Crackle crackle pop pop

mjbphotos

mjbphotos

Moderator
I'm afraid my old Win 7 computer is just not up to doing things any longer. Never had an issue previously with Tascam US800 interface, but new Scarlett 8i6 might be too CPA intensive with Reaper? D/Led new drivers, etc. Set buffer up to 1024 which did get rid of some crackling, but not all. Funny thing is the tracks I did yesterday were horribly crackly on playback today with the Scarlett (and the crackles seem to be 'in' the tracks themselves - i.e. when I turn up the volume, they are louder, and always appear to be in the same places (recorded - I can see the blips in the wave forms)

Suggestions?
 
First off I would run LatencyMon with the 8i6 running playback of an old, good track.

If that reports badly you have to find the reason for it. As I am sure you know, practically any PC made in the last 5 years can run a few tracks without trouble so long as nothing is grabbing resources.

Dave.
 
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I did load a single track song I recorded the other day, it was fine. Did not run a full production song to test it. Could be because I have EZ Drummer running on this one, have to experiment some more. Going to do a system restore, if necessary too.
 
Take the EZ Drummer out and try that first before you do much more. Shut down one track or effect...etc...at a time. That might lead you to the culprit. How much memory do you have in that win 7 machine?
 
I did a system restore, re-installed the the new Focusrite drivers. The crackling is still there on older tracks, fainter than on the new tracks - because it isn't recorded. But the pattern is there - during a silent part, the last few crackles happen like an echo. Tried old (and new tracks) with and without EZ Drummer, didn't make a difference, put the buffer all the way to 1024, huge latency, but still crackling.
I think it's not only the 6G of RAM, but CPU speed (probably slowed down over the years?)

SO, next thing is to replace the computer. Going to internet shop today, but I saw Best Buy had a refurbished HP, 8G RAM (can't imagine I really need more), and 256G SSD for under $300.
 
Have you checked to see what processes are running in the background? Are there any that can be disabled from Startup?
 
Have you tried going back to your Tascam to see if the problem is still there? Unless I'm wrong......it seems like you said your issue began after you started using the Scarlett. Try running a latency monitor with the Scarlett and the Tascam to see if there's a difference.

What's the speed of your win7 machine and how much memory do you have in it? If the refurbed HP is similar speed and same memory the only real improvement would mostly be the SSD..........assuming you have a spinning HD now. By the way.......as far as memory goes.......just make sure any PC you get can be upgraded. Some do have maximum memory limits that can be low.
 
Hi Mike, that HP should do ya!

My old g6 is an i3 370m 2.4G with 8G DDR3 532mHz MOBO dated 2013. Just run the demo in Samplitude Pro X 4. 7 tracks +master and nary a glitch even from the internal sound card.

I have run the big, 20 tracks or so demo of SAM X 3 through the NI KA6 without problem but I seem to have lost those demo tracks!

No real problems with HP in 6 or so years. They run a bit hot and I am told the fan path needs cleaning from time to time. I just ram a Dyson at the outlet a few times a year! The keyboards are a bit feeble, on my second and the legends have worn from that but I just cut letters from a Dymo printer and stick them on now! Did not know for years that mine had a USB 3.0 port on the right hand side by the power skt!

Now run a Lenovo T510 W10 for internet but keep Sam on the HP.

Dave.
 
mjbphotos said:
Suggestions?
Click to expand...

I would investigate further...don't just assume the computer is suddenly the problem.

If you were working on something...it could be a single change...a single plugin...anything...
...and it appears you made some changes to your setup when it all began...?

Nothing wrong with getting a new computer...but it may not be necessary.
I'm still running Win 7 on a 10+ year old Dell Precision T3400...and I have no issues to speak of, but I can at times add some plugin that causes some temporary glitch...or if I pile on way too many on a single track, etc...but noting that has stopped me from doing what I need to do.

Also...any sample players...like EZD or virtual synths...they can be a big strain on any computer, depending how many you are running...so you can just bounce those out of MIDI/sample to actual audio tracks, and that will relive the overhead on the CPU.

Point is...reconfiguring a whole new setup can bring its own problems...so I would first troubleshoot my existing one before buying a new computer and going through all the installation/configuration anguish. :D
 
To comment/answer:

Tried with and without EZ Drummer (and ReaVerbs x3), no difference.

Trouble started WITH the old Tascam hooked up - tracks from Saturday had the crackles recorded on each track. I didn't notice because I was just using headphones for low level monitoring. Turning it up to regular 80dB listening is when the crackling can be heard, but also soling each track, you can hear it at lower volumes (and see the crackle on the waveform). When there are multiple parts going, its harder to hear of course.
Increasing the buffer to 1024 did not get rid of it, although the volume of the crackles seemed to get lower.
Absolutely nothing changed with the set up prior to Saturday's tracking session. I had recorded tracks that sounded fine just a few days before.

I don't recall the exact processor speed, but slow (2.2 to 2.6 maybe?), and only 6G RAM (!TB HD). Again, I never had any problem running EZ Drummer 2 'live', but did render soft synth VSTis as needed when I was adding a bunch of parts. Latency was never good, but I direct monitored everything but the VSTis, and those never seemed to make much of a difference.

