Pop in audio playback after recording

[alan933]

I am wondering why, after recroding this piano instrument into the interface, am I getting a pop on nearly every audio recording.

Its in this begininng 4 beats on about the 3rd beat.

Othertimes theres a drop out and sounds like a CD skip

The 7mb mp3 file is here for download

https://file.io/ZKHq9hPAm9aK

 

 

Edited February 9, 2022 by alan933

[alan933]

I increased the buffer on the interface from 256 to 512 and it seems to have fixed it.

Does that sound reasonable?

Edited February 9, 2022 by alan933

[David Baay]

It should not normally be necessary to go that high in a properly tuned DAW recording a single track. but it could be WiFi or something  is causing a spike in DPC latency. You can watch DPC latency in real time and get an idea what's causing it with this:

https://www.resplendence.com/latencymon

The fact that it happens shortly after you start recording also suggests it might be due to anti-virus scanning the new audio file.

I can't actually check the audio file because my browser security doesn't like the URL.

Edited February 9, 2022 by David Baay

[Promidi]

What are your full PC specs?

[alan933]

19 hours ago, David Baay said:

It should not normally be necessary to go that high in a properly tuned DAW recording a single track. but it could be WiFi or something  is causing a spike in DPC latency. You can watch DPC latency in real time and get an idea what's causing it with this:

https://www.resplendence.com/latencymon

The fact that it happens shortly after you start recording also suggests it might be due to anti-virus scanning the new audio file.

I can't actually check the audio file because my browser security doesn't like the URL.

Interesting, I'll see if I can get windows to ignore that directory or something. the file is on clyp but after one download it stops.

How do you get that program?

They say its for registered customers but I don't see a way to register.

Does it cost to register?

Edited February 9, 2022 by alan933

[alan933]

16 hours ago, Promidi said:

What are your full PC specs?

Operating System

Windows 10 Home (x64) Version 2009 (build 19044.1466)
Install Language: English (United States)
System Locale: English (United States)
Installed: 9/22/2020 9:26:03 PM
Servicing Branch: Current Branch (CB)
Boot Mode: UEFI with successful Secure Boot

System Model

Hewlett-Packard p6-2376

Enclosure Type: Desktop

Processor a

2.80 gigahertz AMD A4-3420 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
256 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (2 total)
Not hyper-threaded

Main Circuit Board b

Board: PEGATRON CORPORATION 2ACF 1.03
Bus Clock: 100 megahertz
UEFI: AMI 8.04 08/09/2012

Drives

1999.72 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
1870.57 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

hp DVD A DH16ACSHR [Optical drive]

MB2000EBUCF [Hard drive] (2000.40 GB) -- drive 0, s/n YFJJV5AB, rev MK7OHPG3, SMART Status: Healthy
Multiple Card Reader USB Device [Hard drive] (4.02 GB) -- drive 1, s/n 058F63666433

Memory Modules c,d

5604 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory

Slot 'A1_DIMM0' has 2048 MB (serial number 4410E4FB)
Slot 'A1_DIMM1' has 4096 MB (serial number 4146DF6F)

Local Drive Volumes

? (NTFS on drive 0)1999.72 GB1870.57 GB free

[Promidi]

12 minutes ago, alan933 said:

Operating System

Windows 10 Home (x64) Version 2009 (build 19044.1466)
Install Language: English (United States)

-----------------------------------------------  snip -------------------------------------------------------------

Local Drive Volumes

? (NTFS on drive 0)1999.72 GB1870.57 GB free

 CPU was released in 2012 .  You have 6 gig ram (5.6 gig).....  for a CbB that may be a bit of a squeeze.

What audio interface are you using?  What driver mode are you using? ASIO is preferred if you have a USB Audio interface, WASAPI if using onboard)

What tuning have you done on this PC and Windows (with a PC this old, this would be more important)

For this PC, maybe buffer size if 512 is the lowest you can go without pops and clicks.

Personally, I think your solution is to upgrade your PC.

[bitflipper]

Zoom way in on the waveform where the pop is. You will see one of two things: either a sudden drop to zero or a sudden inversion of the waveform. If the former, your system didn't have enough time to process the incoming data, in which case increasing the buffer size is the easiest cure. If the latter, you may be overdriving the front end of your audio interface and need to turn down the instrument.

There are many reasons for buffer overruns, such as inefficient hardware drivers. If you have wi-fi on this computer, try disabling it. As noted by David Baay above, anti-virus software is another of the usual suspects. Always exempt your audio folders from anti-virus scanning. Sometimes other background processes get in the way, such as automated backups and scheduled checks for software updates. Identifying and mitigating those annoyances is a time-consuming process, but that's what David's referring to when he says "a properly tuned DAW".

The amount of RAM you have is a little on the low side, which can sometimes cause problems but probably isn't the issue here. Still, adding another 8GB of RAM would be a cheap upgrade you might want to consider.

[David Baay]

1 hour ago, alan933 said:

2.80 gigahertz AMD A4-3420 APU

Hmmm... yeah, getting just a little long in the tooth.  I'm a bit surprised your CPU even supported the Win10 upgrade. You will definitely want to upgrade sooner than later and get a dedicated audio interface if working with CbB is going to continue to be a significant part of your musical life. With proper optimization, that  machine should still be able to pull off a clean recording at 128-sample buffer in a basic project with not too much going in the way of plugin processing or multitrack audio playback streaming, but will continue to struggle as your projects get more complex.

