Glitches during recording

  • Thread starter Thread starter dreamer733
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dreamer733

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Hi. I'm posting this here as I have no idea where it should go. Moderators are welcome to shift it to the right place. Apologies in advance.

I really need to post this because it is driving me crazy!!! I am starting to assault the keyboard :facepalm:

Here's my setup:

Pentium 4 CPU 3.2GHz
2.5GB RAM
Windows XP Service Pack 3
Focusrite Scarlett 18i6 Audio Interface
Ableton Live version 5
Genelec 8030A speakers
GrooveTubes GT55 recording mic
Jose Ramirez 4CWE classical guitar with cutaway and onboard Prefix Pro Blend pickup/equalizer
Proel mic and guitar cables
Me <--- I am including this as a possible source of the problem ;-)

So from above, you'll see the weak spot is my very old PC!!

What I am experiencing, is that when I record, the recording glitches. Even playing the guitar into my system sometimes glitches. This is when I frown, swear profusely and start hitting things.
I have tried to change the Focusrite Scarlett Software based mixer from Zero Latency settings to DAW outs. Sometimes it improves but it is not consistent.
I have tried to change the Focusrite Scarlett Software based mixer's Buffer Size settings (anything between 1ms and 20ms). There is some improvement but it is not consistent.

What I am after is a CLEAN recording. No matter what I do, I'll have 1 or 2 glitches (at best) or 70, 000 glitches (at worst) in my recording. All I am doing, is recording one guitar into Ableton, using Ableton's click track playing back through the speakers or headphones, so that I can keep the guitar piece in time. So no heavy VST plugin overload or multiple tracks playing back.

The obvious weak point is the PC. I wiped my hard drive. Re-installed XP Pro and Service Packs. Upgraded from 1.5 to 2.5GB RAM. I think it's old DDR RAM. I have nothing else running but Ableton. McAfee virusscanner is loaded though. I'll be taking that off soon, if i can't find a fix.

What I can't figure out is when I open Task Manager, it shows the CPU hardly being tasked. The memory usage is very little too. I'm thinking I should just upgrade the PC (it's about 10 years old) and that it is the CPU, not being able to record the audio on the fly fast enough. However, before I do that, i just want to make double sure that my old PC is definately the bottleneck. I would hate to buy a new 2012 laptop and find the problem still persists.

Any advice of people that have had similar setup problems would be greatly appreciated.

Much thanks,
Cheers,

Steve
 
You're right in saying that your pc is old and an upgrade never hurts, but if you're saying you wiped it and started from scratch and these problems persist, then I think there's more to it.

Does this problem happen with a clean session. ie. no other tracks?

If you're not sure, set up a new session with only one audio track and record some guitar.

If you still get the problem, then there's something weird going on. Make sure your drivers are all up to date.
If not, upgrading is probably what you wanna do.

Ok, sure, a p4 3.2 is old news, but I used to track albums on my p4 2.4ghz laptop.
Is this something that started all of a sudden?
 
Hi Steenamaroo. Thanks for the reply. Love your status :laughings:

No, it's not something that started all of a sudden. It has been the case from the beginning. I just recently started getting properly kitted out to record @ home, so I'm relatively new to home 'solo' recording. I always used to surround myself with technical pro's when it came to recording. LOL

So after wiping the drive, the first issue I had, was getting the PC to see the Scarlett. I downloaded the latest drivers from Focusrite but still no joy. It turned out, that the USB controllers/drivers weren't present. Device Manager --> Update Driver. Sorted. It could then see the Scarlett and the software mixer popped up. Happy days. Reading the Scarlett manual though, I see it's USB 2. In my Device Manager, I have:
Intel USB Universal Host Controller - 2658
Intel USB Universal Host Controller - 2659
Intel USB Universal Host Controller - 265A
Intel USB Universal Host Controller - 265B
Intel USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 265C <-- I am presuming the Scarlett uses this one. How do I know if it is using this one?
USB Composite Device
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub

So, just a hunch but the glitching might be because the USB 2 driver is too slow and possibly the bottleneck. I read in the manual that it's not a good idea to put the Scarlett on a USB hub that has other devices connected to it. I've got 2 USB strips at the back of the PC. I run the Scarlett from the one strip, the usb mouse and the external hard drive from the other. The 2 USB ports on the front, I am using for a 3G dongle (internet) and a USB memory stick. When recording, I disconnect the internet and turn off the external hard drive. So I would assume that it's only the Scarlett operating on the USB channel.

However, the mixer has gone AWOL on occasion, making me think that the data throughput across the uSB cable is too much for it to handle and it says bye bye. The usb cable I use to connect the Scarlett, is the one that came with the device.

FYI: The Scarlett appears in the Device Manger under Sound, video and game controllers, where as the USB controllers, appear under Universal Serial Bus Controllers. So i'm not sure how to detect whether or not the Scarlett is running on a USB or a USB 2 controller. I figure tho, seeing that it is only USB 2 compatible, the mixer wouldn't even connect, if the USB 2 controller/driver was not present (as was the case immediately after the hard drive wipe).

Ok, so long story but to answer your other questions.

Yes. I record the guitar into 1 track only on a new session. No other tracks. Good to know that you were able to track on an old p4 2.4ghz laptop!
 
Busy setting up a 'newer' laptop (with a higher speed CPU) to record.
Will post my findings here. Many tx for the assist.
 
Hi again,

Ok, if you aren't able to ascertain for certain which ports are usb1 and which are usb2, that would be the place to start.
You mention that you have strips of ports? That immediately makes me think of PCI expansion cards,
So, look for a tight cluster of ports within the main motherboard IO area.

They'll be upright and wedged in between other ports like maybe Lan/firewire/PS2 etc.

Those are the ports that go straight to the board, so I'd give one of them a blast.


There are ways to find out for certain which devices are plugged into which buses, but I'm not at a windows machine and my memory often fails me; Sorry.
 
Your iPod is a useful way to work out USB1 and 2... only talks to PC on USB2, error on USB1... at least that's my experience.
 
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