PlanetZ forums - scopeusers.com

Okay...

Please don't let my calm demeanor fool you...

I started out on these forums a few days ago...it seemed that I'd reached a limit of 28 audio tracks playing simultaneously in Logic before I began to experience consistent ASIO blowouts.

I decided to optimize my system, as per the instructions given in the "Tips and Tricks" section (more specifically, the "How to optimize your Windows 2000/XP computer for Pulsar" topic).

Now, my audio is running worse than ever--with a consistent snapping and crackling noise that permeates my entire song, followed by an ASIO blowout that occurs even more prematurely.

I put my computer into "standard PC" mode, as per the instructions given in the abovementioned article. It seems like the problems started around that time, although I have done so much tinkering in the meantime it's really hard to pinpoint anything as a specific cause...

In addition, I can't seem to get my computer to boot up properly...I get the blue screen of death if I try to boot into Windows normally. The only way that I can get in is if I boot into the "Last Known Good Configuration". This started after I installed the "Standard IDE" drivers for the hard drive controllers...

I'm going to see if I can find a way to post a snippet of the song that I'm working on in the music section, so that you can see what the crackling sounds like. Maybe you'll recognize what's causing it...

If all else fails, I'm going to have to re-install Windows XP and set everything up the way it was...

First, if you could list your computer specifics, that would be helpful: particularly, your motherboard brand/model/chipset.

I have done everything to my own machine that I listed in that thread - including changing to "Standard PC" from "ACPI" without reinstalling, without problems. HOWEVER, it should be reiterated again here, that the <b>best way</b> is to have installed from Standard PC from the beginning. How smoothly the change after installation goes, depends on your computer hardware and the drivers you install (it reinstalls ALL your devices when you make this change, because Standard PC is a completely different HAL - Hardware Abstraction Layer - and communicates with the hardware through a different method).

What is your ULLI (Ultra Low Latency Interface) set at inside of Pulsar?

Subhuman, it's an honor to have you answer my pleas for help...

Here are my specs:

ULLI: 13 ms @ 44.1 Khz (I admit, I have been changing this, but the problem persists on both settings available to the Pulsar I card...)

PIII 800 mhz
Pulsar I
Asus TUSL2-c mobo
512 MB RAM (PC-133)
2 Western Digital 7200 RPM ATA 100 30 GB harddrives
Plextor 8/4/32 CD writer
generic floppy
ethernet card (for cable modem)
Windows XP
Logic 4.81

I just re-installed Windows XP last night in order to reset all of the original settings, and the problem still persists...

I've also been moving files from one hard drive to another in order to increase the amount of simultaneous audio tracks that I can play in Logic, but that hasn't worked so I moved them all back to their original spot on the dedicated data drive (D:).

I read on a past post discussing the enabling of DMA, and I believe it was either you or someone else that mentioned that Windows XP automatically enables DMA on the Asus mobos...by the time that I'd read that, though, I'd already done enough trial and error to bring about more error...

Anyways, thanks for your help...I'm off to work for the next 8 hours or so...

Oh, one more thing--the snippet that I bounced and posted in the "Music" section of this forum doesn't sound nearly as bad as what I'm hearing at home...but if you listen carefully, you can hear at least one good pop about 1/3 of the way into it...

Thanks!

Oh...I remembered today the first time that I noticed the problem...it was after I'd downloaded a bunch of samples from the web...I had changed my default Web audio player from Windows Media Player to Winamp. After I'd downloaded a bunch of skins for Winamp and closed it, I opened up Logic so that I could import some of my newfound samples into Halion. That's when I pressed play, and noticed the problem. I immediately uninstalled Winamp, but the problem remained.