Drivers and their myriad of quirks

[RexRed]

I every so often have Cakewalk suddenly close on me or freeze up. I will sing a take and it will appear in the track delayed.

I will add tracks and it can take three seconds for them to appear yet this only happens with a certain interface.

Chrome will not play sound while using Cakewalk.

All of these problems can be attributed to drivers and not Cakewalk itself.

The newer a device is the worse performance you can get out of it due to driver related issues. Even if you pay thousands for that device.

Some of the oldest interfaces, like my Roland Quad Capture can have the very best (glitch free) performance. And Windows loads the best driver automatically when I plug it into a new PC.

Did they simply just write better drivers back then or were the specifications somehow set in stone?

My ever elusive search for a better interface seems plagued these days by poor drivers.

I have heard audiophiles talk about drivers and their importance and not until now has that really sunk in. 

And the worry that an older device's drivers will no longer work with a new OS...

 But eventually they get included in the OS's driver compatibility specs.

It seems that each driver comes with a different horror story.

The driver landscape seem so riddled with problems that I worry about purchasing new interfaces due that issue mostly.

Each unit has drivers that come plagued with problems.

Meanwhile many people think the problem is Cakewalk and nearly 100% of the time it is the device and its poorly written drivers.

I am wondering about Focusrite Scarlett AI's I have heard a lot of good about them. I am wondering if buying an older, discontinued generation, I might actually get a more stable driver?

Any suggestions on a 4 in 4 out Scarlett AI?    

And what is your experience using them with Cakewalk?

I feel like I am being duped when buying more of these interfaces.

But the quest for a good, stable recording experience is an ongoing thing. 

Edited July 16, 2022 by RexRed

[azslow3]

Till your RME is back, I don't think you can find a device with the same driver versatility and stability.
Unfortunately reports about overheating of "middle range" RME units is not rare (as well as problems with power supply in top units). But there is almost no bad reports about Babyface and PCIe boards. I know you probably no longer trust the company, but on Windows all other drivers are worse.

From my experience the device+driver in many (most?) situations is not the origin of the problem.  Different devices and drivers have different "fault tolerance" and for audio (especially at low latency settings) the limit is rather low. If there is something "wrong" with surrounding equipment, the device is "stuck" and/or the driver crash/freeze/etc. It is important to check there is nothing wrong with the computer/OS, it is audio optimized in general and it is currently in audio (performance) mode.

And that is apart from conspiracy theories arising after strange coincidences. For example at some moment I have noticed one of my interfaces goes crazy too often... then I have noticed I have periodic tiny "glitches" in mic recordings... then I have checked and fortunately have found the XLR cable to the mic is bad... after replacing the cable the interface was no longer glitching ?

[Starship Krupa]

5 hours ago, RexRed said:

Chrome will not play sound while using Cakewalk

Thing is, the ASIO driver model is intended for absolute best performance during dedicated use by one single app at a time. Sometimes, with some drivers, it's possible to be able to hear browser audio while you are running an audio program in ASIO, but there are no guarantees.

What seems to make it go more smoothly is if I set my Windows sound options to match what I'm using in the DAW. This at least makes it so the interface and its driver don't have to flip a coin to decide what bit rate to use. Another thing is to of course, use WASAPI Shared, which is designed to allow apps to share the audio output device. There's also the trick of enabling your computer's built-in audio hardware and setting Windows sounds to use that while ASIO is driving your studio interface.

In the end....I really don't need to have a browser or any other audio-generating program running when I'm recording or mixing. It's better for my focus not to.

[Byron Dickens]

50 minutes ago, Starship Krupa said:

In the end....I really don't need to have a browser or any other audio-generating program running when I'm recording or mixing. It's better for my focus not to.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This.

[RexRed]

My RME drivers are actually not very good, and the hardware died after 8 months. I did really like Total Mix.

I will amend this pose if the drivers work better after the unit is replaced.

I broadcast live on YouTube while I am making a lot of my music. It is nice to share the experience rather than doing it alone.

Sometimes I like to explain to my viewers where I bought a plugin and even take them to the website.

Some of my in studio live YouTube sessions have lasted 12 hours before. Being able to alt tab out of Cakewalk and to a browser or even another app is very necessary.

It was really hard figuring out how to use the same microphone for announcing and for tracking. So in doing this I have expanded my knowledge of the studio.

Windows is good at changing the focus of my drivers (generally).

Each driver has quirks.

If I can avoid adding any more latency I will. 

I spent many long solitary years working alone in the studio, I prefer having company now if I can arrange it.

It is nice to have live input as well when in the creative process.

A few compliments here and there are also very nice and a few people have enjoyed the experience of listening  and seeing how I use Cakewalk.

I have been using Cakewalk since MSDOS, I might as well share some of my experiences. 

My YouTube channel is, CBBTV check it out, click the bell for a notification of when I go live. It would be nice to have some Cakewalk people in the live studio.

I will warn you, it is sometimes boring and tedious. lol

Luckily I have a few people who still like to hang around anyway while I edit and ramble on about, the good old days! 

(shameless plug) 

 ?

 

 

Edited July 17, 2022 by RexRed

[Jack Stoner]

When I do DAW work, whether recording, tracking, mixing or whatever that is all I have running.  I have internet (NIC) disabled to prevent dropouts.   

I have a relatively high end desktop (i9 9900K CPU) but still limit multi-tasking. 

 

[RexRed]

I just installed the drivers for my new Rodecaster Pro II. Get this, ASIO version 1.0.0 lol

If you think about the very idea of a "Rodecaster", it is that some of us do not make music in isolation anymore.

I appreciate the artists, of which I was once one, who like to limit multitasking and background processes.

But, today we live in a hyper social climate and we are interconnected with the world in ways like never before.

Being able to track while broadcasting is not only an artform but also a way to get your music out there.

And what could be better than seeing your favorite artist make their songs in real-time?

I utilize three computers to broadcast my Cakewalk sessions.  

One computer is my Cakewalk workstation, the other is my streaming computer and the third is the quadcore CPU in my Rodecaster pro II and if you add my phone into the mix that has a Snapdragon Octa-core.

When I am working in Cakewalk, having a full load of effects and processing while simultaneously mastering my project, I am only utilizing about 3% of my processor cores.

My 2TB M.2 drives barely register while storing and accessing files.

Modern music making has morphed into a public event. ?

Edited July 18, 2022 by RexRed