Beepster

FastBikerBoy
Have you got anything running in the background that is drive or CPU intensive? I had something similar a few days ago and then realised my backup software was running a full backup. Paused it and it stopped.
 
That's what I get for being in my studio at 2 am.

OT (again) but Karl... I've been watching your X2 FX vid. Great stuff, man. Learning WAY more about all these doohickeys. Cheers.

Thanks for the support Beepster. Glad you are finding it useful.

I wonder -did you follow Noel's advice in his second post?

I hope so.  The name alone is just so double entendre.... 

Daylaa
...Is the Pro Channel causing huge drop outs.
 
My experience of X2 was a nightmare because every time I tried to sweep a frequency using the Pro Channel EQ, everything dropped out or buzzed or froze. Constantly.
 
I spent 2 weeks trying to eliminate everything that could be causing it - I went as far (and beyond) my level of comfort with that but nothing solved it. It was the biggest reason I had to stop using X2. X2 is now sitting in my PC like a big broken ocean liner that I wish I could sail again.
 
I'm really hoping X3 has fixed this issue. I've been watching the forums for weeks now and X3 seems to be pretty stable. But if I upgrade and find that the Pro Channel is glitchy for me still - I think I would cry/throw my PC out of the window/give up/want my money back (again).

BUT....If you did get X3 and had no problems just think of all the time and hassle you would save
yourself and know that whatever the issue was/is isn't because of your PC and if X3 didn't resolve it
you could pretty much bet it's you PC/setup.
 
Personally speaking, as much time as you've spent it would have been much better for me to take
a $150.00 gamble and at the worst have to deal with getting the PC maker to make things right.
Of course I understand ones time being valued differently.
 
Good luck Dave and sorry I don't know what the problem is.
 
 

Brando

Daylaa
They suggested Latency Mon and DPC Latency Checker - I shared hours of results with them and they even found them inconclusive.
 
I have no other programs running in the background. I don't even have Anti-Virus on the machine because it uses a 'virtual PC' called 'RainZone' http://raincomputers.com/support/article?id=110 to browse the internet with. The virtual PC has 'Avast' on it but the guys at Rain assure me the virtual PC doesn't have any 'contact' with my actual PC. Hope this makes sense. It's a clever machine. But there's no way I could have a virus.
 

What does "inconclusive" mean? That sounds like "borderline acceptable" to me. What were the actual latency readings, average and Max.
The "Virtual PC" is slicing away CPU cycles anyway you cut it. The fact that it has Avast running on it is using the same horsepower that would be used if you had Avast running on the CPU to begin with - plus you have the additional horsepower of the "virtual PC" itself.
I know Rain has a decent reputation - but I am sure they haven't figured out how to defy the laws of physics - IE, turn one CPU into two.
If it were my DAW I would figure out how to shut down the virtual PC and Avast, and rerun Latency Mon and see what the difference is. I doubt that Rain are going to tell you to try that - 

+1   Turning off the VPC would be the first thing I'd try.   We use them here at work, and while the technology has come a long way over the last 10 years, you're still running Windows, apps, AV, etc., in addition to Windows, apps, etc on your main machine. It's sort of like doubling your baseline before you even start SONAR.    
 
Does Rain advertise the VPC as something to be run simultaneously with your DAW, or as an alternative to going online with your DAW?
 

RE: Rain Computers.
 
That sounds like a really cool set up. I haven't really perused Rain stuff although I've seen the systems mentioned here quite a few times. Not that I can afford anything fancy like that (yet) but I'm always curious to see who's doing what.
 
Other than that I've really got nothing else to add except you really should follow up with Noel and support in general to isolate the issue. Those dudes be smart, yo.

Daylaa, you've probably already tried this, but what about going into msconfig and checking normal startup. I've gotten myself into trouble before by stopping services that were somehow needed by the application. I know your computer was specially built and everything, but it would be worth a try if you haven't already tried. I hope you get it worked out. :)

Or can anyone?

Sorry Daylaa, I was offline for a while. I see scook explained it for you. He's light years ahead of me as far as troubleshooting. Have you tried doing a normal startup?

Audio Driver bit depth is controlled by the device... like my RME works at 24 bit... ALL THE TIME. It never gives 16 bit data...
 
Now, that said, I can choose to use that 24 bit feed to write 16 bit files.
Under Preferences > File > Audio Data... you can pick the bit depth of the files you wish to write. If you write 16 bit files then you are throwing out the additional bit precision that you are getting from your interface but you get the benefit of writing less data per track to your hard drive.
 
I choose Record Bit Depth of 24 bits at the level and Render Bit Depth of 32 bits. Now... when I used an old laptop, I used render bit depth of 24 bits because otherwise I would have trouble reading and writing the number of tracks I required. For most of us, there is no advantage to using a Record Bit Depth of 32 bit if your interface only works at 24 bit.
 
13 Milliseconds of latency -- that you report -- is a fair amount. It suggests that your Sample Buffer is pretty high which is appropriate when troubleshooting. My understanding is your still having trouble with dropouts, so sticking with high buffers until you get this worked out is a good idea.
 
