Tried to record whole band - crackles and pops GALORE...

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Nate74

Nate74

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On Saturday I had my band come over to record. Drums, harp, guitar and bass. Took up 14/channels tracks.

Listening back to the first song we recorded, we noticed a few cracks and pops on the tracks. When I'd solo just one track, I discovered that indeed it wasn't a playback issue and that the cracks were on the recorded tracks. I exported one of the solo'd tracks and heard the pops on another system as well to verify.

This is a new PC to me that I purchased to use with Sonar X1, but decided to track in Sonar 6, because I'm far more familiar with it.

The CPU usage meter was in the 10-13% range durring recording and with this new computer I'd think I could record 50 tracks at the same time with no issues.

Don't know if this is a buffer thing, a driver thing or maybe a clock sync issue as this was the first time I'd used the 8Pre as an extention with the 828???

My setup:

Interface(s): Motu 828mk3 & Motu 8Pre (connected via ADAT to the 828)

PC: 3.2GhZ Pent Dual Core, 8GB RAM, Window 7 64-bit

DAW: Sonar 6 Studio (currently installed at 32-bit)

We tried setting the ASIO buffer as low as 64 and as high as 1028 and had similar issues.

Actually, I don't think it's an issue with the Motu's because we ended up connecting them to my friend's iBook and tracked in Logic with no issues. If it was a clock sync issue, I'd think we would have seen it on his Mac as well.

I'm not even sure where or how to start to chase this gremlin. I can setup 14 mics in my studio and record a single source to try to duplicate the problem while changing things, but I don't know what to try chaning.

Any and all feedback, thoughts and suggestions would be most appreciated!

If you need any additional info on my setup, I can certainly provide that as well.

THANKS in advance!
 
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Try recording something directly into your DAW using just your interface, if this solves the problem then it's probably your preamp (obviously).

If that doesn't solve the problem try using a different cord.

If that doesn't solve the problem adjust your input/output levels.

If that doesn't solve the problem then perhaps it's issues with your microphones. You said "studio" so I'm assuming (perhaps incorrectly) the ambient noises in your room are at a minimum or non existent?

One question, what microphones are you using and is the static/crackles on all of the tracks or just certain ones?
 
"Window 7 64-bit

DAW: Sonar 6 Studio (currently installed at 32-bit)"

That could be a problem. Doesn't Sonar come in 64-bit? Trying to run Amplitube 3 in 32-bit on Windows 7 64 I had a lot of audio crackle.

Also, if you're using a wireless network card, turn it off. That solves all my crackles and pops :)
 
Thanks guys for the input. I was away from my computer today and am pleased to have some stuff to try when I get home tomorrow.

Geoffry - I don't believe the issue is on the analog side of things. I used an A&H MixWiz on my front end so can monitor levels really well coming in. I can also monitor the digital levels through Motu's CueMix well enough to know we weren't getting clipping there. The mics ranged from SM81s on the drum overheads to a bunch of SM57s and I5s on drums and amp cabs. Didn't seem to matter what mic or track it was and there was no correlation with the level of the input at the time. The sound is definetly digital in nature.

LDS - I installed this same Latency Checker after reading a similar post yesterday and the results were hovering in the 137 range with a max that hit about 170. Got the "good to go" message. I don't have this machine online so I will disable the network card when I'm back on it tomorrow.

FunkDaddy - I do have Sonar 6 in 64-bit and of course X1 has both 64 and 32. I installed the 32-bit so I could continue using EZDrummer and a bunch of plugins I've grown fond of. From everything I've read both on Windows 7 and on various Sonar posts, I should be able to run a 32-bit program on Windows 64. It's of course worth a try, even though I would really miss EZDrummer.

I don't have a wireless card installed on this machine but that seems to get mentioned a lot in other posts.

I've also found a few sites with lists of things to do to optimize Windows 7 for audio recording.

Optimizing Your Computer for Audio - Windows Vista/Windows 7 : PreSonus Audio Electronics

***The Sonar x64/Windows 7 x64 Install, Tweaks & Compatibility Thread***

I'll try these suggestions too.

Thanks again for your thoughts on this!
 
Sounds like it might be a clocking issue.

If you only have one ADAT cable going from the 8pre to the 828mkIII you should probably make sure that the 8pre is the clock master and the 828mkIII is the slave.
 
Strryder said:
Sounds like it might be a clocking issue.

If you only have one ADAT cable going from the 8pre to the 828mkIII you should probably make sure that the 8pre is the clock master and the 828mkIII is the slave.
Click to expand...

Good point, but I do have a second cable returning from the 8pre to the 828. Though I haven't ruled out a clocking issue entirely yet. BUT, since we were able to track to my buddy's iBook with no issues, I'm 99% ready to rule out the MOTUs as the problem.

I'm home now so this evening I'm going to hook up a dozen or so mics and see if I can duplicate the issue.

Sinc
 
An update for anybody that comes across this in the future.

I'm now quite certain the issue I was having was clock related. It turns out that you can get audio signal to pass from the 8Pre to the 828 without having the clock on the 8Pre slaved to the 828 via the "return" optical cable. I had the clock on the 8Pre set to 44.1 so after turning on the 828, I'd wait a few seconds and turn on the 8Pre. About half the time, they would connect and audio would pass from the 8Pre to the 828. The rest of the time, I'd have to power down the 8Pre and try again, but it would eventually connect and signal would show up on the 828 from the 8pre. I thought that was how it was supposed to work. Here's a picture of signal passing from channel 8 on the 8Pre via ADAT to the 828 as described.

passingaudio-noopticalsync.jpg


But after reading a few other posts about how to get the 8Pre to use the 828's clock, I realized I needed to depress the volume knob on the 8Pre until the clock light flashed and then select the "Optical 1" option. By doing this, the 8Pre then detects the 44.1 sample rate of the 828 and that light, along with the "Optical 1" light becomes illuminated. Here's a picture of audio signal from channel 8 on the 8Pre being passed to the 828 WITH the optical 1 light illuminated as well.

passingaudio-withopticalsync.jpg


On Saturday when we had the issue witht he clicks and crackles, I was using the first method described above. In my test yesterday witht he 12 mics, I was using the second method, which I now take to be correct.

Now the one question that remains is, how did my buddy's iBook handle the MOTUs not being clocked correctly and my PC didn't?
 
Glad you got it sorted out! LOL! I was about to apologize for steering you in the wrong direction!!
 
I may never know why the act of simply unplugging the firewire from my PC and plugging it into the Mac and then restarting the 828 and 8Pre "fixed" the issue for the day. I guess fate or dumb luck or some combination of the two. :)

Now I can't wait to get a full band back in to track to my new PC for real!
 
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