Help! Clicks on recordings threatening my sanity

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graememullen

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Hello wise recording gurus,

I have a stubborn problem going on that I can't seem to fix: light clicking (sort of a worn vinyl "tick" sound) on my recordings. This seems to have started ever since I reinstalled Windows 7 on my laptop (I think). Here's what I've tried so far, to no avail:

- Switching DAW's (tried Reaper and Cubase)
- Switching USB interfaces (tried EMU 0404 and TASCAM US-1800)
- Switching microphones and cables (tried many combos)
- Switching between monitors, speakers, headphones
- Adjusting latency settings as high as 100ms
- Optimizing computer for better ASIO performance (tried all the usual tricks like disabling wifi, virus scanner, setting background priorities etc etc etc)
- Ran a DPC latency checker, which showed low green bars and no spikes

My laptop isn't a powerhouse, but it's an i5 with 4GB of ram so it should be fine. I have recording programs installed on the SD boot drive (which has plenty of space left) and recording projects on a second HD (it's a 17-inch laptop so two drives.

UPDATE: Upon closer listening, the clicks are only distractingly audible when listening through the computer's soundcard. When listening through the TASCAM or EMU (to either an individual track, a mix in the DAW, or even a rendered WAV file) the clicks aren't a problem (although I think they may still be there, just at greatly reduced levels). I'd think there was something wrong with my soundcard, but professional recordings play without any problems. It almost seems like the interfaces (TASCAM or EMU) are able to handle a level of detail or dynamics in the recordings that causes the soundcard to drop out or overload.

Any ideas???
 
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Does the clicking happen at regular intervals? Or are they random?

Cheers :)
 
Do the clicks happen with both battery and wallwart power? In different locations? (thinking outside source)
 
The clicks are random and happen on both battery and wall-socket power.
 
Do you hear it in playback in the DAW or only when you render a wav/mp3?
 
(added info to most recent post)
 
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David - if by buffer setting you mean the latency setting, I've tried high and low settings on two different interfaces (the Emu and the Tascam)
 
OK I've been doing some more experimenting and I can't really hear clicks when listening through the recording interface (in this case the TASCAM). Even listening to a rendered file through the TASCAM, the clicks are not audible, or maybe barely audible but not enough to be distracting.

However, when I switch to headphones or a speaker connected to the laptop the clicks are distractingly audible. They appear in consistent spots, so they seem to be "hard-wired" to the recording. I don't hear any clicking on professional recordings that I play through headphones or speakers connected to the laptop.

Oh and also the clicks are audible (listening directly through the computer) on the individual tracks that Reaper saves, so it doesn't seem to be an issue with rendering.

???

(It almost seems like the audio interface is able to pick up the subtleties of the recording whereas the computer's sound card can't handle it and craps out in little spots. The clicks are tiny pinprick sized pops like you might hear on a worn-out vinyl record.)
 
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You can't have 2 soundcards enabled at the same time. Make sure that you disable the internal soundcard when you are recording or the drivers will conflict with each other and cause that clicking. Also the internal soundcard most likely can't handle your multi-tracking.
 
Haha, I read this as 'Help! Chicks on recordings threatening my sanity'. I was going to say, 'Tell me about it!' :D
 
Disable internal soundcard (ocnor good call!). Likely a conflict. Why bother with internal soundcard when you have external? My Win 7 machine will sometimes boot with the internal activated and it causes problems with my external. (RME). Also (as mentioned already) check your buffer settings in the Tascam "menu" I run my interface at 256 just fine. I can go lower but why bother when I can direct monitor and latency be damned.
 
Thurgood said:
Disable internal soundcard (ocnor good call!). Likely a conflict. Why bother with internal soundcard when you have external? My Win 7 machine will sometimes boot with the internal activated and it causes problems with my external. (RME). Also (as mentioned already) check your buffer settings in the Tascam "menu" I run my interface at 256 just fine. I can go lower but why bother when I can direct monitor and latency be damned.
Click to expand...

If you go into the BIOS, you can usually disable the internal sound and then Windows can't activate it. If you are comfortable working in the BIOS.
 
I think it may have helped... I've also been continuing to try optimization tricks from other posts on the forum, so something else may have contributed too. The last quick test I did didn't have the clicks, but I haven't had time to try real multi-tracking with multiple mics. I'll be testing my gear this week in preparation for (hopefully) recording some band demos, so I'll give an update then. If I can't get it to work, we may end up tracking on a Mac laptop instead.
 
Are you positive that there isn't an issue with sample rates not matching?

Are you using anything with SPDIF OR Toslink cables?
 
I wanted to update this post, in case someone else is having this issue. I have not had any clicking issues since this thread. I think it was turning off the conflicting soundcard that fixed the issue.
 
(I had previously thought I was already turning off the potentially conflicting soundcard, but I think I may have forgotten to do it during the session in which the clicks appeared).
 
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