Little cracks in Audio

[Ælleden]

Hello I would like to know how to address this.

I'm having lil audio crachs when I hold 2 or 3 keys at same time on my midi controller.
It's not a buffer issue because the log says I'm at 0 late buffer but I can still hear the cracks, I'm not sure what is causing that.



Do you know what could lead to this?

Thank you

Edited July 27, 2022 by Ælleden

[57Gregy]

Dirty contacts in the keys. Loose wires. Dirty contacts on the plugs. Cracked speaker cone. Dirty potentiometers. Broken microphone diaphragm. Sunspots.
Incorrect settings in your audio interface software. Microsoft.
More information is needed. What audio interface are you using? What driver mode?
What operating system?
How is the keyboard connected?
Which keyboard is it?
Are all of your drivers up to date?
What version of Cakewalk software are you on?
How are you making sound? A software synthesizer? Which one? A MIDI sound module?
Really, there are a ton of things that could make noise, so letting us all know what you know may help you.
 

[Ælleden]

- I don't currently have an Audio Interface (I don't own any real instruments or xlr microphones yet, will do soon tho)
- I'm on Windows 10 (build 1709)
- Midi controller is connect to my PC with an USB-B to USB-A cable (for power and use)
- Keyboard is Nektar Imapct GXP49
- Using latest Nektar drivers (I just bought the keyboard, I used it maybe less than 5 hours)
- Using Cakewalk version 2021.12 (Build 102, 64 bit)
- Issue appeared using Xfer Serum

I thought it was something simple to fix just by changing some parameters.
 

[John Vere]

Troubleshooting 101. Swap stuff out until the issue goes away. 
This can include 

The VST instruments 

The keyboard controller-  try the virtual keyboard 

The usb cable 

USB ports. 

Even though you don’t think it’s a buffer issue it most certainly can be   . Audio interface will certainly improve things in that regard 

[Ælleden]

I tried every VST instruments I had, I tried buildin Cakewalk keyboards, I tried all USB ports, I don't have a spare cable.
How is an Audio Interface gonna affect anything about this Midi controller since it's not gonna be going throught it???
It might be a buffer issue, I don't know, but I don't have late buffers

[Lord Tim]

What driver mode are you using (ASIO / WASAPI Shared or Exclusive /WDM etc), what driver is it, and what latency have you got it set to?

I'm guessing it's a Realtek of some kind being that it's the most common inbuilt one, but how you have that set up can make all the difference. But details will save us all from just guessing.

[John Vere]

And audio interface has good audio drivers.  On board audio can work just fine but need to be set up properly  Watch video # 1 

 

Edited February 27, 2023 by John Vere
Update video link

[Ælleden]

@Cactus Music I don't have "Sound" in my Windows/Settings/System window lol

I'm not gonna show what I have anyways because it's not in english

[Byron Dickens]

It's hard for people to help you when you keep them guessing all the time.

[Lord Tim]

^^ exactly this.

Going by the screenshot you posted, that's using a MOTU M... something. Great. That tells us what brand of device it is, but nothing about the driver model Cakewalk is using for it, the latency settings, etc. or what other drivers are installed for other devices. Even having a certain Magix or Steinberg driver on a computer that Cakewalk isn't even using can cause these kind of issues, but we simply don't know what you have.

I'm not sure if that's your system or the one from John's video that you're showing, but the problem remains the same.

Sharing the audio settings inside Cakewalk Preferences will actually let us help you. You'd never go to a doctor and tell them your stomach hurts and you'd like them to fix it but not show them anything they ask for, and I certainly wouldn't be happy with them guessing the solution. 

Even if something is in a different language, people here will be able to see what you're actually dealing with and make better suggestions for you.

Edited August 7, 2022 by Lord Tim

[John Vere]

It’s a screenshot of my video.  
Yes screenshots of all the audio settings would help even if not in English. 
But makes me wonder about what OS you are using if it doesn’t have a Sound settings tab?????

Edited August 7, 2022 by Cactus Music

[57Gregy]

22 hours ago, Ælleden said:

How is an Audio Interface gonna affect anything about this Midi controller since it's not gonna be going throught it?

The Nektar, being a controller, makes no sound of its own, so the signal must go through some other synthesizer, such as the Microsoft GS Wavetable synth in many computer sound cards, or a software synth. The soft synth's output will be audio and go through the interface.

[Ælleden]

I have absolutelly no clue what you guys are talking about, I don't know anything about audio.
It's like asking a random civilian what chemical reaction is happening when a nuclear bomb explodes..
I can't show you what you want me to because I have no clue how to know that and where to look for it.

These are screenshots of my preferences in Cakewalk:






@Cactus Music As I said earlier I'm on Windows 10 Build 1709

@bdickens Evetime I make a post you come here to bash me, I don't need your random toxicity, ***** dude, I'm just asking for a question, if you don't wanna help, let others do without being aggressive or just complaining about the informations I shared, I'm trying my best. Obviously I'm not a pro otherwise I wouldn't even ask.

@57Gregy It doesn't make a sound on its own but I just needed to plug it in with its cable and it worked on Cakewalk, I don't own an Audio Interface, myabe there is one build-in in my computer but if so I have no clue where to find this information

@Lord Tim This is not a screenshot of my windows, it was a screenshot of John Vere youtube videos as showing on the bottom of the screenshot with the title of the video. Here are the options I have:


I looked everywhere on my PC for sound related stuff I didn't find anything usefull informations.

