snap,crackle,mbox

R

royharper3220

New member
I got a mbox a few weeks ago and cannot get rid of the pops, even with the 1024 (extra latency) setting. I've tried everything except getting a powered usb hub. so are the pops just part of the mbox's greatness, like they're always there reminding you that you blew $450 on this piece of crap? Im assuming its a usb issue, but dont understand why mbox works for some and not others.I have nothing else running off usb. I wonder if everyone has the pops and just dont notice them.
 
do i need a dedicated hard drive to get rid of the pops? I mean if you dont have one, is it assumed you'll get pops and clicks? the hard drive i have now is partitioned.
 
IMHO I would get a second drive, if your OS drive is close to being full it can cause some problems. that is what happened to me and after I installed my second drive all the pops and clicks went away. :)
 
Having one drive partitioned isn't going to help any, as it is still the same physical drive. The same heads still have to jump around the same platers.
In essence .... Yes ... It is best to have a dedicated drive to avoid drop-outs and stutters in the streaming. Pops and clicks can sometimes be attributed to drivers (not just audio hardware drivers but any and all drivers).

What exactly are your computer specs?
Desktop or laptop?
Brand name or home brew?
mobo and processor?
mobo chipset? .... if it is VIA ... make sure you have the latest VIA drivers!
Video card?
RAM?
Harddrive RPM?

There are a lot of things to consider when setting up a DAW. Posting detailed info, may yield detailed advice.

-Ken
 
desktop
homebrew
xp
p4 4.2c
Abit IS7 mobo
ati radeon 8500 128mb vid card
1 gig ram
80 gig 7200 hard drive

I increased the dae buffer to 8 and was able to record one track at a time, but not two. and i only have about 4 gig on my os drive. i dont even know if i can fit another hard drive in my computer since i have two cdroms.
 
Sure you can (strap that puppy in there somewhere) ..... Drive 1 is most likely on IDE channel 1 as MASTER ... put one CD ROM with it as SLAVE.
Drive 2 will go on IDE channel 2 as MASTER and other CD ROM will be the SLAVE on that channel.

You got to figure ... when doing DAW work, you aint gonna be using the CD ROM's while recording or playback so the harddrives are top priority. Thus we give them their own IDE channel and set them as MASTER.
 
Last edited:
All proggies, OS and plugins etc..... go on drive one.
drive 2 is dedicated to the audio data stream. Point your recording software to that drive for it's working directory. Sense big ole drives can be had for fairly cheap ... you can partition drive 2 to say .... maybe around 20 gigs for your data directory and use the remaining partition for backup storage. That way if you have ....say a 120 gig drive, it wont take all day to defrag your data directory partition.
As far as using the drive or partition of it for the working directory .... give it the whole drive letter, don't put a folder in the way. once you save your projects, then you can back them up to folders to keep everything nice and organized for you own personal preferences.
 
If your IS7 has the Silicon Image SATA controller chip, you can use these for either the harddrives or the CD ROM's giving each device it's own channel.
Or save up for some SATA harddrives and utilize the SATA capabilities of the mobo.
Word of note:
On the Silicon Image controller, this is still on the PCI bus.
Whereas with the mobo I have, AC7-G ... the 875p chipset offers native SATA support separate from the PCI bus (which is best for our intentions in DAW applications).

Any rate ... I would opt for a second drive and make sure ALL drivers are current.


-Ken

-EDIT- :eek: Whooah ... a P4 4.2c !!! Thats gotta be a one of a kind! :D
 
Having only one drive should not be the reason for the pops.
I have a single hard drive and that doesn't stop my PCI audiophile from working just great.
USB is just not a good choice for audio.
A review of usb soundcards that I read recently where they tested around 20 of them confirmed it. It's really hit or miss whether it will work for your computer or not.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top