Pops and Clicks

I’ve been fighting with pops and clicks in my audio for a long time. It’s not just in Ableton but everywhere in Windows. Figuring it was a problem with my soundcard I replaced it a few weeks ago and that didn’t fix it (Asus Xonar). Then I upgraded my computer back when I thought it was an ableton problem and it not having enough juice so now my computer is as follows: AMD FX4100 @ 3.6GHz; 8gb; 5.25tb (3tb, 1.5tb, 750gb); Xonar sound card, etc.br
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I got an APC40 for my birthday but that’s only adding more delay and issues into the mix, so today I got a Scarlett 2i2 and I’m still getting pops and clicks. Next up is a new headset and mic but I’m pretty sure that my wife will kill me if I come home with anything else. br
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Any thoughts on troubleshooting that I may have missed? I ran it in ASIO and the pops were still there. They’re getting amplified so I’m pretty sure it’s not a bad cable. br
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Should I remove the internal PCI sound card (Xonar)? I would have done it before but I have web meetings at night and I need to use my headset mic and I don’t know how to setup the 2i2 to receive a signal from it. I’m not sure I can. br
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Since I’m here you know that I’ve run out of options and now I’m turning to people I trust.

Have you ever tried attaching another computer to your setup?br
That could rule out the computer. You’ve changed the soundcard, so that won’t be the cause.

Given that I’ve replaced everything in my computer (motherboard, cpu, ram, etc) I’m starting to think it’s a configuration problem. Does anyone have a process for setting driver latency to remove audio artifacts?

I reverted back to the old version of the USB driver from Focusrite and it stopped my system from locking up in Ableton. I played with it a bit and it seems to be helping quite a bit.

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The whole system is on a UPS so I know it’s getting clean power.

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Sorry dude, just read through this. I personally would take all non essential items out the PC, run it off the internal sound card. If that’s fine start systematically adding components back into the system one by one until the issue reappears. br
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If the problem is there when you are running barbone (minimum coponents needed to run [ram, motherboard,hdd, power supply, cpu]) then update your BIOS for the motherboard and check all connections throughout the case/components.br
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Stu

I think your best bet is to contact support with your sound card manufacturer (ideally over the phone when you are in front of your computer).

I have a ticket open with Focusrite now. I’m still waiting to hear from them to see what they’ll have me do.

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I have a really good powered USB hub (dlink) that I was using but my APC40 wasn’t even picking up on that so I pulled it out of the mix right away. As it stands now I’m going straight from the 2i2 to the USB connection on back of the motherboard. The board is up to date on all drivers and BIOS. I was having a lot of trouble with my APC40 and the 2i2 not working together in Ableton but after I reverted from the latest driver from Focusrite to the driver from the disc that came in the box (2.4 is the latest, 2.1 is what I’m running now) it started working again. br
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I still get hesitation and pops in normal audio playback, even in Windows. br
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Maybe the USB bus? br
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Anyone have Focusrite USB drivers in the 2.2-2.3 range?

[quote]Rob… (11/03/2013)[hr]It could be the sound card driver software or if your using a USB hub that could be causing the problem and you may have to connect the cable directly to your computer.br
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I had a problem with my driver software and I uninstalled the driver and connected the cable directly to my mac and the problem went away with no driver installed on the mac.br
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The problem I was having was drops in connection and from time to time a horrible distortion noise.[/quote]br
Just yanked their driver - let’s see what happens!

Yanking the driver didn’t help. The guys at Focusrite just got back to me - and apologized for taking so long. They gave me a link to the beta drivers to see if that helps me at all. If anyone else needs them, they can find the link here:br
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[url=http://beta.focusrite.com/]http://beta.focusrite.com/[/url]

That was short lived. Loaded new driver, got into Ableton for 5 minutes while working on a track and it locked up. No audio and the APC40 disappeared.

On ASIO4ALL 2.11 driver now with the same issue. br
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Let’s see what they say to that.

