New TV, Cannot get vocals right at all :(

[pixie126]

My husband and I had to buy a new tv. We went from a Sony DLP to a Sharp LED.
When we tried to play Rock Band 2 on this new tv (via Xbox 360), everything was way off. I calibrated it (manually) and it brought my husband's guitar work into focus so that he could play (setting: audio 75, video 65), but the vocals are way off the map. The mic we had always been using suddenly sounds tinny, and on songs I usually 100% suddenly I fail. What I am singing and seeing do not seem to match. I tried to calibrate further, but nothing seems to alleviate this problem. Help! I almost no longer want to play!

[nuttzo31]

Does the tv have some sort of game mode setting on it? Try turning it on or off and see if that helps.

[pixie126]

I tried that. Was originally on movie mode. Tried the game mode. That didn't seem to affect whatever is going on to any appreciable degree.

[Alternity]

Did you tried to calibrate the game using the auto-calibration that is on the RB2 and up guitars, and the Mustang? Maybe your calibration is simply not right, I often see people having trouble calibrating their games. It might be playable on the guitar, but the video is somewhat off (60ms for an LED tv sounds high, I have a LCD TV and my calibration is at 40ms for video, and AFAIK LCDs are more laggy than LEDs, and if you're using TV's speaker, I don't think 75ms is right, I've never seen a TV above 20ms audio delay... If you're using a sound system, it's a complete other story, my system is a surround system, 220ms) if you can't see vocals at the right time.

If you don't have access to a RB2 guitar, or a Mustang, I suggest taking a good look at the calibration, testing without sound, if the video looks fine when playing guitar/drums (the gems (rectangular things you hit) should disapear at the right spot, when you hit it at the right spot), then add sound, and keep testing until it's right. If you still have the problem, I really have no idea, but the TV can't be the problem for sure, it's just physically impossible. An error as low as 5ms can throw off gameplay.

[nuttzo31]

I am using a pioneer surround sound receiver and an lcd tv and my audio is about 25ms and video 80ms but if i have the dolby digital option in rock band 3 set to on the audio goes out to about 80ms. Do you have or can you rent a guitar hero game and try calibrating that and see if you have the same problem.

[Alternity]

80ms video? wow. I knew LCDs could lag, but that's high lol. And nice sound system though, 80ms with dolby, that's a nice low latency frankly for it. I have an old reciever, so it takes time to decode, lol.

[pixie126]

Well, I have somewhat given up on this. It's not great, but if I have to put up with being unable to achieve the scores I used to so be it. It's a simple system, using the TV's speakers, nothing fancy, but we don't have a RB2 guitar, just the original ones. Calibrating using the on-screen tests is about worthless. I get results in the hundreds for those. I have tried so many permutations of the manual calibrations that my head started spinning. I can try using our copy of Guitar Hero to see if that does anything, but as the problems lie with the vocals and not the guitar, I am unsure of what it may accomplish. Thanks for all the tideas. It is appreciated!

[nuttzo31]

What model of tv are you using? Perhaps someone else has that particular model and can suggest a workaround.Can you rerun the audio through a hifi or something instead of the tv speakers?

[Alternity]

What you seem to not understand is the guitar, bass, and keys (in the case of RB3), and easily played out of sync compared to vocals, and I speak by experience, if you're really using the TV's speakers and affirming that your settings on the calibration are at 75ms for audio, there's a problem, I don't think it's possible, I can assure you, it's a problem with your calibration, and the best way to calibrate RB (or GH), is with an instrument, not with vocals, as I explained earlier.

[pixie126]

The TV is a Sharp Aquos LED. There is no way I will use the receiver I use with my computer because we don't have speakers other then my desktop ones I run on my PC.
The reason I am concerned with the vocals as opposed to guitar, is that I don't play the guitar. I cannot. Well, except to laugh at the fact that I cannot even reach all the keys.
I have ranged the calibration settings all over the map, even into the negative for giggles. It just sounds and feels like crap vocally. I get an echo for some reason, and have the mic sensitivity and volume all the way down to minimize it. If I turn either up it appears.
When my husband attempted to use the guitar (not a rb2, rb1) at first to calibrate, it came up with something like 115 for audio and 193 for video. And all those tests ask for you to do is hit the A button at the appropriate time. I will see if I can locate GuItar Hero now and try it with that.


No dice with the GH. It is gone. Gack...