Edited August 7, 2022 by Ælleden

[Byron Dickens]

I can't imagine what kind of little snowflake you are if you think I'm bashing you or being aggressive when all I did was inform you that it's really hard for people to help you when you withhold information.

It's not like you gave yourself a really friendly introduction when you showed up either:

 

Edited August 7, 2022 by bdickens

[Ælleden]

@bdickens I just avoid toxic people in my life, no time for people are that are bad in their life and try to bring down everyone else just to feel a bit better.
Every single time you replied to one of my comments, it was to be mean or make me look like an idiot.
You never brought anything constructive or related to the subject I was initially posting, you just put some oil and light it on fire.

I know it's hard to help when you don't have informations, if I had informations from the beginning, I would have listed everything myself, but it's hard when you have no clue what could be related to this issue.

Edited August 8, 2022 by Ælleden

[Lord Tim]

Ok, from posting your preferences screenshot we can see that you're using MME mode for your driver, which is the worst option. That's definitely one place you're getting crackles from.

Secondly, you have your audio output going through your video card, which is never great, and likely a huge problem too.

I would recommend these steps:

In your 3rd screenshot, untick everything in each box for input and output drivers. I would typically say put a tick only in the Realtek related ones but we need to know how you're listening to the audio. What are your speakers or headphones plugged into? You need to choose that device.

After we know this, we can advise which boxes to tick.

Next steps:

In your second screenshot, you choose the things you ticked for input and output in the 3rd screenshot for Playback and Timing Masters.

Then, in your first screenshot, you'll want to choose WASAPI as your driver model. WASAPI Shared or Exclusive will work, but they both have their own pro and con. Worry about that then you're hearing sound.

A lot of this stuff is covered in the Cactus Music Owners Manual Tutorials, but the first step is to find the best way to get sound at all in the Input and Output Drivers in your 3rd screenshot.

My suggestion for output drivers there, as I said, would usually be one of the Realtek ones, but the Bose one is probable too. Try to avoid the ones going to your monitor/video card. Only try one at a time, and don't forget to press OK or Apply after each change. Then work through this post to choose the right Timing Masters and Driver Model.

[John Vere]

Your sound settings should be found under the top icon which says Affichage

I agree with Tim you have not followed anything from my video. You should be using WASAPI shared mode for starters. And as I said in the video disable all the junk you aren’t using for Cakewalk. I’m just working on a new video that is exclusively for on board audio users. 

Edited August 8, 2022 by Cactus Music

[Ælleden]

@Cactus Music I used MME because it was the only option available that was working for me. All the other options were not sending any sound at all, MME was the only one that was doing sound.
And if I didn't follow your video it's because it didn't work for me. If I could i'd rather copy paste everything you did and snap my fingers waiting for it to work LOL.
If you think I purposefully try to make things different to be special, you're so wrong.

@Lord Tim I'm usually using the plugged Bose version when my headphones are plugged (Bose Desktop Control) or the Bose Stereo Headphones when my Headphones are in bluetooth (which has latency but fine sometimes)
When I don't use headphones I use one of my build in speaker in the monitors for just working on melody or rythm (VN279QL)

I tried ticking the Realtek options but it didn't generate any sound at all.

Edited August 8, 2022 by Ælleden

[Ælleden]

I think WASAPI doesn't work because non of my devices support it, it's all greyed out when I select it.
And I don't have speakers to plug into my PC so selecting Realtek options won't work I would assume. The signal is here but since nothing is plugged in, I can't have sound with it.

[User 905133]

(1) I wrote the following up before all the rancor but was hoping others would chime in to help.

On 8/6/2022 at 3:10 PM, Ælleden said:

- I'm on Windows 10 (build 1709)

I thought it was something simple to fix just by changing some parameters.

Is there a reason you haven't updated Windows 10? 1709 is something like five years old and Microsoft has updated a lot that affects audio (sometimes in good ways, sometimes in bad ways). Just a guess, but maybe newer versions of Cakewalk work better with newer versions of Windows.  Maybe not, though.  

(2) New thoughts which might be related to the meat of the issue (that is, not all the rancor).

17 hours ago, Ælleden said:

I have absolutelly no clue what you guys are talking about, I don't know anything about audio.
It's like asking a random civilian what chemical reaction is happening when a nuclear bomb explodes..
I can't show you what you want me to because I have no clue how to know that and where to look for it.

 As I said earlier I'm on Windows 10 Build 1709

I looked everywhere on my PC for sound related stuff I didn't find anything usefull informations.

I do know that Windows Updates have changed a whole lot that affects Sound (Audio and MIDI) including the Sound Troubleshooter and the Information / Settings / Configuration pages.

For the longest time on my PC Windows Update would spend a lot of time downloading and installing only to fail and then undo the update.  Then one time they changed something with the update installer and pinpointed a specific issue that led me to uninstall something called VirtualBox.  After that I have been getting Windows Updates without issues.

I did lose the use of a legacy PCI Sound Card, but Windows Sound (Audio and MIDI) has been much more stable. 

Hope this helps and everyone can stop with the rancor.  Not blaming anyone at all.  

Edited August 8, 2022 by User 905133
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