LAPC-I recording issues

[Death Adder]

Hello.

Now that my LAPC-I is repaired and working (thanks again, Eric!), I am anxious to start recording some of my favorite tunes. The other night I recorded the entire soundtrack of Risky Woods and Tetris Classic for starters, then moved on to Prehistorik. Since the LAPC-I is at full volume when recording, I set my Line-In to an acceptable level to avoid any clipping... and that's all well and good, but here's two issues I did notice:

1). Very rarely (only noticeably affecting two of my recordings), the recordings will have a slight hiccup where, I assume, the computer is a bit overwhelmed for the moment. The system I'm recording to is admittedly archaic: It's a P750Mhz with 320MB RAM running under Windows 98SE with its built-in SoundMAX sound card (read: junk) doing the recording into Goldwave v5. I figure that people have successfully made MT-32 recordings before, in years passed, on a system very much like mine, so my question is: Without having to upgrade my computer, what can I do to try and eliminate these rarely occurring recording hiccups? They're so short they'd likely be imperceptible to anyone unfamiliar with the music, but they annoy the hell out of me because I'm trying for perfection.

2). In just one (and only one) recording, I noticed two or three clicks at the beginning of one tune - this was the Prehistorik first level theme. The clicks didn't happen during the intro music, and didn't happen again with the first level theme. However when I exited the game back to DOS, the clicks were still noticable coming out of the LAPC-I. In more tries with Prehistorik, it seems this occurs every so often - but not with any other game. Any thoughts as to why? I read the forum here about clicks and pops but it seemed to be more related to KQ4 than anything else.

And of course, my last question which isn't so much an issue but a general inquiry: Are you guys just using a standard audio cable to go from your LAPC-I to the Line-in on your soundcard, or another method? I'm aware I can allegedly use a sound canvas to somehow 'enhance' or 'clean up' the recording, but I'm too lazy to drag out my CM-300(GS) to try this.

Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks!

[mace]

Prehistorik never ran smoothly on any of my machines, so maybe it's just a buggy game?

[Rhizome]

After testing this game on my CM-64, I'm guessing that the "clicking" is the LAPC-I clipping. This game plays the music far too loud, causing an amazing amount of clipping from the module. Not very well programmed, I'll admit

[endre1952]

I have found a solution to that:

http://www.geocities.com/endre1952/noclip.mid

If you play this midi file before starting Prehistorik, the midi volume should be set to a lower level, and there's no clipping in the game. Works on my CM-32L and CM-500, should work on the LAPC-I too. Okay, so I'm no musician: the midi was simply recorded with DosBox while setting Volume to 9 and getting a point in PQ2. But the thing works like a charm for me!

You might also have to play RESET.SYX found on Queststudios.com after playing my midi file.

[endre1952]

For the best results in Prehistorik, check out the Amiga CDTV version. It has CDDA tracks!

[BlueMax]

For the best results in Prehistorik, check out the Amiga CDTV version. It has CDDA tracks!

I remember the CDTV/CD32 version of "Sleepwalker".... amazing soundtrack.  The CD32 was a game console that was ahead of its time. 

[endre1952]

I own a working CD32. I've even modified it for RGB output. But most CDTV/CD32 will also run on a standard Amiga 1200 with a CD-ROM drive, you just need a CDTV/CD32 emulator like CDBoot or IDEFIX.

[Death Adder]

I honestly didn't expect so many responces to be related to Prehistorik but I'm glad to have the help, thanks.

Any advice as to my first question?

[Fisu2]

My advice would be to first try different software: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

If it doesn't help, I would try a more stable OS like Windows 2000.

If it won't help either, I would try a different sound card, for example get one free from a friend who has a spare one.

Lastly one can only make the sound quality worse with additional equipment in between the unit and the recording device. I've noticed in recording MT-32, that rarely and randomly there are some extra clicks and pops in its output, which might be due to bad MIDI connection or perhaps just buggy MT-32.