Audio pops and cracks(performance issue?)

[Wintermoon1919]

Hi!

I just bought a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 coming from a LIne6 UX2

I'm experiencing issues when plugging in my guitar and playing in Guitar Rig 5 but only when setting the soundcard Buffer Lenght to low values such 1 2 or 3 ms

now Guitar Rig is notifying an overall Latency of 11.4 ms (input--->5.2ms+ processing-----> 1.0 ms + output-----> 5.2 ms ) and a Latency of 45 samples (dunno really what does it mean) and i'm experiencing audio pops and "that sort of stuff" when i play (i tried to listen from monitors as well as headphones but the problem will remain).

The Sample Rate is set to 44100 and the Buffer Lenght to 1ms

I did a scan with LatencyMon and thus it varies from time to time and generally tells that my system should have no problem handling real-time audio the last scan warns me that my system could have troubles to manage real-time audio and other tasks so i decided to link this report
Here it is:

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONCLUSION
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Your system appears to be having trouble handling real-time audio and other tasks. You are likely to experience buffer underruns appearing as drop outs, clicks or pops. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates.
LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for 0:00:49 (h:mm:ss) on all processors.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
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Computer name: RIC-PC
OS version: Windows 7 Service Pack 1, 6.1, build: 7601 (x64)
Hardware: Z97-HD3, Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4690K CPU @ 3.50GHz
Logical processors: 4
Processor groups: 1
RAM: 5891 MB total


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reported CPU speed: 350 MHz
Measured CPU speed: 1 MHz (approx.)

Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results.

WARNING: the CPU speed that was measured is only a fraction of the CPU speed reported. Your CPUs may be throttled back due to variable speed settings and thermal issues. It is suggested that you run a utility which reports your actual CPU frequency and temperature.



_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES
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The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes the scheduling and execution of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event.

Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 2107,368417
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 2,914734

Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 83,967060
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 1,245187


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED ISRs
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Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal.

Highest ISR routine execution time (µs): 24,601429
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: ACPI.sys - Driver ACPI per NT, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0,030594
Driver with highest ISR total time: hal.dll - Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0,032328

ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 50355
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 500-999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED DPCs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution.

Highest DPC routine execution time (µs): 139,929714
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: iusb3xhc.sys - Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver, Intel Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0,967790
Driver with highest DPC total execution time: iusb3xhc.sys - Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver, Intel Corporation

Total time spent in DPCs (%) 1,443875

DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 424115
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 500-999 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 1000-1999 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time 2000-3999 µs): 0
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS
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Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution.


Process with highest pagefault count: chrome.exe

Total number of hard pagefaults 1
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 1
Highest hard pagefault resolution time (µs): 4,180857
Total time spent in hard pagefaults (%): 0,000002
Number of processes hit: 1


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PER CPU DATA
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CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3,929342
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 24,601429
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 0,064310
CPU 0 ISR count: 50355
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 139,929714
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 2,852801
CPU 0 DPC count: 416020
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0,620722
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0,0
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 0,0
CPU 1 ISR count: 0
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 88,722286
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 0,005007
CPU 1 DPC count: 1897
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0,215939
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0,0
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0,0
CPU 2 ISR count: 0
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 68,364286
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0,005177
CPU 2 DPC count: 2825
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 0,782039
CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0,0
CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s): 0,0
CPU 3 ISR count: 0
CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs): 75,320857
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0,009344
CPU 3 DPC count: 3373
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________


I also link the specs of my PC:



Summary
Operating System
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1
CPU
Intel Core i5 4690K @ 3.50GHz 39 °C
Haswell 22nm Technology
RAM
6,00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 533MHz (7-7-7-20)
Motherboard
Gigabyte Technology Co. Ltd. Z97-HD3 (SOCKET 0) 28 °C
Graphics
M2094D-PZ (1680x1050@60Hz)
Intel HD Graphics 4600 (Gigabyte)
3072MB ATI AMD Radeon R9 200 Series (Sapphire/PCPartner) 39 °C
CrossFire Disabled
Storage
233GB Western Digital WDC WD2502ABYS-01B7A SCSI Disk Device (SATA) 35 °C
233GB Western Digital WDC WD2502ABYS-01B7A SCSI Disk Device (SATA) 26 °C
Optical Drives
TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S223F SCSI CdRom Device
Audio
Scarlett 2i4 USB
Operating System
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1


Anyone know what the major issue might be?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[DM60]

Not drilling though the data you posted, depending on how much "stuff" you have running at any given time will determine these results. That said, there is a reason there are buffer settings. If you are tracking and monitoring your "wet" recording (like with reverb or delay or ???) you would set these lower to reduce delay back. If you are just listening/monitoring for mixing, no real reason to have them so low 100%.

If you are getting pops and cracks, increase your buffer settings until you no longer hear them. If you need to get reduced latency for wet recording, then lower the buffers for recording, the pops should not get recorded. Once completed, increase your buffers back to work on the mix.

 

[mjbphotos]

Your CPY speed seems really slow, try optimizing your computer for audio work (do a search) - turn off anti-virus software and other stuff that's running in the background.
Make sure you have the current ASIO drivers for the Focusrite installed.

 

[Wintermoon1919]

I downloaded the last drivers for the audio interface of course

The question is: is it normal that my PC system has struggles managing a low latency?

Anyway i followed this guide : apart from the point n.3
Optimising your PC for audio on Windows 7 | Focusrite

 

[bruiser1964]

You don't say if you are experiencing latency problems when recording? A noticeable lag that is causing you problems. I wouldn't get bogged down with trying to get he lowest latency report if its not interfering with your work.
pops and clicks are often a sign that you are overtaxing the system so as has already been said increase the settings until your system is stable.
( it gave me the exact same error message and I'm running a six core I7 with 32gb DDR4 ram and SSD hard drives) so don't believe a word.
I did run DPCLAT and it seemed more reliable.

 

[Wintermoon1919]

Didnt try to record i will do it asap
I use guitar rig to play while listening to songs etc mostly and obviously i notice a lag if i "choose" a value of latency more stable ( like 23 ms) wich doesnt make the audio "crack"
Anyway guitar rig notifies that the percentage of CPU usage is low (generally 20 or 30 %) and even windows notifies low values but the audio cracks so it is a little bit strange

 

[Wintermoon1919]

I read that the problem could be the word clock between the system and the interface but o dont know how to check it......