Crackle/Pop noise randomly

Nola

Nola

Well-known member
hey guys, so i've been recording a while now and have everything gain staged correctly, but i'm getting a random crackle/pop noise when recording.

here is an example (the tremolo is on so that's the flutter you'll hear): https://soundcloud.com/suicidevan/crackle/s-zUVFm
there's no clipping showing on any meter and the gain stage is correct.

i'm worried it's the electrical current in this cabin i'm recording in. would fluctuation cause this problem? would i see other evidence of it like lights dimming randomly?
my buffer is low, but i've always recorded with it this low without any problem.
 
i hear that exact sound when I have a cell phone near my interface. But it never gets recorded, only on playback. I know you're doing real amps this week, so not sure what to tell ya. Is it possibly interference from something electronic? Someone else might help better. Just throwing my thought in
 
thanks for that tip! i have a cell nearby so i will turn it off and see what happens
 
That's some kind of static or interference somewhere in your input chain, or possibly a digital glitch. I don't think your amp or mic has anything to do with it.
 
Sounds like the CPU not being able to keep up with the ASIO buffer. I'd either enlarge your ASIO buffer or drop your sample rate down a notch if you're recording higher than 44.1 kHz. I get this same crackle if I'm overtaxing my CPU, or if I get too ambitious with setting my ASIO buffer too small in an attempt to reduce latency.
 
Also, if you are having any latency problems, you can switch off the track input monitor in your DAW and monitor directly from the audio interface as the mic signal goes in. This should reduce or eliminate any noticeable latency when tracking.
 
Id doesn't sound like clip/crackly noise...and I'm not even sure it's interference.
It almost sounds like the audio stalls/bounces in that spot...so then the question is why.

You mentioned "tremolo"...is that at the amp or some kind of plug?
I've hear this kind of thing occasionally, where the DAW's buffer is too short as it tries to load/play a plug on a track...or something like that...similar to what Tadpui is saying.
 
Tadpui said:
Sounds like the CPU not being able to keep up with the ASIO buffer. I'd either enlarge your ASIO buffer or drop your sample rate down a notch if you're recording higher than 44.1 kHz. I get this same crackle if I'm overtaxing my CPU, or if I get too ambitious with setting my ASIO buffer too small in an attempt to reduce latency.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think this is a good call by Tadpui - ASIO buffer/CPU usage would be my guess too.
 
Weird, i've never had any latency problems before. I downloaded the DPC latency checker and i'm way far in the green when recording.

I had my preamp and converter stacked on top of one another, so i moved them, and things got much quieter, but I'm still getting that glitch here and there. I will try lowering the buffer. My latency is at 3.5ms right now...I'm not sure if that's detectable, but I feel like anything above this will be, so I'm afraid to increase the buffer. : /
 
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