New computer choices are running at 3.1 to 3.4. As I'll only be using this for recording, the 256G SSD should do fine for a long time, I can move/backup to other drives anyway.
 
I sorta hate to say it but I really don't think your computer is the issue. I've run win7 with speeds like that and low RAM with Reaper up to 22 tracks with various effects...etc.....no real issues. Maybe an occasional crackle here and there when the mix is full up......but they were never recorded on my tracks ever. Ignore my dumb question but are you sure you don't have a bad cable somewhere.......either in the power supply area or the input area? The noises are on the individual tracks.......or at least one right? Or are you saying this only happens when you render?

Being wrong is easy for me.......so keep that in mind........but somehow I don't think it's your computer. And man.......transitioning to another one can be frustrating as well.
 
The new scarlet drivers since they probably do a little more than the old interface might be pushing you over on your resources. It seems the interface drivers do a little more than just route audio. I tried to see if that was the case but couldn't get a concrete idea what was going on between the interface and the DAW.
 
CPU is showing at 4% in Reaper's performance meter - FX +

Task manager shows nothing peaking out, Reaper is using 487M of Ram, and is steady. The Focusrite software is less than 2M. I had already shut down a few processes running in the background (Dropbox, etc) - didn't make a difference.

Verified again that previously-recorded tracks do not have the crackling in the recordings, but can be heard (but fainter than the tracks recorded Saturday (with Tascam) and Sunday with the 8i6.

I processed a short video using the internal soundcard, earlier, no crackling.

I'm at a loss. If I buy a new computer and it still does it, then something is picking up external interference - weird thing is I heard a phone ring - through my monitors - about a week ago. Could something in the system be acting like a receiver?
 
mjbphotos said:
CPU is showing at 4% in Reaper's performance meter - FX +

Task manager shows nothing peaking out, Reaper is using 487M of Ram, and is steady. The Focusrite software is less than 2M. I had already shut down a few processes running in the background (Dropbox, etc) - didn't make a difference.

Verified again that previously-recorded tracks do not have the crackling in the recordings, but can be heard (but fainter than the tracks recorded Saturday (with Tascam) and Sunday with the 8i6.

I processed a short video using the internal soundcard, earlier, no crackling.

I'm at a loss. If I buy a new computer and it still does it, then something is picking up external interference - weird thing is I heard a phone ring - through my monitors - about a week ago. Could something in the system be acting like a receiver?
Click to expand...

Have you tried installing on another computer and load up Reaper? Daily driver or something. I am sure you thought about it, Reaper takes nothing to install and the scarlett probably not so much either. Maybe 30-60 minute test.

I hate to see you buy a computer if you don't need it, but then again, maybe this is good to get you to move on ;)
 
What did LatencyMon point out as the worst offending DPC latency component? That'll give you some insight into what device/driver might be causing the issue.
 
Tadpui said:
What did LatencyMon point out as the worst offending DPC latency component? That'll give you some insight into what device/driver might be causing the issue.
Click to expand...
Ran it last night, it said BIOS should be updated and to turn off CPU throttling (power settings). I had not done any Win updates in years - had turned off the automatic updates, and it was seldom hooked to the 'net. Took some time to do updates, so will test it today after work.
 
mjbphotos said:
Ran it last night, it said BIOS should be updated and to turn off CPU throttling (power settings). I had not done any Win updates in years - had turned off the automatic updates, and it was seldom hooked to the 'net. Took some time to do updates, so will test it today after work.
Click to expand...

Not a PC guru by any shakes of small sheep's tail but, don't do a BIOS update unless there is no other alternative. This was advice I had recently (Pete Kaine SoS) but if'n y'HAFt, be on a full battery or an SMPSU.

Dave.
 
I did all the updates recommended, no change in the sound. Still crackling away the same as before. New computer is on order.
 
mjbphotos said:
Ran it last night, it said BIOS should be updated and to turn off CPU throttling (power settings). I had not done any Win updates in years - had turned off the automatic updates, and it was seldom hooked to the 'net. Took some time to do updates, so will test it today after work.
Click to expand...

I think those items sound like a good starting point. On an older machine, BIOS updates aren't quite as simple as they've been made recently. Like Dave says, make sure there is nearly zero chance of power interruptions as you update. Otherwise, it should be fine and just might heal some performance issues. Windows updates are always a double-edged sword, but they generally do much more good than harm.

Once your system is all updated and stable, try running that latency monitor again and maybe it can find something else to gripe about :)

*edit* sorry, I had this page up for several hours before I replied, so I didn't see your reply.

Hey, nothing wrong with a new computer. But if you'd like to keep fidgeting with the old one, might as well give another run to LatencyMon and see what it comes up with now.
 
So I boot up the computer this morning to process a video - I use an old Roxio Creator that still runs on Win 7 (with occasional crashes). Roxio would not boot up today - after all the updates. Said 'F it' and did a system restore, then computer would not restart. Cold rebooting now.
 
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