ChewingAluminumFoil
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i'm sure you've never heard this before: audio drop out problem
Had to buy a new computer, got Win7, no 1394 so sold old mAudio interface. Bought an Alesis IO|2. Lots of issues. Decided I better join the 21st century and upgrade SONAR from Producer 6 which predated Win7. Bought X1 Producer.
Still had lots of issues with IO|2. Bought a TASCAM 122mkII. Tried all three driver modes. Still having dropouts. I've got maximum "safe" settings which adds bunch of delay to monitoring but that doesn't seem to affect the dropouts.
The project is 12 tracks, pure audio, one effects bus with SONAR reverb. CPU usage stays in single digits.
Watching PerfMon I see disk usage spike exactly when the drop out occurs. If it was really a disk bandwidth thing (unlikely with a modern disk I expect), then I would expect those safety buffers to take some time to drain out. But as soon as the disk use spikes the audio quits saying "dropout." I de-fragged this morning. No effect. No page faults so not burning disk swapping. Network idle of course.
SONAR Producer ran great on the old cheapo generic computer and buying a computer 6 years later I figured I'd have power to spare.
Unsure what to try next. Ideas?
Thanks,
CAF
Intel I3-2100 3.1gHz, 6GB main memory, Win7 64-bit SONAR Producer X1 Focusrite 18i8
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samhayman
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Re:i'm sure you've never heard this before: audio drop out problem
2012/09/07 14:24:37
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Have you checked your DPC Latency?
I'm lucky to have a "monster PC" but my Nvidia was spiking this DPC Latency thingy up to 2000micro seconds every couple of seconds or so and it felt like I had bought myself a dinosaur for my DAW.
So check that. Find what driver is causing your dropouts and take it from there.
EDIT: Once I changed from Nvidia to ATI, this DPC Lat went down to a mere 87us. Now everything works perfectly well.
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Brando
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Re:i'm sure you've never heard this before: audio drop out problem
2012/09/07 15:11:48
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USB 2 or 3?
Hub or single port?
Checked USB Sleep settings?
Both the Alesis and the Tascam are USB powered - if it was me I would look to see if it was a limitation in the power to my USB port. If one of the devices happened to come with a wall wart, I would try that to see if the situation improved.
Also +1 on the suggestion to check DPC latency
Brando
Cakewalk, Studio One Pro, Reaper Presonus Audiobox 1818VSL ASUS Prime Z370-A LGA1151, 32GB DDR4, Intel 8700K i7, 500 GB SSD, 3 x 1TB HDD, Windows 10 Pro 64
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ChewingAluminumFoil
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Re:i'm sure you've never heard this before: audio drop out problem
2012/09/07 15:21:39
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Thanks. I'm just using the stock graphics, likely an Intel chip set, dunno. But i'll investigate when I get home tonight.
Intel I3-2100 3.1gHz, 6GB main memory, Win7 64-bit SONAR Producer X1 Focusrite 18i8
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ChewingAluminumFoil
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Re:i'm sure you've never heard this before: audio drop out problem
2012/09/07 23:12:45
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How do I observe DPC latency on Win7? I swore I had a way of getting a detailed graphic of a bunch of system counters but either I don't remember how to get to it or it's not in Win7.
CAF
Intel I3-2100 3.1gHz, 6GB main memory, Win7 64-bit SONAR Producer X1 Focusrite 18i8
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Brando
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Re:i'm sure you've never heard this before: audio drop out problem
2012/09/07 23:29:10
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Brando
Cakewalk, Studio One Pro, Reaper Presonus Audiobox 1818VSL ASUS Prime Z370-A LGA1151, 32GB DDR4, Intel 8700K i7, 500 GB SSD, 3 x 1TB HDD, Windows 10 Pro 64
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daveny5
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Re:i'm sure you've never heard this before: audio drop out problem
2012/09/07 23:42:05
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Tried all three driver modes. Use ASIO. Set the buffers to 256 or 128 whichever works better. Did you install to the C: Drive? Are you using a USB drive for anything?
Dave Computer: Intel i7, ASROCK H170M, 16GB/5TB+, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, Sonar Platinum, TASCAM US-16x08, Cakewalk UM-3G MIDI I/F Instruments: SL-880 Keyboard controller, Korg 05R/W, Korg N1R, KORG Wavestation EX Axes: Fender Stratocaster, Line6 Variax 300, Ovation Acoustic, Takamine Nylon Acoustic, Behringer GX212 amp, Shure SM-58 mic, Rode NT1 condenser mic. Outboard: Mackie 1402-VLZ mixer, TC Helicon VoiceLive 2, Digitech Vocalist WS EX, PODXTLive, various stompboxes and stuff. Controllers: Korg nanoKONTROL, Wacom Bamboo Touchpad
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ChewingAluminumFoil
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Re:i'm sure you've never heard this before: audio drop out problem
2012/09/08 10:05:45
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It's USB 2.0. There are 9 USB ports on the machine. Device manager shows a couple of hubs so maybe there are internal "hubs", dunno, I don't know what a hub is specifically.