I’m starting to think I’m blogging this on this forum for my own benefit. lolbr
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Here’s my last reply to them:br

[quote]I’ve tried both the 2.4b3 and 2.4b4 drivers with the same result.br
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Let me sum up here:br
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Issues:br
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Audio output is “static-y” and hesitates. The static sound is like when you have a bad cable and you move it, or when you have a bad potentiometer and you turn it. I get these same sounds out of my monitors and the headphones.br
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Lockup in Ableton 8.4:br
The system hard locks while playing music until I change the audio driver to something else. br
ASIO4All 2.10 and 2.11 still have the same audio issues.br
When it locks up, nothing on the USB bus works until I change the audio driver.br
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Things I’ve tried:br
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Drivers: br
Focusrite 2.1, 2.4, 2.4b2, 2.4b3 (2.1 seemed to do alright as far as stability goes - I didn’t get the lockups in Ableton), br
ASIO4ALL 2.10 hard locks the system until I swap to the Focusrite driverbr
ASIO4ALL 2.11 works but I still get the audio artifacts and it eventually locks up as well.br
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Setup changes tried:br
2i2 through powered USB hub (dlink)br
2i2 direct to motherboard with APC40 plugged into systembr
2i2 direct to motherboard without APC40 plugged into systembr
2i2 connected using supplied cablebr
2i2 connected using the cable that came with my Akai MPK61br
2i2 connected using the cable that came with my Akai APC40br
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My setup:br
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-78LMT-S2Pbr
CPU: AMD FX-4100 quad core 3.6ghzbr
RAM: 2x 4gbbr
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This is a brand new 2i2 which I purchased on 3/5. Do you think it may be a bad device? [/quote]

Still no reply from them. br
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In testing around my house, here is what I was able to find:br
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Both my wife’s laptop and my computer have the same OS so that gave me a fairly stable platform with which to test this out. br
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  1. On her laptop, the sound card works fine when playing music through Internet Explorer, but not on Chrome. Turns out there is a known issue in Chrome when it plays music. I had been using Soundcloud as my base because it was a simple audio stream to see if there were still issues. Note for this is found here: [url=https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=171651]https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=171651[/url]. The point, however, is that once I play audio in IE, the issue stops. No more hesitation, static pops, or anything - clear as crystal.br
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  2. Plugged it back in on my computer, set it up the same way and still had trouble in IE. That leaves my USB bus as the problem so I’m going to get a USB 3.0 card in an hour or so during lunch to see if that helps.

Any updates yet mate?br
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Also have you tried it off the in built soundcard?

Okay, so, wow. Here’s what I did last night.br
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New USB card didn’t work. In fact, it caused even more problems. So that’s out. Gonna return it today around lunch time.br
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Since yesterday was my last day of being in the 14-day return window I ran to Guitar Center and returned the existing 2i2 and upgraded to the 2i4 that I wanted. I figured that, if nothing else, it was a new unit and a new usb cable so that would be a good test.br
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Got home, plugged it in and bam! Same issue. br
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So I start going through all the same checks as before and I see a new update from Focusrite. He says that I should do the stuff I’ve already done but to test this thing called the “DPC Latency”. I have no idea what it is. Anyway, I go to the link and download the app (link here). In the video on their page it explains that you have to go into device manager and start disabling stuff if you see it turn yellow or red. Mine was mostly yellow, even at idle. So I start disabling stuff. I disable the HDMI audio, network card, usb connections, everything - same issue. I then go and disable all of the visual stuff that makes Win7 pretty. Same issue. Now that I have a tool to see the issue, though, it helps a lot. At 12:30 AM I call it a night.br
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Wake up at 0730 and get back to work. With my screwdriver in hand I start disconnecting stuff on my motherboard. I rip out the USB/SD card reader, reboot - same issue. Okay, that’s back in, then I rip out the other internal USB hub - reboot, same issue. Huh. Okay, then I put that back in and remove the video card (I have an integrated video card as well), let it reboot a few times to handle the new video card and, look at that! SAME ISSUE! So now I’m just getting frustrated - I start watching the DPC checker like a hawk and I start killing running processes on my computer. No matter what I kill, the issue is still there, until, however, I hit this thing called the Gigabyte EasyTune. See, it’s a thing for my motherboard allowing me to make changes to it while it’s running. Never use it. Once I disable it though, everything turns green. No more yellow spikes in the app, nothing. br
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Okay, uninstall that, put in my old video card, and set everything back like it was before. Pretty Win7, same settings on everything as it was before. Still green. Okay… Now let’s fire up Ableton. br
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Still green.br
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Better than that, still green and my APC40 works. Okay, bring up my last set (24 tracks, lots of effects, etc) - still green! Before, if it would work, it would do so for only 3-5 minutes. I’ve been in Ableton, with no audio issues at all, for the last 50 minutes. Everything is working well.br
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My brain hurts. br
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That said, it’s breakfast time!