Audio crackling when exported

[brb]

Just like in the title, the sound in the exported audio file crackles every 4~5 seconds. This crackling is recorded in the file so it can't be removed. This doesn't happen when I'm listening the project in cakewalk, so I think there is a problem with exporting process.

This problem has started since yesterday (it was fine before). The only thing I've changed is the audio driver setting from MME to WASAPI exclusive. Could this be one of the causes?

Here is my export settings in the attatchment just in case.

I'm a newbie, so I desperately need your help. Thank you in advance for answering!

[reginaldStjohn]

One thing to try is reduce the BIT DEPTH from 32 down to 24 or even 16 bit and see if this helps. Sometimes these problems have to do with Virtual Instruments in your project as well. If you are using VSTi's then bounce them to audio first or try a "Real-time" (disable fast bounce) render.

https://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=SONAR&language=3&help=Dialogs1.46.html

Edited August 31, 2022 by reginaldStjohn

[brb]

1 hour ago, reginaldStjohn said:

One thing to try is reduce the BIT DEPTH from 32 down to 24 or even 16 bit and see if this helps. Sometimes these problems have to do with Virtual Instruments in your project as well. If you are using VSTi's then bounce them to audio first or try a "Real-time" (disable fast bounce) render.

https://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=SONAR&language=3&help=Dialogs1.46.html

Thank you very much for your reply!

I first tried to reduce the bit depth down to 16 but it did not change anything. Then I also changed the file format from wave to mp3, but the sound still crackled.

Strangely, one thing I realised is that this problem does not happen when it is a MIDI project. It worked perfectly fine with VSTi's, even without bouncing them.

This seems to happen when the project includes audio tracks. I also experienced an unusually high CPU usage (up to 72%) while exporting this project with audio tracks. Whereas, the CPU usage was maximum 25% for the MIDI project and the whole export process was faster than the other.

[brb]

I found that the third-party reverb plugins I used caused this problem.

For now exporting works fine by just removing these plugins, but I may have to find new ones working well...

(And the high CPU usage seems to be normal when exporting. I saw the export using 75% of CPU and got a good wave file)

Edited August 31, 2022 by brb
I forgot to write the last sentence

[Colin Nicholls]

I'm very curious as to which Reverb plugin was causing the problem.

[brb]

20 hours ago, Colin Nicholls said:

I'm very curious as to which Reverb plugin was causing the problem.

It was the plugin called MSpectralPan, which is indeed a panning plugin and not reverb. I accidentally bypassed this one with others so I could not notice it at the first hand. Sorry for the mistake!

[David Baay]

Try changing Bounce Buffer Size (MS) (should be ms for miliseconds) from Playback to 20ms. Some plugins don't like fast bouncing with the typically small buffer used for playback.

You might also expand the  Mix and Render section, and uncheck 64-bit Engine; some plugins don't play nice with that, either.

Edited September 6, 2022 by David Baay