I've set ASIO drivers to max, 100ms is what I see. I've installed all on the main c: drive which is a Western Digital WD15EARS-22MVWB0. I went to try popping in a 2nd drive but it's a compact case computer and there's no 2nd drive bay. Lack of page faults suggests I'm not thrashing trying to keep SONAR loaded though.
Latest symptons using the TASCAM using ASIO, largest buffers, is that SONAR keeps playing but sound drops out every once in a while for maybe 250ms. Time shifts and I can't play with the sudden timewarp and the track being recorded gets some funny high pitched bleeps.
I used the DPC monitor suggested and DPCs all seem to be consistently in the sub-500us zone, max is 400 something, normally around 150us I'd say.
I found you can launch the more detailed perf mon that I remember by typing at the Start menu:
perfmon.msc
This allows you to add tons of granular detail about system behavior. Whee! And I thought I was just gonna finish a couple tunes real quick...
CAF
Intel I3-2100 3.1gHz, 6GB main memory, Win7 64-bit SONAR Producer X1 Focusrite 18i8
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ChewingAluminumFoil
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Re:i'm sure you've never heard this before: audio drop out problem
2012/09/08 10:19:12
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OK, I'm cautiously optimistic. With Brando asking about hubs I moved the interface to a front USB port and just completed a whole pass recording with no dropouts.
Tell me there's some science behind this...
CAF
Intel I3-2100 3.1gHz, 6GB main memory, Win7 64-bit SONAR Producer X1 Focusrite 18i8
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dan le
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Re:i'm sure you've never heard this before: audio drop out problem
2012/09/08 12:36:18
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I concur with CAF that there is something about the front USB hub that always work, when the rear ones fail, slow down, not recognizing, etc...
dan le
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ChewingAluminumFoil
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Re:i'm sure you've never heard this before: audio drop out problem
2012/09/09 23:00:55
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OK, drop outs are back. I give. I got SONAR with mAudio to work on 3 different computers a few years ago but I've wasted countless hours trying to make the TASCAM or Alesis interfaces work with this new Win7 64 bit machine. Cubase for some reason runs like a rock, but SONAR audio engine is too delicate or something.
Next hobby.
CAF
Intel I3-2100 3.1gHz, 6GB main memory, Win7 64-bit SONAR Producer X1 Focusrite 18i8
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soundtweaker
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Re:i'm sure you've never heard this before: audio drop out problem
2012/09/10 02:23:05
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If you have a wireless network card, disable it.
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chuckebaby
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Re:i'm sure you've never heard this before: audio drop out problem
2012/09/10 02:43:22
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i strongly suggest you do what soundtweaker said.
simply go into device manager and disable your wireless internet driver.
thats for starters.
run the dpc latency checker by just opening it up..youll see if your getting red spikes,your bumming out.
if you mean drop out as in your playback stops,investigate drivers/settings.
if you mean drop out as in crackling and slight loss of sound its your wireless network driver searching for a signal and thats interference in laymans terms.
good luck
chuckles
Windows 8.1 X64 Sonar Platinum x64 Custom built: Asrock z97 1150 - Intel I7 4790k - 16GB corsair DDR3 1600 - PNY SSD 220GBFocusrite Saffire 18I8 - Mackie Control
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daveny5
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Re:i'm sure you've never heard this before: audio drop out problem
2012/09/10 09:14:29
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Western Digital WD15EARS That's a "green drive". I believe those try to conserve power by slowing or shutting down. See if you can deactivate that feature.
Dave Computer: Intel i7, ASROCK H170M, 16GB/5TB+, Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, Sonar Platinum, TASCAM US-16x08, Cakewalk UM-3G MIDI I/F Instruments: SL-880 Keyboard controller, Korg 05R/W, Korg N1R, KORG Wavestation EX Axes: Fender Stratocaster, Line6 Variax 300, Ovation Acoustic, Takamine Nylon Acoustic, Behringer GX212 amp, Shure SM-58 mic, Rode NT1 condenser mic. Outboard: Mackie 1402-VLZ mixer, TC Helicon VoiceLive 2, Digitech Vocalist WS EX, PODXTLive, various stompboxes and stuff. Controllers: Korg nanoKONTROL, Wacom Bamboo Touchpad
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digi2ns
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Re:i'm sure you've never heard this before: audio drop out problem
2012/09/10 09:24:57
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First thing that comes to mind is something/s interupting the processor in the background. I had this before.
