distorted Vegas audio with Vista at DVinfo.net

Jeff Harper · April 6th, 2008, 09:32 AM

When playing back on timeline audio is distorted, wobbly. Began with intallation of Vista...anyone know of solution?

Mike Kujbida · April 6th, 2008, 10:06 AM

Do you have the latest drivers for your sound card?
Make sure Vegas is set to your sound card (Options - Prefs - Audio Device).
Mine keeps resetting itself to Microsoft Sound Mapper and I can't figure out why :-(

Jeff Harper · April 6th, 2008, 10:34 AM

Mike, thanks but yes I'm using latest drivers. It is somehow related to Media Player and my Audigy 4, I think.

In XP had same issue after upgrading to latest MP, when I rolled back to MP 9 or 10 (I forget which one exactly) the problem was solved. But with Vista I don't know if that is an option, likely will try it anyway.

Didn't have this issue with 64 bit version of Vista the other day. I had to abandon 64 bit because of of the lack of 64 bit driver for my external controller card. How vers (64 vs 32bit) would make a diff is beyond me anyway.

I did change audio preferences in Vegas, only improved the quality of sound, not stability of playback (still wobbly).

John Miller · April 6th, 2008, 11:14 AM

Audio with Vista is a tricky affair - or can be.

Pre-Vista, the default "model" used by applications and the OS for efficient audio performance is DirectSound. With Vista, DirectSound is deprecated and now only exists as a software emulation of the previous hardware-based audio processing.

During development of some software, I ran into this. Video + audio playback on XP was just fine. The same application on the same hardware but with Vista gave poor, choppy audio that even slowed down the video playback.

After wading through much MS documentation, I found the solution was to use the non-DirectSound model for audio - it doesn't change the soundcard that is used, just the driver type used.

I have further determined that the chipset of the soundcard is important, too.

In Vegas, you can manually choose the audio drivers to use. Go to "Preferences..." and select the "Audio Device" tab. By default, "Audio device type" will be set to "Microsoft Sound Manager" (at least it is on mine). Change it to "Windows Classic Wave Driver". You can now change settings for the various playback devices (front, rear etc).

Please let me know if this works or not as I'm trying to amass information about issues associated with audio performance from legacy applications on Vista.

John.

Jeff Harper · April 6th, 2008, 04:07 PM

John, after dinner I will give a try and post the results...

Jeff Harper · April 6th, 2008, 08:12 PM

Slight improvement, but still choppy. As I mentioned earlier, I ran into same thing with XP and newer Media Player. I suppose I can uninstall WMP and use another player...though I don't want to do that.

Thanks John.

Douglas Spotted Eagle · April 6th, 2008, 11:37 PM

Just curious...where are your master volume settings in Vegas? At default? Or have you pulled them down so that they're not loud with your speaker settings?
On at least a dozen occasions, i've received discs with horrible audio, and eventually had the project sent to me. In every instance, Master was reduced, and in some cases, track levels were actually increased above 0dB

Jeff Harper · April 6th, 2008, 11:42 PM

Spot, in this case I haven't touched the master...brand new install of everything.

Actually, the volume and tonal quality, etc, is fine. The problem is more like the sound is speeding up and slowing down, kinda like it's drunk, for lack of a better way of putting it.

Since changing the setting in Audio Devices to wav as John suggested, it is better, but still wobbly.

Douglas Spotted Eagle · April 6th, 2008, 11:46 PM

Are you using Classic Wave Drivers? Changed audio settings to 48K?

Jeff Harper · April 6th, 2008, 11:57 PM

Am using classic wave drivers, but couldn't find option in Audio tab or Audio device for changing to 48K. To be clear, I'm talking only about playback on the timeline. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

However, in response to your query while checking under the the advanced options under the Audio devices tab I found the "time sensitive" setting and the problem seems to be fixed!

I need to work with it some more to be sure, but that seems to have taken care of it!

Where might the 48k setting you refer be found?

April 6th, 2008, 09:32 AM	#1
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	distorted Vegas audio with Vista When playing back on timeline audio is distorted, wobbly. Began with intallation of Vista...anyone know of solution?

