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I get awful distortion (sounds similar to digital sync errors) when recording to a wave editor. It doesnt matter where the source material came from, mix outs, or analog ins the end result is a distorted recording. Curiously i can record in to cubase from the analog input source and get a distortion free wav..... so it cant be the analog input at fault. Also if i then save the "good wav" recorded in cubase and play it back on soundforge...it plays back fine, so it cant be the wave souce module either. It seems to point to a fault with the wave dest module but....the same problem occurs when using 24bit wave source/dest modules. It seems unlikely that both modules could be faulty so......I get the distinct feeling it has something to do with bitrate or some kind of digital sync issue between scope and sound forge. Have tried in soundforge: changing playback bitrate of temporary files (16 or 32 bit) changed "try to open 24bit" from on to off, tried working in direct mode all with no change. The other clue is that when I use the 24bit wave dest module in scope and then set the bitrate of a new file in the recording window of sound forge to 24bit, the leds in soundforge indicate a clipping level signal on both channels regardless of whether I am actually playng any audio at the time! This audio when recorded turns out to be white noise......Can windows audio subsystem somehow create a loop internally?? The leds and white noise thing makes me think of feedback, so I tried disconnecting the wave source module from the mixer whilst trying to record..no luck there either which is why I am curious about how windows does its internal audio routing. I have downloaded lastest Scope 4.0, uninstalled old software, installed new, removed cleaned the pci connectors and replaced the board, reinstalled soundforge but the problem persists..

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

ps. System, Asus P5W DH Deluxe, 2.6Ghz Pentium D805 Dual core, 2GB Kingston HyperX, ATI X1900XT PCIExpress Graphics, Pulsar 1, XP Pro

your problem is definitely in the software, not the hardware.
it's possible you have a feedback loop.
it's also possible that setting the soundforge priority to "above normal" might help. also, you can try fiddling with the soundforge buffer settings....

Hi, thanks for the suggestions garyb, glad to hear you think its in the software...i optimistically agree
I tried changing the priorities and played about with buffers but no change. Maybe the really big clue is the loop that seems to occur when i set the wave dest to 24bit and then set new file bitrate to 24bit and get instant led clipping in sound forge.

I have tried disabling/enabling the onboard realtek audio with no change either. Also reset BIOS to defaults and disabled all un required hardware (com ports etc). Nothing seems to make a difference...beginning to think a complete O/S up rebuild is looming. Does anyone have a definitive list of windows audio parameters that are tweakable? It could be something like an ini /config file that needs editing, but truthfully im stabbing in the dark now.
One other odd thing, DXdiag reports pulsar as not having any hardware buffers...is that right?
I'll try the card in a different machine and see if the problem persists...

you don't need to do anything super special.

the main thing is to turn off all the extra visual effects. i've setup dozens of these machines on xp. if you have to do extreme tweaking to get stable behavior, something else is up.

open the routing window hit print screen open your favourite image editor and paste it in ,save the image as jpeg and let us have a look It probably some sort of audio loop which is feeding back on itself.I'll give that a 3:1 chance.Any takers.

never bet against a professional.

Hi folks, well heres a jpeg of the routing window...and yes, the problem still occurs even witht this ultra simple set up.
Tried swapping pci slots yesterday .... still no change. Will try in different pc today.

Thanks for any help that and suggestions.

Hi folks, well heres a jpeg of the routing window...and yes, the problem still occurs even witht this ultra simple set up.
Tried swapping pci slots yesterday .... still no change. Will try in different pc today.

Thanks for any help that and suggestions.

i've had this exact same problem, but I think only with the 24bit wave driver. I believe it's working ok for me now though, not sure how I "fixed" it. I'll try and look into it when I get back home tonight and report back. It's definitely not anything wrong with the routing though and I don't think it's a hardware configuration problem either.

Well, I tried the Pulsar card in my old AMD machine today, ..but still the problem persists. So now I am really stuck. It seems almost certainly to be a fault with the card though I am hoping "King of Snake" may be able to help, fingers crossed here

Thanks for suggestions so far folks, anyone got any other ideas?

Put your analog source into the mixing desk and the wave dest in parallel with the pulsar analog dest.

I tried that too. Its been reduced to the minimum to try and identify where the fault is. Usually it would be connected pretty much as you suggest.

Thanks for the suggestion though

strange problem with your machine, only....

i could probably suss it if you were in socal....

okay here's what happens on my setup, using the 24 bit wave source and dest modules, and using Wavelab 5 for recording. If I set the resolution in Wavelab to 24 bit I get static like you describe. However, wavelab has another option called 24 bit alt, and this works normally.
The wavelab help file says this:

The "24-bit Alt" option is an alternate way of transmitting 24-bit audio, used by certain audio hardware. If you plan to work with 24-bit audio, you should consult your audio hardware's documentation to find out whether you should use "24-bit" or "24-bit Alt". If the documentation isn't clear about which method is supported (or if both methods are supported), you should try using the "24-bit Alt" mode, as this may give better performance.

Not sure if SF has an option like this, but it's the only thing that made it work for me.

i would be interested if the probl. is the same with asio driver instead of wave?

good vibes from vienna

Thanks everyone for suggestions
I mailed Ralph regarding this issue and he is of the opinion that the card is faulty but understandably cannot be sure without physically testing it.
Apparently Creamware no longer have a testing facility for old Pulsar 1 cards so they have offered me a fantastic deal on a replacement instead

King of Snake, Thanks for your suggestions re wavelab, I wonder what the "alt" part means in wavelab terms? I did try my card in a different machine but the problem remained. And no amount of tweaking or setting changes solves it.

tgstgs, If I connect ASIO 24bit source to 24bit wave dest i get the same problem...massive clipping and what sounds like white noise if i record the input.

I guess im going to replace the Pulsar1 with a Pulsar Professional as Ralph is offering a very good deal.

My next question is.... see below

wow, wrong again.


glad you found a solution.

Thanks garyb, any suggestions on my ada8000 conundrum?

My last post should have said " see above" doh!

btw I'm using an old Pulsar 1 as well (although in combination with Pulsar 2) so maybe that has something to do with it...

Smiley wrote:Thanks garyb, any suggestions on my ada8000 conundrum?

My last post should have said " see above" doh!

the ADA8000 is a real bargain at that price. the A16 is the way to go if you already have mic preamps and/or have the money for the better gear. i've used the ADA8000 for a number of folks rigs and they are getting very good results.