Audio Stutters and CPU Redlining in Sonar 3 Producer

[JohnnyMan]

I am experiencing difficulties getting audio to playback without sputters, stutters, and stops. I also notice the CPU meter redlines frequently (many CPU warnings) with the occasional drop out. Cakewalk frequently drops out during recording. I have ran the Wave Profiler many times but to no avail. I have Windows 2000 on a Pentium III 900MHz, over a gig of ram, and I am using a separate hard drive (80gig) for my audio files. My sound card is the M Audio Delta 10/10LT.
I did try upping the I/O buffer from 128 to 512 but that did not seem to improve anything. I also tried setting the latency all the way over to 348. That may have helped but only marginally.
Are there any additional tweaks that could correct these issues or must I up my CPU, i.e. buy a new computer?

John

[Teacher]

P3 900mhz is prehistoric but it should be able to handle a decent amount of tracks @ 24/44.1 I'd think at least 16 with plug-ins

[dachay2tnr]

While your system does meet the "minimum" requirements for S3 Producer, it does not meet the recommended requirements.

http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/system.asp

Try going even higher with the M-Audio latency setting (buffer size) in the Delta control panel. Then set the latency slider all the way to the right and reprofile the card in Sonar.

You will probably be able to find a "sweet spot" in the Delta buffer settings that will allow you to run OK. Start at the lowest setting and work your way up one-by-one to the highest setting. Remember to reprofile in Sonar after each change.

BTW, which Delta drivers are you using? Sometimes a different driver version can help. If you have the latest, go backwards. If you have an older version, try one of the newer ones.

[JohnnyMan]

Originally Posted by Teacher

P3 900mhz is prehistoric but it should be able to handle a decent amount of tracks @ 24/44.1 I'd think at least 16 with plug-ins

"Prehistoric", I am offended!!

Just kidding. I know the ol' P3 needs to be upgraded but I should be able to record and listen to some tracks without the software caving. The song I am currently attempting to listen to only has 8 tracks.

[James Argo]

Sonar 3 runs fine on my MIDI machine (P!!!866, 512, dual 40GB 7200, Terratec EWX2496 and SBLive!). Sometime I switched soundcard with the other machine (Delta1010LT), never had any problem except when I do huge video score mixing. How about resource conflict? In some case, you need to move the card to another PCI slot. It's all about sweet spot, right?


Jaymz

[JohnnyMan]

Originally Posted by dachay2tnr

While your system does meet the "minimum" requirements for S3 Producer, it does not meet the recommended requirements.

http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/system.asp

Try going even higher with the M-Audio latency setting (buffer size) in the Delta control panel. Then set the latency slider all the way to the right and reprofile the card in Sonar.

You will probably be able to find a "sweet spot" in the Delta buffer settings that will allow you to run OK. Start at the lowest setting and work your way up one-by-one to the highest setting. Remember to reprofile in Sonar after each change.

BTW, which Delta drivers are you using? Sometimes a different driver version can help. If you have the latest, go backwards. If you have an older version, try one of the newer ones.

Thank you for the suggestions dachay2tnr. I already have the Buffer Size slider in Sonar all the way to the right. I will try to adjust the Delta's DMA buffer size.

Where do I look to see which drivers I am currently using?

[James Argo]

Open M-Audio control panel, and click "About" tab. The version should be there on the left upper corner...


Jaymz

[dachay2tnr]

Originally Posted by JohnnyMan

Thank you for the suggestions dachay2tnr. I already have the Buffer Size slider in Sonar all the way to the right.

BTW, you can also increase the number of buffers in Sonar. It usually defaults to 2. I would at least try raising it to 3.

[JohnnyMan]

Originally Posted by James Argo

Open M-Audio control panel, and click "About" tab. The version should be there on the left upper corner...


Jaymz

James,

The driver version is 5.10.00.0027.

I'm not too sure I have any PCI slots left.

John

[dachay2tnr]

Originally Posted by JohnnyMan

James,

The driver version is 5.10.00.0027.

I'm not too sure I have any PCI slots left.

John

There are several newer drivers than 27. It's worth a try to check out one of the newer ones. They are available on the M-Audio web site.

[JohnnyMan]

Originally Posted by dachay2tnr

BTW, you can also increase the number of buffers in Sonar. It usually defaults to 2. I would at least try raising it to 3.

Dachay2tnr,

Thanks for the suggestion. I bumped it to 4 and lowered the buffer size back to around the middle of the bar. The CPU meter now hangs around the 50% range occasionally reaching 70% and I haven't heard a hiccup yet (with this first song).

Should I have left the buffer size to as large as possible: 348 msec? Are there any other tweaks?

[James Argo]

John, how if you try another driver mode (ASIO)?

[dachay2tnr]

Originally Posted by JohnnyMan

Dachay2tnr,

Thanks for the suggestion. I bumped it to 4 and lowered the buffer size back to around the middle of the bar. The CPU meter now hangs around the 50% range occasionally reaching 70% and I haven't heard a hiccup yet (with this first song).

Should I have left the buffer size to as large as possible: 348 msec? Are there any other tweaks?

Well, the idea is to get it working trouble-free. If it is working now, my suggestion is to leave it as is. If you start having problems again, then bump it back up.

As we indicated above, sometimes these machines just have a sweet spot - some combination of buffers size, slider position, buffer count, etc. where everything works smoothly. Finding it can be quite tricky - since there are so many things to tweak. If this continues to work for you, make sure you write down the settings somewhere.

Ultimately the idea is get the latency as low as possible while still maintaining trouble-free operation. However, with your machine I wouldn't hold out much hope for very low latency. The gig of memory and separate hdd are good, though. I hope the audio hdd (at least) is 7200 RPM.

[JohnnyMan]

Originally Posted by James Argo

John, how if you try another driver mode (ASIO)?

James,

I may give that a try if the other tweaks don't improve things. I just downloaded and installed the latest drivers for the 1010LT. Thanks again for the suggestion.

[JohnnyMan]

Originally Posted by dachay2tnr

Well, the idea is to get it working trouble-free. If it is working now, my suggestion is to leave it as is. If you start having problems again, then bump it back up.

As we indicated above, sometimes these machines just have a sweet spot - some combination of buffers size, slider position, buffer count, etc. where everything works smoothly. Finding it can be quite tricky - since there are so many things to tweak. If this continues to work for you, make sure you write down the settings somewhere.

Ultimately the idea is get the latency as low as possible while still maintaining trouble-free operation. However, with your machine I wouldn't hold out much hope for very low latency. The gig of memory and separate hdd are good, though. I hope the audio hdd (at least) is 7200 RPM.

I wouldn't say it's working. I just tried that song again (8 tracks of recorded audio) and it hiccupped twice while frequently creeping into the redline area. I have already convinced my wife that a new computer is the answer but I am not entirely convinced the P3 can’t cut the mustard. I’ve needed an excuse to upgrade but I hope I can get my current system to “get me by” until I select a new computer. I will continue to tweak and post my results. And yes the hard drive is 7200rpm.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

John