write up about getting your PC ready for recording.