Pops, Clicks and Static

[7MinuteStudios]

First off, I got to say that I'm new to these forums and I haven't been able to read alot of these threads, but what I have read have been very helpful! Everyone seems real friendly and eager to help.

So, here's my issue. I just built a studio in my basement about 2 months ago, even had some minor electrical re-wiring done. I got everything all set and ready to go. Nothing to extravagant, but enough to say I have a decent studio..

In any case, after all was set up, I started recording. Everything sounds great, better than I thought. BUT, after recording about 6-8 songs on the drums, and without moving anything, just yesterday, I started to get clicks and pops. More so when the drum parts are really complex, rather than playing a simple beat, but nonetheless, they are there, and they are present in everyone of my 8 drum tracks.

Now the only thing I can think of is mic cables. When I bought my drum mics; for $30 more, I got 8 mic cables to get started with.. Obviously they are NOT the best cables in the world. Also, one design flaw in my studio is that the cables (all of them) run from the drums, across the part of the floor where the foot traffic is, over a lip in the door casing and into my interface. (they aren't being pinched by the door though, there is a 3inch gap between the door and the floor)

So I guess my longwinded question is; Is it logical to assume that the foot traffic over these, less than par mic cables, over the course of a month and a half cause these clicks and pops? or could there be another underlying problem? Has anyone had this sort of mysterious appearance of "rice crispie" effects?

 

[Waffleness]

Pops and clicks are the same thing in my opinion. Static is a slightly different problem.

Static (that is, the continuous fuzzy noise) is generated from a bad connection or induced signals from somewhere. This could be:

- a mains hum (50 or 60Hz depending which country you live in) where the cables pick up interference from power cables.
- A peice of equipment in the signal chain is not earthed properly and hence "floats" creating a hum/buzz.
- A bad connection anywhere in the signal chain. For example a bad mic cable, poor adaptor, broken or cheap pieces of kit or non-linear interference for example a lighting fixture.

Pops and clicks are different. They could be from:

- Your computer not having the power to cope with recording that many inputs. This could mean you are applying too many plugins/effects or you have your latency set too low on your sound device. Either way it’s a result of the computer not having enough CPU power to deal with all you’re asking it to.
- Bad connection, for example a bad mic cable that only shorts when weight is put on it, as opposed to a continuous hum. For example when you hit the kick drum it could rattle the cable on the kick mic, and briefly short a cable, creating a pop or click. If your cables are run somewhere where they might be trodden on a lot, then this may be the problem.

If you could describe your setup (what equipment you use, etc), we may be able to narrow down the search field

 

[7MinuteStudios]

well, Maybe static wasn't the right term, because I don't have what you described as a definition of static..

My set up is samson mics, crappy xlrs, M-Audio fasttrack 8R usb, and my computer is a dual AMD, 500GB, with I believe 2GB of RAM. It is not connected, or ever was connected to the internet, and has never run anything other than recording software;(Adobe Audition 3.0)
I'm not running any plugins (well not anymore, I removed them thinking that was the problem)..and my computer was running everything just fine, and I never changed any set-ups..

I tried to test my theory out, I had a buddy wiggle the mic cables while I recorded dead air. Nothing much came through the headphones while recording, but sure enough,upon playback, every time he had wiggled a cable there were slight cracks and pops in the mix..

If there were to be something fishy about my latency set-up, how would I go about correcting that?

 

[The Green Hornet]

Yo 7-M=centons:


"Pops, clicks, and static....hmmm? I recorded that song back a few years ago. Never made the big-time.

However, without disdain, I would guess that since you "wiggled the wire and found noise," you have found a "cause" of at least one problem.

Grounded plugs may help. Some of those el-cheapo type surge-protection plug-ins can also give you some problems. You don't need the high-end plugs but you do need at least decent electrical ins/outs.

BTW, I found a very neat surge-plug that you might find handy. You can find it on Google, usually only one company, called "Socket Sense." It is an "expandable surge protector" and you can fit-in ANY TYPE OF PLUG, wall warts, etc, for SIX plugs. Each plug just pulls open "whatever" type plug you want to use. This well-worth it plug runs 30 pezzutos plus shipping.

I think with your friends doing music and asking ideas, you will find most of your general noise problems as you develop your studio.

Cheers,
Green Hornet

 

[7MinuteStudios]

So I checked out my latency on my computer with an application that I found in one of these threads, and check my computer's own process analysis, and found nothing.. I'm getting really bummed that I can't find the source of these clicks and pops.. any other ideas out there?! I'm looking into new mic cables... is there a way to check the cables for malfunctions?! anyone? Bueller?

 

[Waffleness]

So I checked out my latency on my computer with an application that I found in one of these threads, and check my computer's own process analysis, and found nothing.. I'm getting really bummed that I can't find the source of these clicks and pops.. any other ideas out there?! I'm looking into new mic cables... is there a way to check the cables for malfunctions?! anyone? Bueller?

Post an mp3 of the clicks and pops on the forum. We might be able to hear what the problem is.

As for the latency - there will be a setting in the M-Audio interface options. I have not used Adobe Audition, but under one of the settings menu, it must let to choose which audio device you wish to use. Around here there should be a setting or control panel along the lines of 'ASIO' or maybe Device settings.
The latency settings will basically let you choose the input and output times for your sound card. The lower the latency, the shorter the time between when the signal goes in to the computer to when it comes out the monitors. A longer latency will cause a longer time delay between input and output, but will give the CPU more time to process the data, giving less pops and cracks.

Checking the latency settings requires no special software. Its just a matter of reading what value is set in the options menu in your recording software.

 

[timvdwest]

I've also had problems in the past with pops and clicks - mine came down to a hardware problem. Was using a SATA harddrive and it caused problems with my motherboard chipset when playing/recording audio.

Just wanted to let you know that it could also be hardware related. But good luck finding the problems - you're in good company on this forum.

 

[7MinuteStudios]

SO I FIGURED IT OUT.... I looked up on the M-Audio web site, and it said to check out the buffer size or rate, I forget which... well... while I was busy playing drums, my singer was pressing buttons for me, and he's the ''knows everything" type... and he switched my buffer size setting from what I had it too, to a much much lower one.....which in turn created my clicks and pops...so I have fixed it!!!! thanks for the help though,.... It's nice to know I have a knowledgeable safety net to fall back on!

I'll have some mp3s up soon so you guys can see what I've been up to, and hopefully send some creative critisizm my way!

Thanks guys!

ErikZ
~7MinuteStagger
~7MinuteStudios