how to eliminate pops and clicks

[bjbradley]

Hello, I am a new user. I use 2 large diaphragm condenser mikes through my Aphex 207 tube pre and into LINE IN 3/4 in back of the PreSonus Firebox 6x8. I keep my levels just below the red in the Aphex and have adjusted my levels in Cubase essential 4. I have lowered my firebox mixer 2-3 DB and I've turned off all the suggestd internet connects/firewall soundcard etc. I have a dual core processor on my laptop, running at 2+ Ghz. I still have clicks and pops. Any suggestions? Thanks so much

[buckkillr8]

what's your latency settings? I see you're using Presonus, do you have the ASIO4all drivers isntalled? Presonus along with most interfaces like to use ASIO drivers for the lowest latency.

Go here and download the ASIO4All program. Install it and make sure to check the box for "offline" settings or something like that so that you can get the ASIO control panel from the start menu.

www.ASIO4All.com

[bjbradley]

[QUOTE=buckkillr8;3115323]what's your latency settings? I see you're using Presonus, do you have the ASIO4all drivers isntalled? Presonus along with most interfaces like to use ASIO drivers for the lowest latency.

Go here and download the ASIO4All program. Install it and make sure to check the box for "offline" settings or something like that so that you can get the ASIO control panel from the start menu.

thanks so much, I will try that.

[dgatwood]

Isn't there a real ASIO driver for the FireBox? If so, why use a hack like ASIO4All?

The pops may have to do with IRQ sharing between your FireWire interface and something else on the system. Audio devices are very sensitive to interrupt latency. Also, what FireWire chip does your laptop use? TI? NEC? Lucent? Something shady?

[RAMI]

Originally Posted by bjbradley

I keep my levels just below the red

That's probably the problem. You don't need to record that hot. Do a search on "Gain Staging".

[bjbradley]

Originally Posted by RAMI

That's probably the problem. You don't need to record that hot. Do a search on "Gain Staging".

I found that when I increased my gain on the tube pre and lowered my cubase volume, the pops decreased. What do you make of that? thanks.

[bjbradley]

Originally Posted by dgatwood

Isn't there a real ASIO driver for the FireBox? If so, why use a hack like ASIO4All?

Also, what FireWire chip does your laptop use? TI? NEC? Lucent? Something shady?

I am using Texas Inst. OHCI compliant firewire chip on my Dell studio laptop. Any ideas?

[TimOBrien]

Clicks and pops are usually signs that your drive is not keeping up with the data flow.

Are you recording to the internal drive???

You SHOULD always record to a secondary dedicated drive.... Since you are using firewire you should have a drive on that chain to record to.

[bjbradley]

Originally Posted by TimOBrien

Clicks and pops are usually signs that your drive is not keeping up with the data flow.

Are you recording to the internal drive???

You SHOULD always record to a secondary dedicated drive.... Since you are using firewire you should have a drive on that chain to record to.

I have a dual core processor. which runs at 2.16 Mghz I thought the dual core processor would give me this secondary drive idea. Is that correct?

Gain on the tube pre is betwn -12DB and -18DB and My gain is WAY down on the Cubase input. So this should not be presenting a problem. appreciate your help. thanks.

[buckkillr8]

Originally Posted by bjbradley

I have a dual core processor. which runs at 2.16 Mghz I thought the dual core processor would give me this secondary drive idea. Is that correct?

No a second drive is just that. A second Hard Drive.