US 224 clicks, pops and other sounds

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mwendy

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I recently purchased a TASCAM US-224, USB recording tool run on Cubasis. After loading (and re-loading) the software, no matter what how I configure my computer/US-224, I still get unexplainable clicks, pops, and "missing" audio (sounds like a bad edit).

I'm running this on an XP-loaded, Pentium 3 (1GHz chip), Vaio PCG-FX370 laptop.

It isn't signal clipping -- this I know. But I was wondering (regardless of the disc caching "scheme" in the Cubasis/US-224 program), it seems to me it has something to do with caching, I just can't get to it.

I'm not a "newbie." I run Pro Tools Le on my Mac...the US 224 was just for basic sound capture in a more portable mode.

I'm not a programming either, though.

Anyone have this problem before?

Any suggestions would be gladly accepted.

Thanks,

m.
 
Dude,

MS has an audio patch for XP that should make most of the clipping go away.

Go to tascam.com, and hit the downloads area. They should have the patch located there.

You might also want to do some tweaking on your pc/laptop to cut down on further pops and clicks, as well as getting an external hard drive for audio only.

Adjusting the buffers in Cubase might help as well.

I personally use the ASIO drivers on US-224 and haven't had a problem with pop and clicks (or at least extremely minimal amount).
 
US-224 MS Patch

Thanks so much for your suggestion! I'll give it a shot.

I tried getting on the Tascam site last night and again this morning today, but the site appears to be down. I'll try again this evening...and then let you know how it worked.

Again, thanks,

m.
 
I've had the us-224 for about 3 weeks now, and have noticed the same clicking under Win98.

My problems turned out to be Zone Alarm running in the backround, a DSL modem on my other USB port, and setting disk buffers too low. Also, I had to back off the minimum latency setting in the ASIO driver control panel, and move it up to the next click. This is on a machine with a 1200MHz Duron and 384 MB RAM.

FYI - I've had the best results recording audio with Cakewalk Sonar, then mixing the tracks with Nuendo. I've always found Cubase to be far too complicated, finicky, and buggy.
 
US-224 Popping/Clicking Concerns

Thanks for this info!

Finicky, yes! Why do they make it that way? And the entire process has been a royal pain in the ass, too.

I'll take your suggestions -- just have to find the time to get at them. Seems to me that this should be plug and play. If not, we should be charging them for R&D.

Haven't approached using other software with the US-224. I thought Cubasis and the 224 were attached at the hip. This sounds like an iteresting option, though.

Again, thanks so much!

m.
 
M.

That version of Cubasis will only run with the 224, but the 224 will work with anything.

Are you using any other USB devices, by the way? A USB mouse or some such could be partly responsible for such things. Check with Sony support, as well. I had the same problem with my Vaio pcg-fx250 when I upgraded to XP. They had a patch that fixed pops and clicks with USB speakers. That did the trick for me.

Hmm...make sure you have the latest drivers from Tascam, too.

Also- I second Shakey's advice to look in to further tweaks to improve your system's audio performance. Tascam has an excellent PDF file that includes suggestions for those tweaks. Things like turning off your CD's auto insert notification and making a permanent swap file can work wonders for performance and kill those little clicks and pops.

Good luck,
Chris
 
US-224 info

This info moves the ball nicely.

I just downloaded that pdf, as well as the latest driver (which I believe I already have, but must check)...pretty comprehensive document. The other usb-oriented pointers I'll work through, too -- I hadn't really thought of that stuff until the other day. Now yours and others' ideas confirm this thinking.

Thanks for your suggestions,

m.
 
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