David Sampimon Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 Hi all, I own a Positive Grid Spark amp, which allows you to connect over usb and hook up as an audio interface with an ASIO driver. When I try to record this in Cakewalk, it sounds terrible (bitcrushed and pitched). When I try to record the same in windows 10 voice recorder it sounds fine, which makes me think it is *something* specific to Cakewalk. What I did: - Installed the Spark audio driver - Created a new cakewalk 'basic' project - Selected 'Spark L/R/S' (tried all 3) on the input of channel 1 - Hit record - Results sounds like absolute trash - I double checked that both my project and driver are set to 48khz sample rate. Buffer on driver is set to 512 samples (default). - Within windows voice recorder the same set up sounds fine Be warned! I have attached a recording of the terrible result, for all that is holy do not play this file on loud volume you will blow your ears and speakers. broken audio.mp3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scook Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 Try the WASAPI driver modes in Cakewalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vere Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 (edited) Actually I’m thinking? Did you set Cakewalk in ASIO mode? Check the device is showing in all the preferences audio settings Edited January 29, 2022 by John Vere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vere Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 And just a thought. You don’t mention setting your input levels? That clip sounds like a way to hot signal. How do you monitor Cakewalks playback and the incoming signal? You’ll need to be able to monitor what it sounds like before you record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapasoa Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 The sound goes directly from amp to Daw without any tweak from a real audio interface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vere Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 Ya I have a USB connection from my Blackstar amp. It has a loud hiss. So I just use a mike into my interface. My friend has a Fender Mustang that also doesn’t work with USB. But let’s just see, Maybe this one is better. One thing is it’s not actually saying the driver is ASIO on the web site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Sampimon Posted January 31, 2022 Author Share Posted January 31, 2022 Fixed! Thanks everyone for thinking along, the issue could easily be fixed by changing the driver mode in preferences. I simply didnt know where to look. Changed driver mode from WASAPI shared to ASIO and now everything sounds like it should 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Ritter Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 David, I've been considering a Spark. How do you like it? How's the sound (not input into cakewalk, the sound in the room just playing it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott V Posted August 4, 2022 Share Posted August 4, 2022 I got my spark MINI a few weeks ago. i think it sounds great and is really convenient. i actually used it when i played at my friend's church a couple of weeks ago with a nice mic in front of it and the sound was fantastic. they use only in-ears so the stage volume is very low. you couldn't use it with a full band that has normal stage volume but it worked great for me. also you can't beat the portability of having a rechargeable battery when you want to sit outside and play. it sounds surprisingly good for such a tiny thing. there are lots of sounds available for download too to get you started. you can also just plug in a set of good headphones and blast away and it sounds great. my analog setup is a mesa boogie lonestar special with "boutique" pedals and my other main setup is a helix floor with powered speakers. the spark isn't quite as good sounding as either of those but it's definitely a professional grade piece of gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david clay Posted February 22, 2023 Share Posted February 22, 2023 I,m having problems recording on to cakewalk using my spark anp..... it records but the tempo and pitch are all over the place ?.... I can record using my m audio keystation and its fine but recording live with the guitar it's way out....any clues how to sort the problems ? it's driving me nuts..... just new to recording ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
57Gregy Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 22 hours ago, david clay said: I,m having problems recording on to cakewalk using my spark anp..... it records but the tempo and pitch are all over the place ?.... I can record using my m audio keystation and its fine but recording live with the guitar it's way out....any clues how to sort the problems ? it's driving me nuts..... just new to recording ? Welcome to the forum. Check that Cakewalk and the Spark amp are using the same sampling rate. And start saving your money for a better audio interface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byron Dickens Posted February 23, 2023 Share Posted February 23, 2023 Recording direct via USB from these types of amps is nothing more than a wish and a prayer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcin Musial Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 My spark 40 amp is plugged into my PC and my pc recognizes it as I use it as a desktop speaker and play along to jam tracks etc with it and have no issues with setting my tones etc. I downloaded cakewalk to start recording. It shows my spark 40 as an input, but when I hit record and start playing.. nothing. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong or what settings I need to do or if theres some process to actually start recording my guitar, but cakewalk records nothing, it shows as recording, it counts the time, but when i stop the recording and go to listen, theres literally no difference to the screen, it looks exactly as it did before I hit record, and when I hit play nothing happens, theres nothing to play. Can someone help me with this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reginaldStjohn Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 (edited) The usual questions: What driver mode are you using (ASIO, WASAPI ect). In cakewalk did you select the inputs and outputs to use? Is the track armed for recording and is there any signal showing when armed. Is the track input selected to use the desired audio input from your amp? Check out the many good tutorials in the Tutorials subforum for more information. https://discuss.cakewalk.com/forum/35-tutorials/ PS. It would probably get more attention if you started your own thread rather then posting in a 2 year old one. Edited March 4 by reginaldStjohn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amberwolf Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 They did post a separate thread (which I'd replied to asking the usual questions about their settings) but the thread is no longer there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bristol_Jonesey Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 6 hours ago, Amberwolf said: They did post a separate thread (which I'd replied to asking the usual questions about their settings) but the thread is no longer there? According to his post history, this is the only post he's made, yet it says "2" under his name above. Strange Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amberwolf Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 (edited) 20 hours ago, Bristol_Jonesey said: According to his post history, this is the only post he's made, yet it says "2" under his name above. Strange Because there *was* another copy of this post in his own separate thread. I'd replied to it in that thread, but it's now gone, both his post and my reply. I don't know this specific forum software, but others like PHPBB and Xenforo will keep count of all the posts made by someone even if they're deleted later. (PHPBB has had issues in some versions where the counter "sticks" and doesn't count some posts taht are still around, or "jumps" and counts posts that never existed; I don't know if XF has had such issues yet; we've only been using it a couple years so far). Edited March 6 by Amberwolf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel Borthwick Posted March 6 Share Posted March 6 I have the spark Mini and have recorded into Sonar with it using their ASIO driver. Recording works fine but input monitoring isn't great since the latency is too high with it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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