Asio Crackeling

[dest4b]

Hi,

after tweaking and optimizing Bios and OS
and changing also the GFX card threetimes ..
also .. looking for hardware confilicts ..

It doesent matter if i :
disable windows FX.
disable onboard NIC and USB.


i have still sometimes some crackeling if i use asio.

in the moment i have a setup with 32 ASio channels.. is that too much ?
should i use less ?

i know 32 iss a lot .. but i thougt i dont cost a cent so .. i create my setup with 32 channels.

what asio device should i use for ableton
Asio 1
Asio 2
Asio flt


thanks for tipps

[astroman]

it doesn't cost a cent but your nerves... it's up to you what you consider more valuable

32 Asio channels is something to have and it's even more if some reverbs are in the game as well
(they compete for the same resources)

if you're doing a mix job, there's no need for ultra low latency
the sequencer will compensate whatever difference occurs
set ULLI in setting to a more conservative value like 20ms or so

low ULLI settings are requiered only while tracking with full effects live
in that case you need just 1 backing track, not 31

you may split your workflow into 2 projects if you want to keep the high channel count
one with a submix as backing for tracking and low latency

the other one for mixing with all channels and a higher latency.

cheers, Tom

[dest4b]

HI,

thanks for reply ..

but the crackeling does not react on ULLI settings.
I have it with 3ms@48khz .. up to 35ms with 44.1khz.

If i tweak live in ableton, i also want some more channels because of
sending some aux to reverbs and other FX .. or to get the eight sfp synths back in ableton for recording.

The crazy thing is .. i can do the masterverb test with 16 verbs
i can play from live with DirectX out without any problem ..
i can play MP3s with DirectX no problem ..
but if i use asio .. i get those crackelings.

I will try Asio to reduce setting this evening .. i have already tried to use asio1 and asio2 ..
both with crackeling .. but 32 channels maybe it is really to much ...

[garyb]

so....maybe it's that you have maxed out cpu resources. it could be a specific vst plugin, or a lot of other things. crackles don't necessarily have anything to do with Scope, although it might.

[dest4b]

It happens on 24% and 49%.
Ableton8 displays 49% and windows taskmanager ist jumping around 18-21%. Mad?

I have tried ati and nvidia cards... no change.
They are all shared on irq12 wirh one pulsarII.. .
No other irq problems.
It happens even if i disable all onboard devices.

It mostly happens when im switching clips in ableton. If i dont cange clips it doesent crackle.
But with mime or a different sound device.. usb virusti.. idont have the problem

Those both songs are ableton suite devices only and sfp for efx. Optimaster.. reverbs.. transientdesigner....

It is less crackeling with higher latency settings. With 12ms it is nearly clean.
But isnt 12ms a bit high for sfp? I remember my old system 7yeaes ago was stable with 3ms. But slow

Also a higher latency makes it a bit harder to work with my midi groovboxes, sythies and ableton.

The song with 20% cpu is fine with 6ms latency.

I tried all asio versions.
I tried with only a stereo pair of asio....

Pulsars are connected with adat to a ddx32.

Crazy the sytem seems to be very stable... but it crackels

[garyb]

if you are sharing an irq with the video cards, that could very well be the source of the trouble.

the cpu load numbers don't mean a lot. when changing clips, there could be a momentary spike that might make crackles that your meters aren't showing.

[ehasting]

Cant see that its related to asio channels.. 32 stereo? I am using 12/24 asio channels at lowest setting.. Not a single crackle in reaper using asio under win7 on my amd with embedded gfx card. Routing all 12/24 asio to a spacef modular micer and on direct out to adat then to a hardware mixer. Works like a charm.

Crackles in asio sounds like irq.. Drivers.. Bad hardware... Etc.. You probably need to change mother board or find the magic tweak to get it fixed

[dest4b]

I think i have tried.. every tweak i could found

for new mobo ..there are not much with 3 PCI slots anymore.
In the froum i readed that the new AMD boards should be good.

I have found this AM3+ Board but PCI1 2 & 3 are sharing with ?? E F G ?

[ehasting]

According to this, they dont share at all.. they have all dedicated.

no other device used thoes..

[dest4b]

so it is looking pretty god for my three pulsarIIs.

but again 270 euros.. for experimental PC buliding.

[ehasting]

ASUS F1A55-V, Socket-FM1
ATX, A55, DDR3, 2xPCIe(2.0)x16,CFX,SATA 6Gb/s, USB3.0, VGA, DVI, HDMI, EFI

This is the one i am running. Its working great for me.. 3 cards, 6+6+15. Lowest ULLI, 24 asio channels (mono)

[dest4b]

and there is no problem with shared RAM for GFX ?

Are you running Win7 or XP ?

[guppy]

I had some crackles with a lot of asio tracks into Ableton live 8 during weeks and weeks, but since I tried to use Samplitude , it didn't make any crackles anymore...
Reaper too. Try them to see if Ableton is the cause of the problem.
Do you use spdif connections ? Mine on the envoice makes noises and pop, I can't use it by now.

[garyb]

for sp/dif, master/slave relationships are crucial.

if the sp/dif device only has an output, that device MUST be master and Scope MUST be set to slave to sp/dif.
if the sp/dif device has an input and an output, then if you connect both cables, you can set the device to slave and leave Scope master, or leave the device as master and set Scope to slave.

what is important is that there is only ONE master clock.

[guppy]

The fact is with the envoice and spdif in and out connected, I had crackles too, which drive me crazy. But maybe I did it wrong, it could be possible
I solve the problem with analog XLR instead.
I'll test it again in my new setup !

edit: It has input and output spdif, but no choice between master and slave...maybe it's always master.

[dest4b]

So ... last evening i have installed WIN7 again.
With win7 i have no IRQ conflict with the GFX card.
But the crackels are even more than under XP.

I have also tried to eleminate the crackels with disconnecting SPDIF and ADAT.
I was only testing with analog Stereo Out. .. also crackels. I hate crackels !!!

by the way.. what will happen to three pulsarIIs if the STDM cable is not perfect ..
Could it cause crackels ? I dont know if my SDTM cable is broken .. it doesent look so.
but .. maybe i should try to change it... it is not easy to get the connectors.
maybe it is more easy to change the STDM as the PC again.
but only if that could cause the problem.
what are the symptoms if STDM is broken ?

[petal]

You could try to run your system with just one pulsar card installed. Find a pci-slot that doesn't have any irq-conflicts and see if you can tune your system so it doesn't produce crackles, and then build on that.

Good luck,
Thomas

[astroman]

a broken stdm cable will cause severe error messages, not crackels
the system depends on a reliable connection, it's essential

you might try the following to narrow the problem:
while recording keep every active gui window of scope closed
no graphic interaction, no meters or animated dials etc

these items may not be a problem on their own, but with enough background load and tasks it seems to me that there's a relation between graphic activity and clicks.
I had that all over the place, not restricted to Asio but even in VDAT...
(and the latter is heavily animated)
my system was the messed internet PC with lot's of crap like itunes and even AV soft

Since I've moved the recorder to it's dedicated box (a plain Win2k with just Scope and SAW Studio installed) I haven't noticed any such events.

cheers, Tom

[dest4b]

Mhm .. this is my DAW .. and im not going to record only ..

maybe i have to sell the Dell again.. and build a AMD based PC.
what i have learned from the last forum posts i had readed is that AMD has a better
PCI BUS in the moment. IS that correct ?

i think i had 10 PCs since im scoping .. and 3 of them where working properly with it.
So, "Scope is a bi**h ! but we love it."

[garyb]

crackles shouldn't be from AMD vs Intel....