Distorted, "bit crushed" sound when switching to 96kHz

[stegmatix]

Hi all,

I use DP 7.22 on a Mac Pro and Motu HD192:s.
I normally use 44.1 kHz when recording, but right before I hit the record button on a recent session I decided to switch to 96 kHz. As this was a live session I didn´t (stupidly enough) listen to the recorded tracks until the session was over. When played back the tracks were distorted, with a "bit crushed" or ring modulated sound, but still in the right pitch. There was no time for any re-recording...
I´ve tried converting the files to another sample rate, bouncing them, importing them into another project, restarting the HD192:s, restarting the computer, switching between different buffer sizes, trying different clocks (I normally use the PCI-424 internal).
No result.

Any ideas of what´s gone wrong?

Thanks!

/Stegmatix

[Kubi]

Hard to guess long-distance what went wrong, but to me it looks like it could be anything from a clocking error or problem (i.e. clocking mismatch), to a (temporary or permanent) problem in your hardware at that sampling rate, to a computer glitch or hardware glitch as a result of the quick switch, resulting in hardware malfunction.

You should verify the integrity of the files by simply opening them up in QT or some other 3rd party software, but I'm afraid it sounds like the files are permanently corrupted, that they've been written with the noises you describe.

All these are of course long-distance guesses, so take them with a grain of salt. Sorry for your trouble.

[mikehalloran]

There are two issues: 1) how to fix this, 2) how to keep it from happening again.

If the file is Ok, opening it in QT Pro or Switch.app and converting it to another format as Kubi suggests wiill strip the headers but keep the integrity of the audio. Yes, it's a "Hail Mary" but, if it works, it works.

If not, download RX2 from Izotope and look at its Spectral Repair and noise elimination tools. Not cheap but less expensive than another session if it works. I have worked miracles on garbage audio with this tool (but not this miracle). You can fix the file but not save the results in demo mode. Tons of YouTube help videos.

To keep this from happening again starts with updating to DP 7.24. There were issues with 7.21/2/3. Of course, now you know to audition such changes before doing them on a session.

Don't feel too bad - we have all done something that reminds us forever never to do THAT again.

Do let us know what happens.

[stegmatix]

Thanks so much for the advice, I´ll try what you both suggested and get back to you shortly. And yes, updating to 7.24 is a very good idea..

thanks again,


/Stegmatix

[stegmatix]

Hi again, unfortunately the audio was to messed up to be fixed, been tweaking for a few hours with the Izotope RX but found no way to get rid of the noise without ruining the audio too much. I have to give up this time...but thanks for letting me know about the RX, seems like a great tool. And thank you both for the time and concern, really appreciate it.


/Stegmatix