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Playback issue


Duncan Perry

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Hi all,

Im running 2022.02 on windows 10.

Cakewalk seems to have developed an issue recently where it won't playback properly, and it seems to do this on both complex projects with lots of audio and vsts running as well as simple projects with just a simple loop or suchlike - way i'm getting at is the content of the project seems to bear no influence on the problem.

The issue is, sometimes I will load a project and press play, the transport bar will not move and it'll play the first second or so and then the audio will stop suddenly.   Sometimes shutting down cakewalk and starting again will fix it, other times it won't.  I have also tried running Cakewalk as admin, but that doesn't seem to help the issue.

Anyone else seen this issue?

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Nope. That's just CPU overload. Everytime you load an effect in a project it consumes system resources. 

Do you have an interface perhaps? If so, you can increase the buffer size to 512, but this will introduce a slight delay when doing composing work  (not playback.) 

To locate this: Go into Preferences>Driver Settings. You will see a blue slider. You can also change it in the Asio Panel button. 

Edited by Will_Kaydo
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Will is correct. However, increasing the buffer size doesn't always solve the problem. Sometimes the root cause of CPU overload can be obscure. Often, it's a background process or interrupt service routine (ISR) that's hogging the CPU.

Troubleshooting this kind of issue begins with a free diagnostic tool called LatencyMon. Interpreting the results can be challenging, but there are some instructions on the Resplendence website that may help. What this utility does is measure DPC latency, the time it takes for your computer to process hardware interrupts. Interrupts take priority over pretty much everything else, so if they're taking too long it can keep your system from handling audio properly. Sometimes it's a sloppily-written driver, sometimes it's a broken interface card. The most frequent offenders are network adapters, in particular wireless wi-fi. But run the tool and report back what it tells you.

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Here is the report - I have changed the preferences->driver settings->mixing latency to the following

Buffers in PLayback = 2 (can't alter this)

Buffer size - 5.3ms, 513 samples

and Asio reported Latencies are

input 4.6ms, 440 samples

output 6.6ms, 536 samples

Yet, i am still having problems with it

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________
CONCLUSION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Your system appears to be suitable for handling real-time audio and other tasks without dropouts. 
LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for  0:13:16  (h:mm:ss) on all processors.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Computer name:                                        DESKTOP-K95MGV7
OS version:                                           Windows 10, 10.0, version 2009, build: 19042 (x64)
Hardware:                                             20B7A0B7MD, LENOVO
BIOS:                                                 Phoenix BIOS SC-T v2.1
CPU:                                                  GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4300U CPU @ 1.90GHz
Logical processors:                                   4
Processor groups:                                     1
Processor group size:                                 4
RAM:                                                  7878 MB total


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reported CPU speed (WMI):                             1895 MHz
Reported CPU speed (registry):                        2494 MHz

Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results.


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes the scheduling and execution of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event.

Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs):   546.10
Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs):   10.702668

Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs):       538.60
Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs):       2.636659


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 REPORTED ISRs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal.

Highest ISR routine execution time (µs):              45.372895
Driver with highest ISR routine execution time:       ACPI.sys - ACPI Driver for NT, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total ISR routine time (%):          0.000473
Driver with highest ISR total time:                   HDAudBus.sys - High Definition Audio Bus Driver, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in ISRs (%)                          0.000552

ISR count (execution time <250 µs):                   2647
ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs):                0
ISR count (execution time 500-1000 µs):               0
ISR count (execution time 1000-2000 µs):              0
ISR count (execution time 2000-4000 µs):              0
ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs):                 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
REPORTED DPCs
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution.

Highest DPC routine execution time (µs):              570.791901
Driver with highest DPC routine execution time:       ntoskrnl.exe - NT Kernel & System, Microsoft Corporation

Highest reported total DPC routine time (%):          0.005377
Driver with highest DPC total execution time:         ntoskrnl.exe - NT Kernel & System, Microsoft Corporation

Total time spent in DPCs (%)                          0.022118

DPC count (execution time <250 µs):                   67127
DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs):                0
DPC count (execution time 500-10000 µs):              11
DPC count (execution time 1000-2000 µs):              0
DPC count (execution time 2000-4000 µs):              0
DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs):                 0


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution.

NOTE: some processes were hit by hard pagefaults. If these were programs producing audio, they are likely to interrupt the audio stream resulting in dropouts, clicks and pops. Check the Processes tab to see which programs were hit.

Process with highest pagefault count:                 microsoft.photos.exe

Total number of hard pagefaults                       2082
Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process:          1162
Number of processes hit:                              14


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 PER CPU DATA
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       2.536267
CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs):                45.372895
CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.017575
CPU 0 ISR count:                                      2647
CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs):                570.791901
CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.321225
CPU 0 DPC count:                                      38284
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0.476060
CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs):                0.0
CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.0
CPU 1 ISR count:                                      0
CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs):                151.331195
CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.050853
CPU 1 DPC count:                                      4780
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       1.498525
CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs):                0.0
CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.0
CPU 2 ISR count:                                      0
CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs):                340.597434
CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.307780
CPU 2 DPC count:                                      21891
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s):                       0.490560
CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs):                0.0
CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s):                   0.0
CPU 3 ISR count:                                      0
CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs):                57.481957
CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s):                   0.024854
CPU 3 DPC count:                                      2183
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 

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You might want to add at least another 8GB of Ram to it. Do a test and report again. DISABLE 4 Effects to confirm what we are saying - any of the following manufacturers. iZotope, Waves Abby Road Reverb, Lurssen Mastering Console and maybe Fabfilter EQ3. Cakewalk LP, MB and Adaptive Limiter 

First try this with all the effects on your Mastering Channel. 

Edited by Will.
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Unfortunately, the RAM is not upgradable.

Dumb question i am sure - do i have to run the cakewalk project and the LatencyMon at the same time?

Regarding the VST/effects you've listed, as per the OP I am having the issue with complex projects aswell as very simple ones.

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8GB ram is a little on the shy side for just even some basic 12/16 track, 8bus project with effects like those mentioned above including some VSTi such as Kontakt etc. That's not to say you can't use them. 

Regarding the test. If it will help you identify things for future mixes - Yes, you can run the LatencyMon when you disable these effects - only those on the Master Bus (don't delete them.) 

Have you tried to reinstall the drivers of your interface again? 

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5 hours ago, Duncan Perry said:

________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SYSTEM INFORMATION
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Computer name:                                        DESKTOP-K95MGV7
OS version:                                           Windows 10, 10.0, version 2009, build: 19042 (x64)
Hardware:                                             20B7A0B7MD, LENOVO
BIOS:                                                 Phoenix BIOS SC-T v2.1
CPU:                                                  GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4300U CPU @ 1.90GHz
Logical processors:                                   4
Processor groups:                                     1
Processor group size:                                 4
RAM:                                                  7878 MB total


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
CPU SPEED
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reported CPU speed (WMI):                             1895 MHz
Reported CPU speed (registry):                        2494 MHz

Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results.

 

Something is throttling your CPU, 1.9 GHz is pretty low.

Maybe not the reason for your issue but worth to check.

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