Sound Crackling, CPU Latencies When MultiDock Maximized

[I started my own thread since I hijacked the other, and that's not nice! ]
 
I just noticed something tonight with my particular crackling issue.  I noticed that when moving the mouse around, particularly when moving MIDI notes in the PRV, that it only crackles the audio, (like in my previously posted video), when the MultiDock, i.e. the container for the PRV and other tabs, is maximized to full screen!!!  It doesn't matter if it's maximized to monitor #1 or monitor #2.  It acts the same. However, if the MultiDock is docked, then it's all good. Heck, I can even open the SYSEX window with absolutely no crackles!
 
Pardon my language, but this is a serious, WTF!?!?  How in the heck do I correct for this!? I can post a video if necessary to further describe this ailment.

At this point in time, I don't expect anyone to be able to help me... but if so, then that would be awesome!  This thread is more for a log of my troubleshooting actions in the attempt to rid my system of my persistent and annoying glitchy audio. "I've had enough of it! Time to act!"

Please get the latest mix control software from Focusrite. Please note if you have installed the latest version you should not need to use the legacy firewire driver any more.
 
Please install the latest nvidea driver from their website, when you install it make sure it's a clean install, do a custom install and ONLY install the driver and not the other gunk that goes with it.
 
Also go to the Intel autoupdate driver site and maybe think about updating your PC BIOS.
Finally run Windows update...
 
Ta

Yeah I get that unnecessary nVidea update via Windows update, I've hidden that now...
What Windows firewire driver are you using in device manager?
If you are using legacy then put it back to the default...

That's all I can think of other than juggling the slots or cards around which you have probably already done..
 
Cheers...

Another thing, check Microsoft's site for any USB hotfixes (I assume your mouse is USB), disable your virus scanner, and disable your network card driver to see if this makes a difference... And disable any ports in your BIOS that you are not using, maybe try another mouse.
 
Sort of scraping the barrel a bit just suggestions - cheers...

CakeAlexS
Oh and disable Intel speedstep in BIOS (Speedstep is evil!)... ta

Yes, it is very evil indeed! I learned to disable that garbage long ago, even on another slightly-older mobo. So at this time, Speedstep is/was disabled. C1E also disabled.
 
UPDATE: I put the Nvidia GTX670 back into the machine and uninstalled the drivers. I then tested Sonar to get the glitches and pops, and it did not occur. LatencyMon.exe reported all very good latencies. None were over 1ms. So this confirms an incompatibility with Nvidia drivers somehow, someway. Either Sonar is at fault or Nvidia is at fault.
 
At this time, I am attempting to roll back to an older driver set. However, it is very difficult and wasting a lot of my time.

You are defnately doing a nvidia custom install with the bare minimum required? Just the driver itself that's it? Anyway good luck...

Watching how this turns out.

May I ask if you let windows load the default drive for your video card and just see if that helps? Not the nvidia driver.

May I ask if you let windows load the default drive for your video card and just see if that helps? Not the nvidia driver.
 
Hi, Buying in (from another similar thread) this actually improves (? too scared to say solved) my problem.
 

Hey2:43  WE NEED A SUPPORT GROUP!!!!!!!!
 
Here's my kicka....un-installeed NVidia......marginal difference...re-installed & it is a problem.
 
When I'm playing a project & spin the mouse around.. THE NOWTIME MARKER STALLS...while still playing...& skips...GO FIGURE?
 
LOOKS LIKE A NEW SOUNDCARD? Anyone got any ideas...pllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze

CakeAlexS
Maybe this will trigger something....
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=378151

It has!!! Success! ...er, sort of...
 
In the link, one poster speaks of PCIe v2.0. This piqued my interest as I wanted to see if the GTX670 was being bottle-necked somehow. Using an application called GPU-Z, I am able to view, in real-time, the operating stats of the GTX670 card. During idle times (e.g. Windows, browsing, etc.), the card is in PCI v1.1 mode, as reported by GPU-Z. To see if GTX670 would go into PCIe v2.0 mode, I booted a 3D game (Puddle) and ran it in a window. The result? The GTX670 did in fact kick into PCIe v2.0 mode, as reported by GPU-Z. So that's good!
 
