>>This is RANDOM playback. True random, no looping, no repetition, >>not even after listening to a cycled sequence for a couple of minutes. >Very strange. You haven't got overlapping automation recordings? Or multiple >parts of automation all playing & contradicting? These would give bizarre >(but repeating) automation. Very strange indeed. I've got only one test track on a freshly installed system, with no thinkable source of trouble. One sample with a volume curve drawn on it. Everything done in the strictest default-basic-no-tweaks way. >Other people are not reporting a random automation problem. Well, I guess then I'm the only unlucky guy who took the time to beg for help. >>It only remotely follows the controller data with a big, seemingly >>*varying* lag. When starting a sequence with zero volume, and >>fading in (with Hyperdraw), it plays for half a sec at full blast (ie. not >>following at all), then catches up, suddenly turns down the vol and >>continues fading in in stages, like sample and hold, stepping >>up. >Half second at full blast, is latency in responding to that initial zero >volume point. Put that zero-volume half a second earlier. >Fading in stages, could be the limited accuracy (128 steps) of the volume >control. A slow fade in, particularly at low volume, can reveal this. Does this mean, that everything comes with a half second delay even in the best case? Or can it be compensated for with the Play Delay parameter? Well, I'm not exactly getting those 128 steps. More like 50 or less for a couple of seconds of smooth fade in. It acts as if there's no change in the curve for a while, then jumps to another value, which ISN'T the value drawn at that point. Not even close.. >>Are there any people with SoundBlaster Live Value cards using >>LAPW successfully? >>Do I have to buy another card? >The behaviour I described is how the native audio engine works. It's not >very good for automation. Emagic said they were working on automation for >next release (maybe 4.1 or something). Where can I read that Emagic statement? I'd like to know what this "not very good" means in practice. This is completely unusable. I need a card that has the same features as SB Live without the problems, which, according to Emagic, shouldn't exist; SB Live is COMPATIBLE. So what is the source of all this trouble? What should I try? Move the card to another slot? Try with another SB Live? I guess I have to go and install everything on another PC to see if the problem is my motherboard. But before I do all that, I want to know, Has Emagic used audio automation with SB Live with no problems? Volume, pan and plug-in automation, similar to the performance one can get from the better cards? Perfect, in one word. If not, I will buy another card. If yes, I want to know *exactly* how their system was configured. Just let me know. This has taken way too much time already. (The amount of simultaneous automation is dependent on the processor and the hard disk, but it's safe to say 450MHz with a new drive, should get me enough.) My first message was: System: 450MHz, 64MB, Windows 98, Logic Audio Platinum 4.0.4 Problem: Automating any audio parameter, hyperdrawing volume or any other controller, doesn't simply work like it should. For example, when cycling a part with hyperdraw volume, playback varies randomly from cycle to cycle. Playback volume doesn't follow the curve at all. The faders seem to be moving accurately. Other multitrack programs with similar hardware configuration work perfectly. I reinstalled Windows 98 and tried reducing display card graphics acceleration, tried many combinations of audio device setup settings, old and new drivers for SB, all to no avail.