Anybody else dealing with skipping/glitches?

[Joseph Bologna]

I'm on a DP-32 and this week, I've been working on a song with a lot going on - using all the tracks. Yesterday, I noticed, as I tried to punch in a piano fix, that when I hit "Record" it was taking 3-4 seconds to actually kick in (the metronome gave that away in my headphones). So, when I'd punch in, I missed the que completely.

Today, I went back to it and got that piano part fixed as well as the rest of my 'fixes' and am trying to mixdown. It's a 4 minute song and I can get to just about the 3 minute mark when the thing starts skipping like a record if someone is bouncing around the room. I know that computers do this when they're overloaded, but does anyone know what's going on with this machine? Do I need to change the sample rate or hz?

Thanks!

 

[Mark Richards]

skipping like a record

Don't recall any posts or threads over the last several years describing that type of behavior. I suspect the SD card, but

IF:

• You are running the most current firmware;

AND

• You are using a TASCAM tested/approved SD card (Equipment Tips sticky #28, 38, 40)

THEN:
You may need to use Audio Depot to do some house cleaning.

Review Phil's videos 8C, 8D, 8F. Then refer to post #44 in the Equipment Tips sticky for a way to use Audio Depot efficiently to export, then import, the tracks back.

 

[Joseph Bologna]

Thank you, Mark.

I've tried deleting unused songs/files. I'm using a 32gb card that was suggested by Amazon so that may be the problem. I'm puzzled because I've done over a half dozen songs on this during the quarantine and this is the first time I've had this problem.

I actually THOUGHT I'd finished this song a few days ago when I mixed and mastered it. Decided it needed a better sounding piano and a few other tweaks... so I copied the file (does it take anybody else an hour to copy a file?), added my new stuff and am trying to mixdown all day today with the glitch happening at different times.

Hate to lose this song but guessing it's the card. I HOPE it's not the machine. I bought it used from ebay. It's worked great until now.

 

[-mjk-]

It's almost certainly the SD card.

 

[Joseph Bologna]

I believe you are correct. After 2 days of wrestling with it, I’ve noticed that the glitch pretty much happens at the same point - on both the original recording as well as the copied version.

And, yes.. I see that I bought a “bargain” priced SD card..

Thank you, guys! Lesson learned!

 

[Mark Richards]

You still might want to use Audio Depot to try saving the song.

Export all the tracks, copy to your computer, and play the individual tracks using your computer's WAV player to see which one(s) are problematic.

Or import the tracks to a DAW like Audacity or Reaper.

 

[-mjk-]

Yes @Joseph Bologna back up that card immediately and stop using it. You risk experiencing a card failure that may cause the machine to lock up, requiring a hard reset and resulting in data corruption. There are many threads on SD Cards in this forum, and it all comes down to using one of the approved cards. So get the data off the old card immediately so no matter what happens you have peace of mind and you can just transfer the data to a new
approved card.

 

[Joseph Bologna]

Back again... Months later and have been using a different SD card - from the official Tascam approved list. I've updated the firmware to 1.8.

Recording myself, I can get down guitar and keyboard tracks, which are only one or two at a time with no problems.

I'm finding that, it's when I attempt to record drums, been using 6 mics over 6 tracks for this, that the glitches happen.

Just today, laying down a drum track and the previous guitar tracks start jumping all over for a few seconds. The click remained constant, so as long as the best was constant and I stayed with the click, it recorded okay. However, if you need to do a full or accent, it's impossible.
What the screen does is give me: ERROR - Write Timeout.

Seems to me I just got a lemon that can't handle recording 6 tracks at once.

 

[-mjk-]

@Joseph Bologna Firmware 1.8 is for the DP-32SD. Your original post says "DP-32" which is an older machine and the firmware is different. But if you have the SD model, then that is good.

What the screen does is give me: ERROR - Write Timeout.

That is exclusive to the SD card.

Seems to me I just got a lemon that can't handle recording 6 tracks at once.

This isn't an analog tape machine with a bad head gap.

Like it or not, there is something going on with writing to (and apparently reading from) the SD card. That's what the machine is telling you. Yeah, it's frustrating and we've all been through it.

Since your previous message, we've been cleaning and organizing the Forum. The equipment tips sticky post is now indexed: https://www.tascamforums.com/threads/dp24-32-equipment-related-tips.5817/

Basically what it comes down to is:

1. Frequent SD card backups to a PC (Backing up every session is recommended)
2. Periodic re-formatting of the SD card (backup/format/restore)
3. When issues arise, export all tracks/create new song/import all tracks

 

[Joseph Bologna]

Thank you!

I've tried using several different SD cards off of the approved list. They seem to work fine until I get to about the 7th or 8th song, then using 4 or more inputs at one time seems to overload the system.

I will try what you suggested. Thanks again.

 

[-mjk-]

@Joseph Bologna That's the thing about SD card errors: they give no warning. That's why regular house cleaning and backups are essential. Many of us are using these machines completely error free by implimenting these practices. But it sure is frustrating when you're in the middle of a session and it grinds to a halt with file errors.