April 6th, 2008, 08:12 PM	#6
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Slight improvement, but still choppy. As I mentioned earlier, I ran into same thing with XP and newer Media Player. I suppose I can uninstall WMP and use another player...though I don't want to do that. Thanks John. Last edited by Jeff Harper; April 6th, 2008 at 11:37 PM.

April 6th, 2008, 11:37 PM	#7
Douglas Spotted Eagle VASST Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Stockton, UT Posts: 5,648	Just curious...where are your master volume settings in Vegas? At default? Or have you pulled them down so that they're not loud with your speaker settings? On at least a dozen occasions, i've received discs with horrible audio, and eventually had the project sent to me. In every instance, Master was reduced, and in some cases, track levels were actually increased above 0dB __________________ Douglas Spotted Eagle/Spot Author, producer, composer Certified Sony Vegas Trainer http://www.vasst.com

April 6th, 2008, 11:46 PM	#9
Douglas Spotted Eagle VASST Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Stockton, UT Posts: 5,648	Are you using Classic Wave Drivers? Changed audio settings to 48K? __________________ Douglas Spotted Eagle/Spot Author, producer, composer Certified Sony Vegas Trainer http://www.vasst.com

April 6th, 2008, 10:06 AM	#2
Mike Kujbida Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Windsor, ON Canada Posts: 2,770	Do you have the latest drivers for your sound card? Make sure Vegas is set to your sound card (Options - Prefs - Audio Device). Mine keeps resetting itself to Microsoft Sound Mapper and I can't figure out why :-(

April 6th, 2008, 10:34 AM	#3
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Mike, thanks but yes I'm using latest drivers. It is somehow related to Media Player and my Audigy 4, I think. In XP had same issue after upgrading to latest MP, when I rolled back to MP 9 or 10 (I forget which one exactly) the problem was solved. But with Vista I don't know if that is an option, likely will try it anyway. Didn't have this issue with 64 bit version of Vista the other day. I had to abandon 64 bit because of of the lack of 64 bit driver for my external controller card. How vers (64 vs 32bit) would make a diff is beyond me anyway. I did change audio preferences in Vegas, only improved the quality of sound, not stability of playback (still wobbly).

April 6th, 2008, 11:14 AM	#4
John Miller Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Hillsborough, NC, USA Posts: 968	Audio with Vista is a tricky affair - or can be. Pre-Vista, the default "model" used by applications and the OS for efficient audio performance is DirectSound. With Vista, DirectSound is deprecated and now only exists as a software emulation of the previous hardware-based audio processing. During development of some software, I ran into this. Video + audio playback on XP was just fine. The same application on the same hardware but with Vista gave poor, choppy audio that even slowed down the video playback. After wading through much MS documentation, I found the solution was to use the non-DirectSound model for audio - it doesn't change the soundcard that is used, just the driver type used. I have further determined that the chipset of the soundcard is important, too. In Vegas, you can manually choose the audio drivers to use. Go to "Preferences..." and select the "Audio Device" tab. By default, "Audio device type" will be set to "Microsoft Sound Manager" (at least it is on mine). Change it to "Windows Classic Wave Driver". You can now change settings for the various playback devices (front, rear etc). Please let me know if this works or not as I'm trying to amass information about issues associated with audio performance from legacy applications on Vista. John.

April 6th, 2008, 04:07 PM	#5
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	John, after dinner I will give a try and post the results...

April 6th, 2008, 11:42 PM	#8
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Spot, in this case I haven't touched the master...brand new install of everything. Actually, the volume and tonal quality, etc, is fine. The problem is more like the sound is speeding up and slowing down, kinda like it's drunk, for lack of a better way of putting it. Since changing the setting in Audio Devices to wav as John suggested, it is better, but still wobbly.

April 6th, 2008, 11:57 PM	#10
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Am using classic wave drivers, but couldn't find option in Audio tab or Audio device for changing to 48K. To be clear, I'm talking only about playback on the timeline. Sorry if that wasn't clear. However, in response to your query while checking under the the advanced options under the Audio devices tab I found the "time sensitive" setting and the problem seems to be fixed! I need to work with it some more to be sure, but that seems to have taken care of it! Where might the 48k setting you refer be found?