intermittant crackle drive me mad

been a while since i've been on the forum and ive always found a solution here, one way or another. This one's annoying me. I've done the usual- forum search, drivers update,etc etc. Still cant figure it out. I've tried changing buffer sizes, driver types, ASIO WDM, disabled all but one input source, etc No plugins enabled or used in the project either. EQ disabled, the bare minimum- you get the idea? For no apparent reason and at random intervals my recorded audio crackles. its not a hardware fault (dodgy leads/cables) and not something i can re-create on demand. Often i run a project for many minutes and many edits before it happens. other times a clean-opening of sonar with a brand new proejct with nothing but one plain audio track creates the same problem. I hit the "panic" button to stop the audio engine and it clears. Quite annoying, especially if you've just recorded a "great" take and have to abort. I wonder if there is something in windows that might be affecting it. Back when i used XP i recall having to disable my network connections to resolve some issues but that was a while ago with a much lower spec PC. here's a brief 1Mb WAV of an example http://www.sugarkick.co.uk/crackle.wav Any help welcome, though as its a random thing only time will tell.

Got the most recent driver. What puzzles me is that the PC seemed fine for the first 12 months (as a brand new machine) and now this comes along. I'm not aware of any other software installed as i'm a "DAW only" believer and keep the day-to-day usage for another PC, but thanks for the reply.

Its not the Delta, but what are your computer specs and do you have a separate video card? Crackles are usually caused when your computer cannot keep up with the processing of the audio. 

daveny5


Its not the Delta, but what are your computer specs and do you have a separate video card? Crackles are usually caused when your computer cannot keep up with the processing of the audio. 

Dave , that you have a delta and you dont experience problems
dont means that this guy delta is ok, hardware fail at some point in different manners 


it is possible that the card is ok, but you cant guess that is ok without making the tests to make sure is not the audio card by itself.


Steve,
you can install your delta 66 on any other PCI slotted pc , a friend a neighbor or office
and see if you card still does the crackle


i suggest to use ASIO mode for the delta
Rolo.

I had a delta 44 for 5 years and it started doing the exact same thing you're experiencing.  it was very random, but seemed to be worse after it "warmed up" more.  lead me to believe it was probably a faulty cap or more than one.

I called m-audio about it and they, of course, wanted me to go through all the low level troubleshooting that I had already mostly done.  the last thing they told me to do was to remove the card and software completely then reinstall it.  I didn't have time to do that immediately, so I bought another soundcard, the MOTU in my sig, and then when I got time to do what they wanted, I did it, then returned to the tech support site only to find that Avid had changed the rules.

my ticket was now closed (my fault for waiting so long, I know), but now in order to reopen the ticket I would have to pay, in advance, for phone support.

it was not worth it.  I threw the D44 in the trash.

daveny5


Easy enough to test. Try playing a music CD using the Windows Media Player (not Sonar). If you still get crackle, it could be the Delta. If you don't then its not the Delta. 

+1.  good test.  that's what sealed the deal for me and my D44.  it was happening on WMP as well.

that's the way mine started - with recording only.  first only on 1 input, then spread to the others, then to the output.   try different inputs.

try recording in audacity.

Beagle


that's the way mine started - with recording only.  first only on 1 input, then spread to the others, then to the output.   try different inputs.

try recording in audacity.

Hey Beagle!


same thing happened to me...
looks like the input section is the one that was going bad, as i can playback ok...
but when i recorded with it, and played back the audio got those little "crackles"
and if i play that wave on another pc that was recorded with the delta, same thing
as the artifacts where already printed on the wave file cause of the delta


yeah...
they served me many years when they lasted
now i have a presonus audiobox usb for my mobile small rig
Lexicon I-Onix U82S USB  when i need to record drums or more than 2 tracks at once
Rolo.

Hey guys,
I experienced the same thing with my M-Audio 2496 Audiophile (a pci card) that used to work great but after I upgraded to the latest drivers (at that time the first vista-drivers for this thing) it started to fail seriously. The first track I'd record was fine, then the next went bezerk with crackles and pops. It drove me mad. 
I literally tried a lot to get it to work again, with the help of M-audio customer support, but to no avail. Rolling back to an earlier version of the drivers, what had worked one time before that, didn't help, changing the pci-slot didn't work, even reinstalled windows and sonar on that machine, changed all kinds of combinations of buffers and settings, tweeked in windows system settings, even started messing with the motherboard. It really drove me NUTS.
I ditched the card a few years ago for an Edirol ua25ex and that worked for me since I took it out of the box and installed the drivers. Not one problem.
ah, Where are the good old days of the 4-track tape deck! If that didn't work, you either had a) no tape loaded, b) no power c) no signal... we used to be musicians back then, now we're ICT-professionals
Good luck!
RiveraMan