Old 05-22-2021, 11:31 AM   #1
lazlothemonkey
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Default Audio going out of sync

I have a question regarding bitrates and audio synchronization. I recorded a piano using two separate devices, first a zoom h4n at close range (using batteries), and then 2 rode mics further away for the room sound, connected to a MOTU audio express interface connected to my laptop.

I didn't check the bitrates before but it turns out that the Zoom was recording in 48khz/16 bitrate, and my audio interface was recording at 48khz/24 bitrate.

When I tried to sync the two tracks in reaper, I noticed that the Zoom recording was shorter and therefore getting ahead of the other track over time.

is this something that happens because I used different bitrates??

thanks
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Old 05-22-2021, 12:02 PM   #2
domzy
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It's not a different bit rate, but a different bit depth (or word length) you have.
How much different are they? I would guess it's more likely due to the devices not being synchronised than the actual bit depth difference.
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Old 05-22-2021, 12:12 PM   #3
Fabian
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lazlothemonkey View Post

When I tried to sync the two tracks in reaper, I noticed that the Zoom recording was shorter and therefore getting ahead of the other track over time.

is this something that happens because I used different bitrates??

thanks
It occurs because you use two devices that are not clock synced. The internal clocks on the devices are not 100% accurate, so the recordings will drift over time.

I have had a similar experience, first recording a bunch of tracks on a Mac, exporting stems into Reaper on my PC, where I mixed. Then the mix as a single wav was used on the Mac and new tracks were recorded to it. These new tracks, when exported as stems and imported into reaper were now slightly longer than the mix I had in Reaper! Different computers, different clocks.
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Old 05-22-2021, 01:55 PM   #4
lazlothemonkey
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Thanks for the info! I had a feeling that it had something to do with the internal clocks. I guess the only solution is to buy a 4 input interface and another set of stereo mics...
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Old 05-23-2021, 11:45 AM   #5
Fabian
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Originally Posted by lazlothemonkey View Post
Thanks for the info! I had a feeling that it had something to do with the internal clocks. I guess the only solution is to buy a 4 input interface and another set of stereo mics...
Well, that is one solution.

Another solution is to just adjust the items so that they are all the same length. Alt+drag (on Windows) the item edges.
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