Noise on "New" System. Help Mr Wizard!

[lenos]

New to the forum.

I recently migrated to a "new" dedicated computer for recording and my first shakedown was less than wonderful.

Here's the details:
System:
Processor Intel Core™ 2 Quad CPU, 2.4 GHz, 6 GB RAM
Windows 7, 64 bit
OS and program drive is 150 GB Intel SSD
MOTU2408 MkII with 424 PCI card
Sonar X1




1st attempt :
1 analog in; SM57 through Focusrite OctoPre MkII preamp
Result:had crackling and playback was very fast, as if recording was at half the playback(This setup worked fine on the "old" computer running XP, MOTU 324 card and Sonar X1)


2nd attempt:
Analog out from an external recorder (with a known good recording) into MOTU 2408 analog ins, Same result as first (therefore not the preamp but I already knew that)

3rd attempt:
Same as second except changed a recording setting in Windows (didn’t seem like something that should make a difference.)
Result speed was right but still crackling.

4th
Changes to MOTU Audio Console buffers setting tried from 1024 to 32
No change
Result was unchanged

Other information:
Playback of Sonar demo/tutorial files is fine
The sound is like a previous experience I had with ADAT output from a Yamaha digital mixer into the ADAT input of the 2408units with timing mismatched. I can't see it being a clock issue, but ....

The differences from my previous setup are the computer, the OS and the 424 card, all of which should be upgrades.

This is driving me nuts.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[ecc83]

New to the forum.

I recently migrated to a "new" dedicated computer for recording and my first shakedown was less than wonderful.

Here's the details:
System:
Processor Intel Core™ 2 Quad CPU, 2.4 GHz, 6 GB RAM
Windows 7, 64 bit
OS and program drive is 150 GB Intel SSD
MOTU2408 MkII with 424 PCI card
Sonar X1




1st attempt :
1 analog in; SM57 through Focusrite OctoPre MkII preamp
Result:had crackling and playback was very fast, as if recording was at half the playback(This setup worked fine on the "old" computer running XP, MOTU 324 card and Sonar X1)


2nd attempt:
Analog out from an external recorder (with a known good recording) into MOTU 2408 analog ins, Same result as first (therefore not the preamp but I already knew that)

3rd attempt:
Same as second except changed a recording setting in Windows (didn’t seem like something that should make a difference.)
Result speed was right but still crackling.

4th
Changes to MOTU Audio Console buffers setting tried from 1024 to 32
No change
Result was unchanged

Other information:
Playback of Sonar demo/tutorial files is fine
The sound is like a previous experience I had with ADAT output from a Yamaha digital mixer into the ADAT input of the 2408units with timing mismatched. I can't see it being a clock issue, but ....

The differences from my previous setup are the computer, the OS and the 424 card, all of which should be upgrades.

This is driving me nuts.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

I have Sonar Ess x1 and never use it! But I seem to recall some trouble getting sample rates to stay put and wrong pb speed has to be a sample rate mismatch.

I suggest you install Reaper, cost you nothing to try and see how that behaves.

Of course visit the MOTU site for the latest W7 64 bit drivers.

Dave.

 

[michaelst]

Also... and I don't mean to insult your intelligence, but I've seen it happen to the best of us - make sure your motherboard's on board sound is DISABLED.

 

[Steenamaroo]

Crackling could be too low a buffer size. stick at 256/512 for safety.
Speed issue is probably a sample rate mismatch. Make sure your MOTU, system settings, and DAW sample rate are all set at the same thing.
If the motu is like the 828 series, there should be a readout on the unit to say 44.1/48 etc. Make sure your software matches that.

 

[Steenamaroo]

Noise on "New" System. Help Mr Wizard!

The wizard is busy.

 

[lenos]

Fixed!

I went to the MOTU site and they had a nifty app to check your system for latest drivers etc. (In the past you had to download the driver, remove the card uninstall old drivers, install new ones and reinstall the card for everything to be happy, this is a big improvement).
It installed an updated ASIO driver for the 424 card.
I tried the recording process again and it may have been a little better but still somewhat noisy.
I downloaded Reaper (Thanks for that tip!) and tried recording into that. It sounded fine, thus eliminating the MOTU link in the chain as the source of trouble.
I then went into the preferences of Sonar and played with the driver settings; the change to the MOTU ASIO driver seemd to do the trick.

Thanks all for your help.