Computer help...

[Kool Dude]

Hey! I'm new here, and I'm lookin' forward to bein' apart of the community!

So my first post is going to deal with my computer.

I'm not a professional audio engineer or anything, although I would love to go to school for it! But, I have a problem.

For years now, I have been using the GuitarPort to do all my recording. Well, thats fine and all, but when I take all my tracks, apply all the effects, (Compression, EQ, Reverb, etc...) my computer screws up on playback. It doesn't freeze or anything but I get some insane pops, clicks, and what not. It's really annoying because I can't listen to the final mix!

I have most of my stuff stored onto an external harddrive, and I bought the computer from Guitar Center, so it was made for music, no?

I usually have my GuitarPort set as my main Audio Device, but I think Windows Classic Wave Driver managed to play through more of the song before going insane with pops and clicks. I tried everything at various buffer sizes and I'm not sure what to do anymore.

Is it really my computer? I got it early this year, so it's not that old.
Do I need more RAM?
Do I need a new Sound Card?

I've been trying to figure out what to do and I came across Audio Interface's.
I'm not quite sure what they are, really. Are they just like the GuitarPort?
And if so, is it possible for me to use a more professional Audio Interface as my main Audio Device and would that help any?


*Sigh*
It sucks recording a song and the only way to hear it is to export it as an mp3there's got to be something I can do right?

My computer:
Dell Inspiron 531
Vista Home premium 32-bit
AMD Athlon 64x2 Dual Core Processor 5000 + (2CPU's), ~2.6GHz
2046MB RAM


I'm also using Acid Pro 7 for the mixing.

I'm lookin' forward to hearin' your guys' advice! I really need some help, this is very irratating!

THANKS!

 

[mick thompson]

first things first have you tried a driver update? if not then do one now!

if you have then try uninstalling your hardware & software for your interface and do a fresh install - make sure after you un-install you set your default sound card as the on motherboard one.

if that doesn't work let us know and we'll try address the problem

ps: welcome to the forums Kool Dude - Hope to see more of you here!

 

[narcossintese]

The pops and clicks are usually related to overload on the processor. First make sure you´re using an ASIO driver on your DAW. I´ve never used a GuitarPort but I´m sure it has an ASIO driver. Then try to set the buffer size to 512 or even 1024. It should work.

 

[mick thompson]

The pops and clicks are usually related to overload on the processor. First make sure you´re using an ASIO driver on your DAW. I´ve never used a GuitarPort but I´m sure it has an ASIO driver. Then try to set the buffer size to 512 or even 1024. It should work.

on that note cpu load can be due to a shit processor, lack of ram, slow hdd, driver errors, soundcard errors, bad processes running, spyware, virus's, malware, indexing etc - virtually everything

EDIT: Kool Dude - if you could take a screen shot of your processes manager on it would be helpful to see what you have running and what the cpu cycles are ranging at

 

[narcossintese]

on that note cpu load can be due to a shit processor, lack of ram, slow hdd, driver errors, soundcard errors, bad processes running, spyware, virus's, malware, indexing etc - virtually everything

Yep. But he mentioned that he got a

AMD Athlon 64x2 Dual Core Processor 5000 + (2CPU's), ~2.6GHz
2046MB RAM

It´s more than enough CPU and RAM power.
I really think the problem is on the audio driver + buffer size. Try using the ASIO and 512 (or even 1024) buffer. If the problem persists my suggestion is reinstall the driver. If it still doesn´t work, format de computer.

You may also check if your CPU is overheating.

 

[mick thompson]

Yep. But he mentioned that he got a

AMD Athlon 64x2 Dual Core Processor 5000 + (2CPU's), ~2.6GHz
2046MB RAM

it can still happen dude, i've got a code 2 duo and 4gigs of ram and when OSX is indexing you may as well leave the room because its sluggish as hell. in his case if its not indexing it could be due to something else like a system backup or some other app running in the background

chances are he doesn't have his computer dedicated to audio production and is using it for other stuff like IM, image editing, video editing, web use, gaming etc - all that stuff on the machine can cause havoc on the registry and on what processes are running - maybe its loaded up with spyware and other junk like that

anyway doesn't matter, we'll see whats up when he posts back

 

[Josh Burgess]

CPU might very well be overheating if something is wrong..... possibly a fan not working anymore. Taking the side of the computer off may allow it to breathe more and you can see if it stops..... although CPU overheating would cause severe CPU spikes and you'd be noticing major slow down other than just pops and clicks.

Also, 2 gigs of RAM isn't all that much on Vista. another gig or two would help a lot, and RAM is very cheap now.

Also, I don't think this will solve any problems for you, but do yourself a favor: Ditch Sony Acid Pro and download Reaper.

It's most likely a driver issue with guitarport, but your external hard drive might be slow also....

really, it could be a number of things

 

[mick thompson]

screen shot of processes = win.. so we can see what your computer is doing

 

[Jind]

Yep. But he mentioned that he got a

AMD Athlon 64x2 Dual Core Processor 5000 + (2CPU's), ~2.6GHz
2046MB RAM

I used that exact same processor with a GuitarPort interface for quite some time. Be sure to check your ASIO control panel and look at your ToneDirect Monitoring settings - it looks like a slider with settings for Extra Small/Medium/Extra Large USB Audio Streaming sizes - play around with that setting and see if it gets rid of your pops and clicks. On another tab in the ASIO control panel you should be able to adjust the buffer settings as noted in another post.

I have not used my GuitarPort in quite some time - it's still attached as a dongle for my PODFarm/Gearbox plugin, but I don't use it to record through anymore.

 

[Jind]

You could also download DPC Latency Checker and see if you are getting ok reading with it. It is a tool to help pinpoint possible audio problems. While it will not tell you the exact culprit, you can use it while disabling or changing things to see if they improve the situation. You are looking to get all Green readings with very few significant spikes. Spike indicate issues and can be the result of configuration issues with things like network cards, CD drivers, all sorts of other things.

 

[Kool Dude]

Whoa so many comments and so much help!
Thanks everybody.

Yes, I do have more than just audio programs on my computer, but those are all on my external hard drive.
I hardly ever turn my computer off to let it rest, so I probably need to clean it out as well so I can get the dust and all that junk out.

And yeah I have reaper, I'm just so use to the Acid interface, and i don't like reaper all that because of that XD
But I did notice that Reaper can handle way more VSTis than Acid could, so I'm sure it's just way better overall!

Okay, so I set my GuitarPort as my main audio device, yes it's ASIO...
Tried the buffer size at 512, with the ToneDirect monitoring at Medium, with the Track Buffer in Acid enabled as well!

(The smaller the ToneDirect Monitoring, the more CPU it uses...)

It made it through the intro, but... yeah it started doing the pops and clicks.

I then tried it with the ToneDirect Monitoring at EXTRA LARGE... same thing.

tried the buffer size at 1028... it didnt even play through all the intro. Stopped halfway and then when the rest of the music came in it played, but with constant pops and clicks. and the DirectTone Monitoring was at medium...

then I tried it at Extra Large... and... it did the exact same thing.

And I'll upload a picture of everything I have running... some of it I don't know what it is so I'm always afriad of closing it

Also, the Drivers for my GuitarPort are up to date.