[alan933]

On 2/9/2022 at 5:31 PM, David Baay said:

Hmmm... yeah, getting just a little long in the tooth.  I'm a bit surprised your CPU even supported the Win10 upgrade. You will definitely want to upgrade sooner than later and get a dedicated audio interface if working with CbB is going to continue to be a significant part of your musical life. With proper optimization, that  machine should still be able to pull off a clean recording at 128-sample buffer in a basic project with not too much going in the way of plugin processing or multitrack audio playback streaming, but will continue to struggle as your projects get more complex.

thanks for the feedback, by "strugglle" you mean for audio record? Midi doesn't require that much. I did tons of composing on and old 2ghz computer in old cakewalk pro using midi. Audio is new for me 

Also I saw a optimize video on youtube where a guy shows how to disable things in windows 10 for this. 
This computer is pretty fast for the most part , booting up , shutting down and others. Its a  clean install with just cakewalk and interface drivers basically

[alan933]

On 2/9/2022 at 3:57 PM, bitflipper said:

Zoom way in on the waveform where the pop is. You will see one of two things: either a sudden drop to zero or a sudden inversion of the waveform. If the former, your system didn't have enough time to process the incoming data, in which case increasing the buffer size is the easiest cure. If the latter, you may be overdriving the front end of your audio interface and need to turn down the instrument.

There are many reasons for buffer overruns, such as inefficient hardware drivers. If you have wi-fi on this computer, try disabling it. As noted by David Baay above, anti-virus software is another of the usual suspects. Always exempt your audio folders from anti-virus scanning. Sometimes other background processes get in the way, such as automated backups and scheduled checks for software updates. Identifying and mitigating those annoyances is a time-consuming process, but that's what David's referring to when he says "a properly tuned DAW".

The amount of RAM you have is a little on the low side, which can sometimes cause problems but probably isn't the issue here. Still, adding another 8GB of RAM would be a cheap upgrade you might want to consider.

yes all of that sounds good , thanks

[alan933]

On 2/9/2022 at 3:56 PM, Promidi said:

 CPU was released in 2012 .  You have 6 gig ram (5.6 gig).....  for a CbB that may be a bit of a squeeze.

What audio interface are you using?  What driver mode are you using? ASIO is preferred if you have a USB Audio interface, WASAPI if using onboard)

What tuning have you done on this PC and Windows (with a PC this old, this would be more important)

For this PC, maybe buffer size if 512 is the lowest you can go without pops and clicks.

Personally, I think your solution is to upgrade your PC.

was my Mom's back in 2012, correct! My brother thought it went bad and got her a new one, he was wrong, been using it ever since.

Using Focusrite 2i4 with ASIO , by the way, I'm only getting out on RCA 1&2 not 3&4, do you know why that is?

Will try Ram ++, that's a cheap upper.

Edited February 11, 2022 by alan933

[alan933]

Hey All what about SSD Hard drive? Is that better for this?

[David Baay]

2 minutes ago, alan933 said:

by "strugglle" you mean for audio record?

I meant with handling multiple soft synths and FX plugins. Streaming audio and playing back MIDI driving hardware synths is not that big a chore. The main limitation  on audio track recording and playback will be the performance of your hard drive which can be dealt with by increasing the disk buffers if necessary

[John Vere]

56 minutes ago, alan933 said:

Hey All what about SSD Hard drive? Is that better for this?

Huge difference. But it’s sort of you want that for your OS drive and your data drive too if that’s where you put your projects. Nothing terribly wrong with using old school drives for storage if they are at least 7200 RPM. But SSD drives are dirt cheap so for an upgrade to your machine you can’t loose. If you do buy a new computer down the road you can swap them over. 
And yes you need at least 12 GB of RAM these days. 

[Promidi]

3 hours ago, alan933 said:

Using Focusrite 2i4 with ASIO , by the way, I'm only getting out on RCA 1&2 not 3&4, do you know why that is?

Not really sure.  Maybe try the Focusrite Beta driver as its notes specifically mentions Cakewalk by Bandlab.

This can be found on beta.focusrite.com   (CTRL + F "Focusrite USB2 Drivers 4.87.4")

[Promidi]

3 hours ago, alan933 said:

Hey All what about SSD Hard drive? Is that better for this?

Hell yeah!

[bitflipper]

On 2/10/2022 at 4:37 PM, alan933 said:

Hey All what about SSD Hard drive? Is that better for this?

It's a good idea but not a cure-all.

SSDs are best-used for storing read-only data such as sample libraries. For recording audio, it's unlikely to make a noticeable difference because when everything's working correctly write speed to the media isn't a major factor. Recording reliability is more about making sure other devices (e.g. network and video cards) and background processes (e.g. updaters, antivirus) aren't interfering with the process.

Or... just spend a whole lot of $$$ on a souped-up industrial-strength computer so fast that it can easily keep up even when you are doing things wrong. Not everyone can do that, but fortunately knowledge is free for folks like you who are willing to apply the effort to figure this stuff out.