Too many dropouts... need help

E

elil

New member
I've been trying to put together a functional DAW and have ran into so many roadblocks I figured it's time to ask for help. My current system is:

AMD Athalon 2600 Barton Core (1.2Ghz), 512MB DDR2700, 80GB 7200rpm, DELTA 1010LT (w/ latest drivers), Windows XP SP2, and DirectX 9.

With this setup I was able to record up to 8 tracks simultaneously, and indefinitely using the Ableton Live software that came with the 1010LT. Everything was great until a month later when the trial ran out. I was upset with the M-Audio for telling me it came with a fully functional multi-track recorder, but that is another story.

Either way, I broke down and bought Cakewalk Sonar Producer Edition. Now I'm having frequent dropouts (sometimes after 1 second, sometimes after a few minutes) recording as little as 1 mono track. I've tried everything that Sonar recommends to reduce dropouts, but no luck. However, I've noticed that the CPU activity bar in Sonar is very low 5-25%, but in Windows's task manager the CPU is maxed at 100%.

I've disabled all other programs (including virus scan, LAN connection, etc.) and still have the same problems.

Please help, I'm running out of ideas. Do I need to upgrade my system? My specs beat the recommended system, and I know I can record this many tracks with other programs. :confused:
 
What drivers are you using (ASIO or WDM) and what do you have your latency set to.

I believe you system borderline meets the specs for Sonar Producer. Therefore, you are probably going to have run with somewhat high latency settings.

See if increasing the latency helps.
 
How many HD do you have?

Put 2 HD, one for OS (Windows & applications,etc), the other for audio.

;)
Jaymz
 
I once had a problem like yours,it drove me nuts,I did every tweak imaginable.Turned out I had a bad hard drive on a brand new computer.

Did you check for hardware conflicts or IRQ sharing?

Are you running a lot of softsynths,samplers?
 
I've tried ASIO, WDM, and the third one (I forget the name off the top of my head). I've tried all maximum and minimum latency.

I have 2 HDs, 1 40G (5200rpm?) for file storage and my 1 80G is for OS, applications, etc. I've been writing to the 80G because it has a faster speed, do you really think having the OS on the same drive will cause this?

No softsynths or samplers, just straight up live multi-track recording. Found no conflicts.

Thanks for all of the help so far!
 
elil said:
I've tried ASIO, WDM, and the third one (I forget the name off the top of my head). I've tried all maximum and minimum latency.
Click to expand...
Are you changing the latency only through the slider in Sonar? You might need to reset the "samples per buffer" setting in the Delta control panel. (I'm not in my studio, so I forget the exact name M-Audio uses for this. However, there is a latency setting in the Delta Control Panel as well as in Sonar.)

Also, you should put your OS and software on the 40 Gb hard drive and use the 80 just for your audio storage. (However, while this is a good idea, I don't think it is the cause of the immediate issue you are having.)
 
elil said:
Found no conflicts!
Click to expand...
Even if Windows reports no conflicts, it could be that the Delta1010 is not happy with sharing IRQs (I know my soundcard is picky about that).

If you see it share IRQs with anything, try to disable the other "thing". Perhaps you know this already but to see how IRQs are being used: Go to the System Proterties (Right-click on my compyter -> Properties), and then select the "Hardware" tab, and click on the "Device Manager"-button. Go to "View" on the toolbar and choose "Resources by type". Then click on the plus-sign next to "Interrupt Request (IRQ)". :)
 
Aha... I opened device manager and sorted by resources by type and I found the M-Audio Delta 1010LT listed w/ IRQ: 21. However, there are 4 "VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controllers", and 1 "Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Hose Controller listed with the same IRQ of 21. There are several empty slots before them.

I only have a USB scanner and a printer hooked up through USB, and neither have been used during recording. Is there a way to manually assign the IRQ?
 
I forgot to mention that I run Sonar 3.0 Producer. Might this have anything to do with anything?
 
I think if you change pci slots on the soundcard you can find a free IRQ.
The host controllers should be there,I'm not so sure the Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Hose Controller should be though.
You say Sonar 3.0,have you installed all the patches?
 
also goto audio options --> advanced, and see if "share drivers with other programs" is set. if so, uncheck it.
 
Hey all,

Im having the exact same problem,
Im using sonar 3.0, Tryed it all. Im only recording my 3rd audio track in sonar and its dropping out on that,

Any ideas?

Thanks

- Idgeit

Spec

512MB ram, Windows XP, 2.6Ghz, Sonar 3.0
 
Thanks for your help =)

The only thing i can see is the harddrive thing, i got windows blasting away on the same one as im recording to. Could this be a big problem?

Thanks

- Idgeit
 
idgeit.
on some pc's - one drive CAN be an issue.
think of a record player. put simply - if one person is using a record player - another cant use it while its in use. VERY SIMPLISTIC. but a drive is similar.
with one drive windows is making calls to the drive (for virtual memory for example) AND your application is as well ie..cake. so things get prioritised
by win OS. you might also check in control panel if dma is enabled on that one drive. also NOTE...if youve had problems sometimes xp will default a drive back to a slower mode. 8mb cache drives are best on a budget due to caching performance. but first - CHECK YOUR DMA !
hope this helps.
 
Sorry im pretty newbie to the details of computers, how exactly do i check my DMA?

Thanks

- Idgeit
 
Scratch that!, figured it out. DMA was already enabled.

May it be best to just go for the 2nd h/d?

- Idgeit
 
I had similar problems on my Celeron-based PC. For up to 8 simultaneous tracks you could probably use more memory. But to get just one track done without dropouts you should find the current bottleneck. Seems to me you've got ample power to handle a single track without any dropouts at all.

When you view the task manager, what process(es) are hogging the CPU?
Are you using the high performance option (Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Adjust for best performance)?
Don't use a high-res background/wallpaper image.
 
idgeit.
my advice - GET A SECOND DRIVE. only 80 bucks.
and this is IMPORTANT - get a HD with 8mb cache.
your audio will like you for it.
 
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