Ableton Forum

I'm having a problem with playback quality.. Here's what happens:

I record through a 1/4" ASIO PCI card (M-Audio Audiophile 192). I have two studio monitors hooked up to the output on this card, and when I play the recording back through these monitors, it sounds fine. As soon as I export the file or play the saved .wav file, both of which play through my internal sound card, the sound gets distorted. The best way to describe it is an "overdriven echo".. Even though the levels on the clip should be nowhere near peaking, it distorts on playback, along with what sounds like a very slight delay after any loud note..

If I open the saved .wav file in SoundForge, for example, and play it (which also uses one of the two DirectX sound cards) I get the same thing. As soon as I open it back up in Ableton and play it through the ASIO card, it's fine again. So it's essentially 'stuck' in Ableton. Like I said, I have three sound cards total - the ASIO, a Sound Blaster X-Fi PCI card, and the onboard "HD Audio" from the ASUS motherboard. and only the ASIO is usable for playback.

I will post an .mp3 of the problem later (I would now, but I'm at work).
It doesn't sound like the usual 'taxed cpu' clicks and dropouts.. It's definitely more of a sound quality/distortion issue which I don't get in any other program (In Cubase or SoundForge for example, I can record through the ASIO and play back through the MME cards with no problem), but I greatly prefer the interface on Ableton, and would love to be able to use it..
Has this happened to anyone else? Thanks in advance.

Oh, and the same thing happens when I export it as an .aiff file (instead of a wav).

Also, bump.

Do you have Live open in the background when you're playing back the exported file?

I've tried it both ways - both with it running and without. Same deal either way.

Odd. What sample rate are you using?
(If you are able to play the waveform without distortion through Ableton, it sounds like the issue may be more related to the X-Fi and Onboard HD Audio having an inability to play it back, and less likely to be a problem with the M-Audio card, per se.)
That mp3 clip would be mighty helpful to hear!

There we go:
http://www.getplayed.com/acoustic_example.mp3

The clip is just an acoustic guitar played straight into an AKG C-1000 S small diaphragm condenser microphone. There are no effects whatsoever. The weird distorting 'echo' sound (most noticeable after louder notes) is part of the problem I'm talking about. If there was any way to upload a 'before' clip so you could hear how much different it sounds, that would help, but unfortunately..

Edit: Have tried various sample rates.. Recorded takes in 44, 128, and 192. The above sample was recorded in 128

Last bump, I promise.
No idea what it might be?