Problems with dropouts, clicking etc, with FocusRight Scarlet 6i6

I believe your ASIO Buffer size is too big for recording purposes, and your Sonar-reported latency values are pretty high.
 
Try adjusting that ASIO setting down to around 3-5 milliseconds - starting with 5 milliseconds perhaps, and if that works make it 4, then if that works OK make it 3.
 
Also, if you have ANY effects loaded, please list which specific ones there are - by name - as some of these can also cause latency problems, on top of your settings being too high, as noted above.
 
After you get your ASIO buffer value set to a lower value, try hitting 'E' on your computer keyboard, which will temporarily bypass any effects.  Then see if that helps too, and post back.  (hitting 'E' again will turn the effects back on, by the way).  :)
 
So, first try the interface settings, then list your effects, by name, then try bypassing them to see if that works, as a test.
 
Bob Bone
 

So this is weird, I loaded my other project, and things seem to be going fine.  The project I'm having problems with though is actually the smaller project, and all of the same instruments are in the bigger project.
 
The smaller project just has 4 Play instances, and 1 instance of EWQL Silver.  Also, one Lexicon PCM reverb, that's it.
 
I tired setting latency to 5ms, no help.  I also tried deleting the reverb, as well as hitting E, no difference.
 
Maybe the project somehow got corrupted?  The other project has about 2-3 times as much going on with no problems.
 
Also, yes ASIO4ALL is totally gone, fresh install.
 
Also, system specs
 
I-7 4830,  24 gigs of ram, EVGA GTX 760,  
 
 

I have to get some sleep - been up for 20 hours.  I will look at your thread first thing in the morning, and will stay with this until we get it figured out.
 
Bob Bone
 

1.  I indicated between 3-5 milliseconds on the ASIO settings for the interface, and it looks like you may have only changed it to 5 MS, which might still need to come down.  Again, PLEASE adjust it down to 4 ms, and if doesn't help, then try 3 ms, and post back.
 
2.  Try increasing the MIDI Playback Buffers ('Prepare Using nnn' buffers in Edit>Preferences>MIDI>Playback and Recording), from 250 up to 500 ms, and see if that helps.
 
3.  Please post the Sonar-reported latency values again after making your adjustments to the ASIO Buffer settings, as well - thanks.
 
Bob Bone
 
 

Ok, I will give those a try tonight.  "Play" is the VST from East West Quantum Leap, it's used to run Hollywood Strings and other sample libraries.
 
Thanks,

Please note the DPC Latency Checker is not compatible with Windows 8 and will give false readings.

They actually recommend running multiple instances so your computer can take advantage of it's multiple cores.  I also did try turning off the reverb in Play.  
 
I am doing the larger versions of the patches, but I have them all loaded into memory.  Even with that though, I'm only at like 10% or so of system memory used.
 
It will be interesting to see what the DPC Latency checker says.  Maybe there's something going on in the background I don't know about.  Also, I know I didn't install drivers for the onboard sound cards, but I wonder about disabling them in the bios?

Ok, so I ran the DPC latency checker, average latency seems to be around 50-100 us.  It will spike to 200-300 us when opening a new program like firefox or chrome (max 373).
 
I then tried running Sonar with it, no appreciable spikes, but the sound is still stuttering.  I then started deleting plugins, but the crakling was still there when I got all the way down to 1 instance of Play.  
 
Note that this project was playing fine with 4 instances of Play, and then it stopped.  
 
I then tried lowering latency in the Scarlet mix to 4ms and 3 ms, nothing.  at 2ms, I got the audio has stopped warning.
 
Very strange...
 
I load up a new project with several instances of play, but Session Drummer, Punch, BreakTweaker, Stylus RMX, Stuttter Edit, and that seems to be playing fine (for now) Latency at 5 or 8 ms.
 
Note that I still have DPS running in the background, and even with all this playing, I'm right around 50 us.  Also note that even with the other project's audio messing up, there were no latency spikes.
 
I think next, I'm going to try and recreate that project from scratch, something funny has to be going on.
 
 

I bounced down all the tracks, and the crakling went away, but as soon as I unbounced one, it came back.
 
I then tried a new project, no crakling this time but sound would just drop out, at 5ms, I raised it to 8ms and that seemed fine.   No Crakling and it seems no dropouts.  Also turned on reverb, that seemed fine.
 
Does anyone have Hollywood strings?  I can send the the test project, see if they get dropouts.  Maybe that project got corrupted some how?  And the dropouts on the other projects are just from too low latency?
 
 

Well, I will montor the situation then, and see if it recurs in the new project with the same tracks I created.  Also, I might try them in Reaper or something.
 
Thanks again for the help guys :)

He reported trying the effects bypass earlier, in post #4, without success.
 
Bob Bone
 

I'm 99% sure that I had all samples loaded in memory.  I will also check is just deleting the instruments and reloading them works.

I get it on both.  Note I switch between record and playback modes ALL the time. so I usually just find a latency that works for me, and stick with it.  I don't have the best hands, so something in the 10-20ms range is usually fine for me.    I usually quantize anyway

I think it was already mentioned but there was no response. I had the same problem with another audio interface. Turned out to be this terrible EIST that puts your machine in a too low CPU speed not understanding it has to boost performance. You should absolutely make sure you have it disabled in your BIOS. I turned off EIST and the related monitoring options, if your motherboard has them (or else it won't work). Never had a problem like this again.
 
Hope it helps.....
Best regards,
 
Rinie

Mathew, I'm a big Play user.  Your system is 10 times more powerful than mine… I never have problems with Play. I'm a "light" user, but i have templates with 10 instances of Play with master key switch instruments in each and only 8gigs of ram.  I never come close to stressing my system.  However, there are some settings in Play that can affect performance if you change from the defaults… You might try the Soundsonline forum for info about specific settings…and you should make sure your Play is up to date.
 
That being said, I have, in the long past, had an issue with transferring or opening an old project with instances of Play (after upgrading to a newer Sonar version or a newer version of Play) where one of my Play instances did, indeed, become corrupted.  Traced it down by freezing/unloading each instance until I found the offending instance.  Then it was just a matter of deleting the offending instance and reloading another instance and re=connecting the ins/outs of the midi tracks.
 
In your first post, you mention "multitasking".  Are you connected to the Internet while working?  Are you connected wirelessly?  Any antivirus programs running?  All three of these things can randomly affect your performance, I believe...
 
Best,
Rob