No playback for recorded track

Installation & Configuration Windows
#1

Hi, I have just installed Ardour 6.9.0 in Windows 7 on Virtual Box (hosted by Linux Mint 19.3).

My (well wokring) hardware is:

  • Tascam US-122 (for recording)
  • OS virtual sound card for playback

I created a new session so configured:

  • Audio system: PortAudio
  • Driver: MME
  • Input Device: Tascam US-122
  • Output Device: Microsof sound mapper

The scenario is:

  1. I imported a MP3 file: it playbacks as expected.
  2. I recorded a sound track by US-122 and it records as expected.
  3. I tryed to playback the recorded track, but I get no sound from sound card.

How can I solve that issue?

Regards!
Antonio

#2

The Windows version of Ardour does not support separate I/O devices (unless they are word-clocked synced).

Keep in mind that VirtualBox is not real-time safe. It is not suitable for recording. There will be dropouts, not to mention the latency of the virtual soundcard back to the physical one is rather long (and undefined, so overdubs won’t align).

Why not run the Linux version natively? That is a lot more robust and reliable.

Also Ardour/ALSA (on GNU/Linux) does support separate devices for I/O.

–
PS (Edit):
As for the original issue: Is the track still record-armed (Monitoring Input, not Disk)?
Does the meter in the mixer-window move and show a signal when you play?

#3

I use virtualbox because my Tascam US-122 is no more supported by Linux: the driver freezes the OS.

About the two soundcards. Why you say that two cards are not supported? Ardour allows to select them: the Tascam for recording, which works as expected, and the builtin one for playback, which works for the imported MP3 track, and NOT for the recorded track.

#4

That sounds like a bug, have you reported it to the ALSA-team (Bug Tracking - AlsaProject)?

The two sound-cards have different internal clocks. They will slowly drift apart in time and eventually that will result in audible glitches (long explanation in the Ardour FAQ).

Can you show a screenshot of the Mixer Window? That may shed some light (monitoring, connections, max-signal level…)

#5

That sounds like a bug, have you reported it to the ALSA-team?

I posted it to the ALSA mailing, but I did get any answer unfortunately. There are two already opened bug id=203587 and id=208127 . I added my issue to them…

The two sound-cards have different internal clocks. They will slowly drift apart in time and eventually that will result in audible glitches.

I read the FAQ, but if I use one of the two card only for recording. Why the internal one plays only the MP3 track?

Here some relevant screenshots:

Configuration and Mixer window

  1. MP3 imported track (which plays)
  2. Bass guitar recorded track (which does not play!)

image
image909Ă—812 46.5 KB

1 Like
#6

Mixer screenshot looks good. There is no obvious reason why playback would fail. Could it be that the Bass was just not loud enough?

This mixer screenshot does not show any peak signal (both are -inf), so I cannot tell.

Is there any signal show on the meter when you play? Perhaps crank up the trim (knob top-right on the mixer-strip) or Fader.

#7

The signal is good, as you can see by the edit screen:

image

It “simply” won’t playback. :frowning:

#8

It looks rather low (given that default y-axis scale is logarithmic).

Does the meter move and show a signal when you play?

#9

Great, you are right! It was a signal level issue.

My bass guitar is passive, it outputs it is not so high, despite of the soundcard input level set to the maximum.

I would ask you if ardour can increase the input level during the recording session.

#10

Great, thanks for doing that.

Ideally you’ll increase the gain on the analog side, once the signal is digitized it does not matter when gain is applied (before or after recording).

By default Ardour records the input as-is, but you can change a track to wet-record to
apply plugins or gain-staging before the data is written to disk:

You can use the trim-contron (knob top-right) or a plugin “ACE amplifier” (comes with Ardour).

To ask the obvious; are you using the 2nd input of the device that can be changed to Hi-Z (instrument/guitar) impedance?

#11

To ask the obvious; are you using the 2nd input of the device that can be changed to Hi-Z (instrument/guitar) impedance?

Sure, I am using the HI-Z input. The instrument is Fender Roscoe Bech 5, with a great sound, but a low signal.

#12

Antonio che piacere ritrovarti qui, ti ho “conosciuto” sul forum di Igor Sardi.
Come ti trovi con Ardour e perché l’hai scelto??
Genna

#13

This topic was automatically closed 91 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.