You should be able to rule out hard drive trouble by decreasing your File Audio Data write size (described above). This should remove pressure from the drives. It's a useful step in troubleshooting. It's not sure to help, but it might.
 
When I use Latency Mon on my computer
http://www.resplendence.com/latencymon
My worst reported driver is tcpip.sys (I'm streaming a Craig Anderton Video) is 0.17ms. I recommend you give this tool a try and see what your worst reported is...
 
I hope this helps. BTW, I'm pretty sure I've typed a response very close to this one to you in the past. I'm not being redundant because I'm forgetful. I'm being redundant because I'm hopeful it will help.

OMG yes!! Turn these down from 64 to 24 as a step in trouble shooting. If you PC proves good for it, bump render back up to 32... but from a scientific perspective, 24 bit files should be able to reproduce everything a human can hear with room to spare. 64 bit is WAY over kill and could well be your whole problem.
 
If you still get dropouts at 24 bits you can step them down to 16 just as a test. I'm starting to think that going to 24 bit file rendering will suddenly free you up and you PC will work GREAT!!
 
The theoretical limit for reproducing everything a human can hear where you use every available bit at 16 bits is 96 dB. This means, if you have a well mastered CD on an Awesome Stereo, theoretically, unless you are listening above 96 dB (the volume of car on the highway) then humans will not be able to differentiate this from a recording with a higher bit depth.
 
In practice, most of us agree that this is not the case. 24 bit sounds better when you turn it up... and having a good clock matters too. Still, the point is there. The math behind the number is good. So it's called 'theoretical'.
 
For years I only recorded at 16 bits and was totally happy with it. Once 24 bit became available, I found it nice to have that increased headroom. I didn't have to push the clip ceiling so hard when tracking.
 
I don't want to type too much and make it hard for you to get out of this what matters...
 
What I'm telling you is turn BOTH RENDER and RECORD File Bit Depths down to 24 and try again.

I totally think that in 20 minutes of following directions from the geniuses in Cakewalk Support or some of the friendly posters on the forum, your problems will go away...
 
But you have to follow the directions.
 
Using the information learned from the LatencyMon.exe program, you may find that certain things needs to be disabled before making your recordings. For example, on my laptop, I disable Virus Scanning > Switch to High Performance Setting > Disable the Battery > Disable the Wifi Card.
 
Now, my laptop is old and you may not need to take these steps. Everyone's computer and peripheral drivers differ. That's why you run the LatencyMon to find out for YOU what YOU need to do.
 
Right this second tho, given the fact that you are running a RAIN computer, I think your problem is that 64 bit file write setting. At 24 bit 44.1, 8 mono tracks is about 4 GB per hour. At 64 bit, it will be near 11 GB per hour. Depending on your hard drives, you might be straining their ability to keep up in real time (this means... never get behind more than a couple of seconds worth).
 
Also, since your interface is only giving you data at 24 bit at the most, you are mostly writing 0s in your large files. It's just wasted space. 4 GB of music and 7 GB of 0s per hour when writing 8 mono 64 bit files....
 
See why to use 24 bit?
 

So glad it's working Daylaa. Sorry if I was taking it in the wrong direction. Best of luck to you.

OBHave,
 
If all you say is accurate...
Sweeping EQ Causes Drop Out
Nothing Else Causes Drop Out
 
Then you probably just need to increase you Buffer size...
Go To Preferences > Audio > Driver Settings
Click the Asio Panel Button (if you aren't using Asio, switch to Asio)
Keep your Sample Rate at 44100 or 48000 (don't try a double or quad rate like 88,200 or 176,400).
Set your Buffer Size to 2048 or whatever the biggest Sample Buffer offered by your interface is (not 128 or 256).
 
For the purpose of recording where you're tracking and want low latency, reduce this latency, but for general mixing, keep it high. You will find it easier to flip between screensets without dropouts if you keep the sample buffer at its maximum except when you are tracking.
 
I often flip the sample rate back and forth based on my current need. I bring it down for tracking. I usually start mixing without pushing it back up, but the first time I get a dropout do to a screenset switch (in your case EQ Sweep) I will jump back in and push it all the way up.
 
For mixing I don't care about a 2K sample buffer when there are 44.1 K samples per second. With a buffer of 2048, I still have a round trip of less than a tenth of a second at 48.
 
I hope this helps.
 
You could still probably benefit from using the LatencyMon.exe I give the link to in this thread (above). Laptops often have latency causing gremlins that are easy to disable, like the wireless card and the battery. Using the LatencyMon.exe will tell you WHAT the problem is. Then you just disable that device and you're all clear.
 
G

Thanks for the helpful hints gswitz.
 
My files are recorded to 24 bit, though the default in X2 was initally set at 32 if I recall correctly.
 
I'll try increasing the audio buffers to their max, but I'm pretty sure I've gone as high as 1024 buffers with a very simple project 2 or 3 tracks, and the EQ weirdness still didn't go away.
 
I'll give latencymon.exe a go.  I don't have a laptop - it's a standalone audio desktop PC, but latencymon should still work, right?