Sharing a project causes crackles and clicks

instead of sharing the project.... export the project as a WAVE file and send that....or convert to an MP3 and attach it to an email and send it.

Be sure you both have the same starting point.... including count in measures if you use them, be sure the tempo is the same as well....

Then, all you do is import the new file into a new track and everything should line up properly. 


When writing a song, I simply export what I have...vocal & guitar as a wave, convert to mp3 and send it to my writing partner. Same deal coming back to me.... Import the wave or mp3 into a new track in your project and you're good to go. 


I use mp3's and waves all the time depending on who I'm working with and what they want. I send the basic song, guitar tracks, and get vocals and piano tracks back all the same way.  really fast and convenient..... no need to send the whole project.... just export the tracks and send that wave or MP3.



We have a number of internet bands here that work that way all the time with 5 or 6 contributors to the project.

I'm a n00b but I can think of one problem that I used to encounter with my old DAW. I would make absolutely sure that you and your writing partner decide on the following... 1) a set bit depth 2) a set sample rate 3) a set buffer rate (large enough to accommodate the slower of the two rigs). 4) when exporting (I'm assuming you are using the CWB batch file format for this) always use the same settings as well. When starting a project use those settings every time so both of you know what to set your DAW and interface to every time you import. Just a thought.

if you are in the writing phase of a song or a project why would you even need the clips and levels and stuff?  In the writing stages....as you will see below, everything is in a total state of flux and change.  Don't waste time on details of production at this point.....write the song first. 

Side note: If you listen to the songs on my soundclick page, understand that most of the ones that are co-written were bounced back and forth an average of 6 to 8 times with changes in each bounce....some minor, and some quite substantial. One song was re-written 2 different times with 6 (approx) bounces each time....and right now is undergoing re-write #3..... and will probably bounce 5 to 6 times on this one. The term bounce here as I use it in song writing does not refer to a DAW track bounce. It means..."here... I've done this to the song, now you see if you can make that better"

When you export the track... all the levels and FX and such are processed into the exported file.  As your partner hears it and works on it some more, that song part may in fact change lyrically or musically so they would simply record a new track....(I'm assuming you are working in audio here) .... for a bounce to audio, I use the WHAT YOU HEAR preset to be sure all the fx and levels I set are captured.

If however, you are working in midi, you should also be able to send the tracks but in this case I think you would need to send the project BUT.... a midi project is not very big compared to audio tracks..... and as long as both of you have the same synths and FX everything should be fine. 

Perhaps I don't see how, or why you need the clips and things.... When I write long distance, I simply record the song....acoustic and vocal to a track and send it to my cowriter as MP3.  She makes suggestions and sends back the suggestions...I record the new track using those suggestions. I have also worked with other writers and singers who simply take my tracks and load them into their DAW and record what they think should be there and send it back to me....sometimes even scrapping totally everything I did and writing something else totally based on what I sent. In my writing...I make it clear up front that anything and everything that is written is subject to change, edit, or deletion...... so why worry about clips and levels at this point? 

I never worry about the details of levels and fx and such things until we decide the song is finished as a song and now..... we are going to record the final version with tracks as good as we can get them.

NOW, after the main part of the writing is finished>>> we decide who is going to assemble and master the final product..... everyone involved records their tracks based on the rough final MP3...... as wave tracks, and sends them to the person handling the final assembly of the project. 

I never worry about the details of levels, eq, and fx or anything along that line as I write.....all that comes later in the recording stages..... I like to keep them as two distinct stages.  Naming tracks is easy and important.....so simply give it a name so you know what it is.

I realize everyone does not work in the same manner so perhaps this won't work for you...... this is just how I do it. 

Do you have identical computers, soundcards and soundcard/driver/latency settings? The sharing is not the reason to the crackles, it's a driver or PC capability issue.

As mentioned above, most co-workers do it so that one sends the other an MP3 of the project. The partner records, say, the guitar part, and sends only that guitar track as uncompressed wav-file to the other, who adds it in the actual SONAR project.

If you go the bundle-way, keep in mind that when a bundle gets corrupt there's no way to rescue it, so keep cwp-saving active as well and take care of backups.