Help identifing the cause of pops

Hi guys,

I've bought a very poweful system and still gettin pops. So I'd like to ask if you could help me finding the cause.

My specs:

RME Babyface (latest drivers/firmware downloaded from the site) - Latency 48

Intel i7 2600 / 16 GB of RAM / SSD for the system / WD Black Caviar (2x - samples / recording) / Win 7 - 64 bits / SONAR X1b 64 bits
 
I'm having trouble with just one instance of KONTAKT (4.2.3) loading the library Emotional Piano from Tonehammer and Izotope Ozone in my master (disabling ozone wont help) inside Sonar X1.

So my system isn't supposed to handle this??


Thanks


EDITED: Also noticed that when I start Task Manager I see that the drive for the sound card and the software Total Mix are running on 32 bits. Is that normal? I just followed the steps of RME to install them.

If you're playing the Kontakt instrument live, I'd recommend removing the Ozone instance. Ozone adds a fair amount of latency (which is normally acceptable because it's a mastering tool) but you need to keep the latency low for playing a soft synth in real time. Simply disabling Ozone won't remove the latency, as you observed - you have to delete it from the fx bin. (EDIT: or alternatively, turn off PDC globally).

But if the Kontakt track has already been recorded as MIDI, then latency is no longer an issue and you can raise your buffers or freeze the instrument.

On my system,the Pops aso disappeard after I was using the WDM instead of the ASIO drivers.

bitflipper


If you're playing the Kontakt instrument live, I'd recommend removing the Ozone instance. Ozone adds a fair amount of latency (which is normally acceptable because it's a mastering tool) but you need to keep the latency low for playing a soft synth in real time. Simply disabling Ozone won't remove the latency, as you observed - you have to delete it from the fx bin. (EDIT: or alternatively, turn off PDC globally).

But if the Kontakt track has already been recorded as MIDI, then latency is no longer an issue and you can raise your buffers or freeze the instrument.

Just deleted Ozone from the Bin a still there are some pops. Also tried PDC on and off and nothing.

I noticed that when there are new notes on the piano track (that were not played in the project) there are pops. Also when the polyphony increases (using the pedal for example) there are pops too...

Some other process may be stealing CPU cycles. If your DAW has a network interface, try disabling it, especially if it's wireless.

If it's a hardware component causing the problems, the DPC Latency Checker will tell you. Run this tool while playing back your project and get the maximum DPC latency value. If it goes into the red at all, this will limit how small you can set your audio buffers before you start to experience data stream interruptions, the cause of your pops and clicks. High DPC latency is caused by badly-behaved hardware (or even broken hardware in some cases), with network and video adapters being at the top of the list of usual suspects.

Jim Roseberry

I'm having trouble with just one instance of KONTAKT (4.2.3) loading the library Emotional Piano from Tonehammer and Izotope Ozone in my master (disabling ozone wont help) inside Sonar X1. So my system isn't supposed to handle this??

 
To playback completely glitch-free at a 48-sample ASIO buffer size, your DAW needs to be fully optimized.  DPC latency needs to be very low/consistent.  Follow Bitflipper's advice and check this.
 
Also, make sure the RME unit is connected to a USB 2.0 controller (not a USB 3.0 controller).
The RME will "work" when connected to a USB 3.0 controller... but it works better at ultra low latency settings when connected to a USB 2.0 controller.  You gain nothing by connecting the RME to a USB 3.0 connection.
USB 3.0 controllers are not yet integrated into the Intel chipsets (true of all motherboards).  All current USB 3.0 controllers are 3rd-party add-ons.  Thus, the odds of compatibility issues is greater.
ie:  The M-Audio FastTrack Ultra/8R units won't even install when connected to USB 3.0 controllers...

Some guys in the RME forum pointed me to a link to optimze the pc http://www.tweakhound.com/windows7/tweaking/index.html. I followed the instructions and nothing changed... well actually something changed: my windows takes 20 - 30 MINUTES to start. Any ideas why??

And yes, babyface is on a 2.0 USB port.

Thanks!

If your system takes such a long time to start up, there is definitely something wrong with it.

What is the cause of this problem? I really don't know. It could be anything. A few suspects: failing memory, failing hard drive etc. If you are overcolocking something I strongly suggest you restore default settings. I also noticed you have two network controllers installed. I guess you only have one, but accidentally installed the drivers two times (or moved the card to another slot - unlikely however if it is an on-board device). It is also possible a device is trying to initialise, but does not succeed (or only after a long time). Try removing all USB devices (including the eLicencer) and reboot several times - each time attaching one device until the computer "hangs" at startup.

I noticed you have a Korg nanocontrol. If this is an older version (with older drivers), there is a chance you have some problems with it.

Anyway - If this does not helps, try removing and re-installing drivers. If this all fails, I should consider a "clean" windows installation.

As I don't know what you have done with your system until now, it is not very easy to pin-point down the culprit. A lot of factors determine if you have a smooth running DAW or not. My approach is to start wit a clean running system an then adding the needed hard- and software one by one, taking time to test every step. Also - it is advisable to take some "snap-shot" back-up's in between. Sure - it takes time, but after that you will have good running system, with a possibility to roll-back if something goes wrong.

bitflipper

And yes, babyface is on a 2.0 USB port.

Not according to your Device Manager listing, which shows only USB 3.0 ports. Hopefully, that's not your problem.

Sorry if you already answered this, but do the pops go away when you increase your buffer size?

I don't understand, I'm pluggin into a 2.0 USB... really. Did you see the second screen? There are some Generic USB... which I think it's 2.0. And how do USB ports work in a desktop? Is it like a hub? Because I read that it's not good to use the sound card through a hub...

Anyways... some other things don't work in the USB 3.0 ports also... the elicenser, the nanokontrol. I'm just using them to pendrives and mouse/keybord.

When I set the buffer to 1024 the pops are gone. I also notice that when I play back and move the volume slider of the mixer there's a light crackle. Something to do with the video card perhaps??

Now I'm formatting and reinstalling everything again because of the 30 MINUTES (yes it's minutes) that windows was taking to start after I follow the link that RME gave me.

Do you have a secure site where I can find windows 7 optimization??


Thanks again!

I also notice that when I play back and move the volume slider of the mixer there's a light crackle. Something to do with the video card perhaps??

Yes, some video adapters do get in the way. Usually they are high-end gaming cards, so generic vanilla video cards are usually preferred for DAWs (no noisy fans, either).

You might try disabling Windows sounds, and/or disabling the computer's onboard audio interface entirely.

Another possibility is an IRQ conflict, e.g. your video or network adapter sharing an interrupt with the USB controller. I'd start by checking your current IRQ assignments and see if any other devices are sharing an interrupt with your USB controller.

You might also be experiencing USB bus contention. Everything plugged into a USB bus is serviced in a round-robin manner it's possible for one device to hog the bus at the expense of other USB devices waiting their turn. This is especially problematic with external USB disk drives.

A solution to both problems would to add a dedicated USB port for your audio interface, which would get its own IRQ and perhaps avoid conflicts with other USB devices such as your mouse. I know, adding hardware seems like an extreme course of action, but add-on USB ports are cheap (as little as 10 bucks).

BTW, whatever your problem is it's in the O/S and/or hardware, which is to say outside the DAW software. It's therefore unlikely you'd resolve this by migrating to Reaper, even though Reaper is a bit more efficient and can sometimes run at a lower latency than SONAR.