Cracks on vocal track

D

Diimi

New member
Hi everyone, I'm hoping you are having a fine day.

I'm currently encountering problems on my vocal tracks : there are cracks on them at several moments. I don't think this is a gain staging problem for the vocal track always stay under -10db except for a few slight peaks at around -9db which don't make the recording clip and are not at the moment of the cracks.

Here is the raw vocal track in question :
https://soundcloud.com/jnj-4/back-from-cali_2

The cracks I'm talking about are at 00:38 and 3:27

I'm recording through a RME Baby face with Pro tools 12 and the mic I used was a Shure SM7b. The XLR cable I used was a supposedly a good cable (Monster cable performer).

I'm really trying to make out what I've done wrong.
I thank you in adavance for your help and ideas
Dimitri :)
 
There could be a few reasons. Most of the time that I've encountered issues like this, my computer was simply being overworked.

In large projects, or with too many VST plugs (especially CPU-hungry reverbs), recording at too high of a sample rate, having too small of an ASIO buffer can all contribute to putting a very heavy load on a CPU.

If you have a beefy CPU, then this most likely isn't the issue. But if you monitor CPU usage while tracking and notice it's very busy, it could well be the cause.

Other than that, crackles/pops can be caused by static discharge, irregularities in your house's power supply, the refrigerator or furnace kicking on, loose connectors on your cables. I did once have a problem with a computer where somewhere in the circuitry of its motherboard, it would generate random pops and crackles in the audio path. That computer promptly ended up in the recycling bin :)
 
Tadpui said:
There could be a few reasons. Most of the time that I've encountered issues like this, my computer was simply being overworked.

In large projects, or with too many VST plugs (especially CPU-hungry reverbs), recording at too high of a sample rate, having too small of an ASIO buffer can all contribute to putting a very heavy load on a CPU.

If you have a beefy CPU, then this most likely isn't the issue. But if you monitor CPU usage while tracking and notice it's very busy, it could well be the cause.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot you for your insight :) I am just starting out and I am kind of lost. My computer has 4 go of RAM and an Intel Core i5. My ASIO buffer was set to 64 samples. Do you think that it is too low for my PC configuration ? How do you generally find the suitable ASIO buffer ?
 
Tadpui said:
There could be a few reasons. Most of the time that I've encountered issues like this, my computer was simply being overworked.

In large projects, or with too many VST plugs (especially CPU-hungry reverbs), recording at too high of a sample rate, having too small of an ASIO buffer can all contribute to putting a very heavy load on a CPU.

If you have a beefy CPU, then this most likely isn't the issue. But if you monitor CPU usage while tracking and notice it's very busy, it could well be the cause.

Other than that, crackles/pops can be caused by static discharge, irregularities in your house's power supply, the refrigerator or furnace kicking on, loose connectors on your cables. I did once have a problem with a computer where somewhere in the circuitry of its motherboard, it would generate random pops and crackles in the audio path. That computer promptly ended up in the recycling bin :)
Click to expand...

This is a very good breakdown Tadpui - this was exactly my problem on my previous laptop (AMD Quadcore + 8 GB Ram). Too many tracks and too many plugins and it would croak.
Now I have an i5 HP and it can handle a lot more but still has a limitation on tracks and plugins. I just got it so I haven't pushed it yet.
I'm not at home but if I recall for my Asio driver (Lexicon U42S), I increased the playback buffer to 512 and record buffer was ok at its default setting of 256.
We recently experimented with 96000 sample rate on my friend's laptop and it popped and crackled all over the place. Tried every setting in the book but nothing fixed it.
Went back to 44100 and it disappeared. 96000 is not worth it anyway from what the guys tell me on this forum.
 
ido1957 said:
This is a very good breakdown Tadpui - this was exactly my problem on my previous laptop (AMD Quadcore + 8 GB Ram). Too many tracks and too many plugins and it would croak.
Now I have an i5 HP and it can handle a lot more but still has a limitation on tracks and plugins. I just got it so I haven't pushed it yet.
I'm not at home but if I recall for my Asio driver (Lexicon U42S), I increased the playback buffer to 512 and record buffer was ok at its default setting of 256.
We recently experimented with 96000 sample rate on my friend's laptop and it popped and crackled all over the place. Tried every setting in the book but nothing fixed it.
Went back to 44100 and it disappeared. 96000 is not worth it anyway from what the guys tell me on this forum.
Click to expand...

I agree that recording much above 44.1 or 48 KHz is mostly placebo unless you're into some seriously exacting applications. I've recently moved to 96KHz just because I can. Not much justification behind it, I was just curious if my interface could do it and I ended up just leaving it there :)

Diimi said:
Thanks a lot you for your insight :) I am just starting out and I am kind of lost. My computer has 4 go of RAM and an Intel Core i5. My ASIO buffer was set to 64 samples. Do you think that it is too low for my PC configuration ? How do you generally find the suitable ASIO buffer ?
Click to expand...

Depending on what sample rate you're recording at, a 64-sample ASIO buffer could definitely be too small. On my RME and an Intel Core i7, I've started recording at 96 KHz and I have to use a buffer size of 256 samples to keep it nice and clean. At 48 KHz, I could use a 128 sample buffer. I have a feeling that if I recorded at 44.1 KHz, a 64-sample buffer would be fine (and FAST!). But as it is with RME's excellent drivers, a 256 sample buffer still keeps me around 3ms of latency in and 3ms out. That's totally acceptable for my purposes.

So I have a feeling that you'll have to make a decision about your desired sample rate. Give it a try at 44.1 KHz and see if the buffer size of 64 works for you. Or if you want to work at higher sample rates, try to crank up that buffer a bit to take some strain off of your CPU. Bigger buffers mean longer latency, smaller buffers mean more CPU strain. It's a balancing act, and you'll have to experiment a little to find the right balance for your purposes.

Good luck!
 
Thanks a lot Tadpui ! I'm going to try out the compromises between sample rate and buffer you advised us with :)
 
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