-One thing to try would be go into msconfig
-Disable ALL Services and StartUp items and see if it persists. (I am thinking it will work OK) The images might change a bit as far as layout but Sonar will work.
-If it does you know something is running in the background causing it. (I believe I used task manager to finally spot what was causing it and left it disabled)
If you have probs just go back into msconfig and select "Normal Startup"
Just a thought
MIKE --Dell Studio XPS I7/870 2.93 Ghz, 8GB Mem, 2-2TB Barracuda HDs, 500 GB Ext.HDD, Win7/64 --X1 64 Pro Expanded, Dual 21" Monitors --PCR500 --MAUDIO FastTrack Ultra --Mackie 1604 VLZ PRO --Line6 X3 Live --Gibson, Fender, Takamine, Schecter, Washburn http://pogopoppa.wix.com/5thgear# http://soundcloud.com/digi2ns
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Shambler
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Re:i'm sure you've never heard this before: audio drop out problem
2012/09/10 09:29:02
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SONAR Platypus on Win10 64bit. Studio One Pro / Cubase Pro 9.5...just in case. 8GB i7-2600 3.4GHz Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3P Geforce GTX970 Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 2nd Gen Prophet 12/Rev 2/Virus Snow Zebra2/DIVA/NI Komplete 10
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Teds_Studio
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Re:i'm sure you've never heard this before: audio drop out problem
2012/09/10 11:16:16
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samhayman
Have you checked your DPC Latency?
I'm lucky to have a "monster PC" but my Nvidia was spiking this DPC Latency thingy up to 2000micro seconds every couple of seconds or so and it felt like I had bought myself a dinosaur for my DAW.
So check that. Find what driver is causing your dropouts and take it from there.
EDIT: Once I changed from Nvidia to ATI, this DPC Lat went down to a mere 87us. Now everything works perfectly well.
This is strange....I have Sony Vegas video editing software and in most cases when someone is having problems it's usually attributed to a video card OTHER than Nvidia. When people switch to Nvidia their problems go away. Funny how different software apps handle hardware and their drivers differently. I have an Nvidia video card in my system and both Sony Vegas and Sonar seem to work OK....knocking on wood as I speak :) .
ASRock X99 Extreme4 MB....Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 4 GB DDR 5.....Intel i7 5820k 3.3 Ghz....Corsair RM850i power supply....3 Seagate 1TB SATA III drives....32 Gig G.Skill Ripjaws DDR4 3000.....Win 10 Pro.....Sonar X1 Producer Exp & X2, X3...Platinum....Superior Drummer 2 & 3 w/ N.Y. Vol 2 SDX.....Sony VEGAS Pro 11.0 32 & 64 bit Pro 12.....Sony VX2100.....Sony HVR-Z7U....Sony HDR-CX130....Alesis HD24....Behringer X32 console....Focusrite 18i20....JBL LSR2328P studio monitors with LSR2310P sub.
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Cactus Music
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Re:i'm sure you've never heard this before: audio drop out problem
2012/09/10 11:39:59
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+1 to the Green Drive issue. Also what about that Core Parking people talk about?
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JonD
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Re:i'm sure you've never heard this before: audio drop out problem
2012/09/10 13:47:28
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ChewingAluminumFoil
.... If it was really a disk bandwidth thing (unlikely with a modern disk I expect....
As others have already pointed out, your "green" model hard drive can cause exactly the problems you didn't expect.... Since it ramps down speed on its own, its the worst possible choice for an audio/video recording PC. Unfortunately, I don't think you can disable it either. Any chance you have another 7200rpm or better (non-green) hard drive you can swap it out with?
SonarPlat/CWbBL, Win 10 Pro, i7 2600K, Asus P8Z68 Deluxe, 16GB DDR3, Radeon HD5450, TC Electronic Impact Twin, Kawai MP11 Piano, Event ALP Monitors, Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro, Too Many Plugins, My lucky hat.
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ChewingAluminumFoil
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Re:i'm sure you've never heard this before: audio drop out problem
2012/09/10 19:04:06
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Why would the green drive spin down in the middle of heavy traffic? I couldn't swap the drive without re-building the entire system.
I can try disabling services. I've already tried disabling network. Anti-virus is a frequent contributor to problems like this and I also run CrashPlan for backup, but I didn't see any activity that indicated they were active. But I can explicitly disable them and see if that makes any difference.
This is one of many hobbies and if it's gonna be a problem I'm happy to shift to the next one.
CAF
Intel I3-2100 3.1gHz, 6GB main memory, Win7 64-bit SONAR Producer X1 Focusrite 18i8
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