Next, I shut down the game, and I fired up Sonar X2a and loaded my test project.  I pressed PLAY and checked GPU-Z.  GPU-Z reported PCIe v1.1 mode. However, upon mouse/MIDI-note movement, the card did kick into PCIe v2.0 mode. However, it was sporadic--sometimes it did, sometimes it didn't. And yes...Snap, Crackle and Pop were still present!
 
So next, I booted the game again, and ran it in a window, just as before.  With Sonar X2a still running, but not playing, GPU-Z reported the GTX670 was running (and maintaining) in PCIe v2.0 mode.  So for the final test I hit PLAY in Sonar X2a and moved the mouse around rapidly while holding a MIDI note in the PRV, the same as I always do. Guess what? No Snap, Crackle and Pop!!!
 
To confirm what I was [not] hearing, I loaded an instance of LatencyMon.exe, and checked the numbers.  Drivers were behaving themselves nicely! The worst offenders were again dxgkrnl.sys and nvlddmkm.sys...but their latencies both did not exceed 1.0ms! (0.999 and 0.748, respectively).
 
So what to do now? I will check my BIOS to see if I can always force "PCIe v2.0" mode. If not, then I'm not sure what my next steps might be.
 
However, here are some suggestion: Should future Sonar X_ versions be considered/programmed as a 3D application to fully utilize this hardware feature? Can Cakewalk provide a hotfix for us X2 users, and put a fix into X3d,e,f...z? (That would be nice). If it was confirmed by Cakewalk (by actually posting a bugfix list) that X3d utilized this hardware feature, then I would definitely upgrade.

Are you saying M-Audio MIDISport strains the CPU and cause crackles?  If so, I will unplug it.  1- I do more with virutal synths, and 2-There are tons of inexpensive MIDI interfaces.  I have an extra 2x2 sitting on my shelf and another 5x5 wouldn't be that big a deal.
 
Seriously need to know if this is an issue because I do hear crackle and digital distortion sometimes when every meter is green.  (By the way, I have the ASIO buffer on 1024.)

Back again with a little more information:
 
With the GTX670, when the computer is idle (or about 80% of the time when Sonar is playing audio), the graphics card is not only in PCIe v1.1 mode, but per GPU-Z, the GPU Core Clock rate is at 324MHz and the Memory Clock is at 162MHz.  However, when a 3D application is running, the GPU Core Clock ramps up and holds at 1019MHz and likewise the Memory Clock holds at 3GHz. It is when the card is in this "hi-speed" zone that no crackles occur. So it's important to point out that not only is the PCIe version (i.e. 1.1 or 2.0) important, but also the inherent speed that comes with it. This, in turn, has an effect on how an audio stream is handled.
 
Also note that Sonar may or not activate the "hi-speed" zone on the card. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. I notice that if I move MIDI notes around while holding the mouse for a long time, the card eventually kicks into high gear, and the crackles go away. It's only short-lived, however, and a few seconds later the card returns to slow speeds and the crackles come back.
 

konradh
Are you saying M-Audio MIDISport strains the CPU and cause crackles?  If so, I will unplug it.  1- I do more with virutal synths, and 2-There are tons of inexpensive MIDI interfaces.  I have an extra 2x2 sitting on my shelf and another 5x5 wouldn't be that big a deal.
 
Seriously need to know if this is an issue because I do hear crackle and digital distortion sometimes when every meter is green.  (By the way, I have the ASIO buffer on 1024.)

No the MIDISport does not strain the CPU and cause crackles. This is confirmed as I have tested and heard the crackles even when using no external hardware and triggering VSTi synths only. However, when the MIDISport is active, I have indeed observed a latency in the LatencyMon program, but I believe it's more of a latency created by the Nvidia drivers bogging down the system overall.  Therefore, all I/O data is affected by delayed IRQ's, timers, etc.  Shoot, the MIDIsports are one of the few products I believe in, going all the way back to my Mac days with the serial MIDIMacman! Those little metal boxes just work!

2:43AM
At this time I am looking within BIOS for anything I can do to force a particular PCIe mode. I will update again no matter what. Outlook not so good though...

You should be able to force your GPU to stay in high performance mode :
 
    "if you want a universal fix just go to NV Control panel and change the power management setting to "prefer maximum performance".
 
But I doubt this is a good idea as it will run hot.  There has to be something else going on.  For what it's worth I can't get X2a to kick my card out of PCIe 1.1 no matter what I do.
 

Anyone tried the usb hotfix?
 
Mine is off the scale but MS says no update required?