Can't get rid of damn clicks!

eliam · Post by **eliam** » Sun Jan 20, 2002 10:23 pm

My set up:
A7M 266 Motherboard
1.2 Ghz athlon CPU
512 meg ddr

When I use my sts 3000 I encounter clicks (some which make my VU peak in the red!). I don't think this is normal and I'm trying to fix it by tweaking my system with the help of Subhuman. With no results thus far.

Is anyone experiencing this problem? Some advice would be appreciated, 'cause I plan serious production and concerts with my pc...

Thanks

at0m · Post by **at0m** » Sun Jan 20, 2002 11:41 pm

Randomly, like boot per boot, I seem to get periodical clicks (about every 4 seconds one click or so). Still a mistery on how they get there. I notice big fluctuations in VST-meter too.

[ This Message was edited by: atomic on 2002-02-10 16:39 ]

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Mon Jan 21, 2002 10:15 am

Can you record this to a .WAV file so I can hear the clicks? This might help to determine what kind of clicks they are - how many voices do you have activated on the STS, and does lowering the number of voices help?

thorkell · Post by **thorkell** » Mon Jan 21, 2002 3:02 pm

I have the same problem when playing sounds in my sts3000 and recording them (direct playing). Pop's and click's do happen whith irregular intervals in the recordings. I have PIII 900, Intel 815i Mobo. Could this be something with the Asio setup / sync vs. Nuendo/Cubase?

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Mon Jan 21, 2002 3:31 pm

Well this is a digital system, so if you don't have reliable digital clock (ie: slaving Pulsar to a dodgy digital mixer, have power fluctuations caused by a refrigerator on the same circuit, etc), then you will get clicks. Most clicks/pops come from
1. Digital clock sync issues
2. DMA/driver for disks issues
3. PCI bus overflow issues (only a problem generally with VIA North Bridge chipsets, so i815 and AMD760 won't be causing this)
4. Background programs/services (task schedulers, instant messangers, realplayer, etc).

[ This Message was edited by: subhuman on 2002-01-21 15:32 ]

gemboy · Post by **gemboy** » Mon Jan 21, 2002 5:52 pm

Solution???

eliam · Post by **eliam** » Tue Jan 22, 2002 8:49 pm

I can have only a piano(on my sts) and a reverb loaded, I still hear clicks, and even with no reverb at all... I can't say that it's worse with heavier polyphony; it seems to be the same...

I also acquired a battery back-up, but it did not solve the problem. I'm trying to work it out with the very appreciated help of Subhuman, who publishes an optimization guide, which you can find at infinitevortetex' site.

Anyway, once it's sorted out, I'll let you know...

LHong · Post by **LHong** » Tue Jan 22, 2002 9:11 pm

Try ULLI setting about 13ms@44.1khz
Also change the latency setting on Seq-MIDI-Audio Program as well. What's happen if you play Ext-keyboard controller? Just isolating the problem. One more thing is that to make sure the correct Vcache setting in system.ini file, refer to user manual.
Good luck,
Long

at0m · Post by **at0m** » Tue Jan 22, 2002 11:40 pm

This topic's about Pulsar timing.

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Wed Jan 23, 2002 9:09 am

I have 3 other possibilities:

1. It could actually be the sample data - the actual waveforms themselves could have clicks in them. You can test this by checking if the clicks only occur during a certain keymap range, or a certain velocity on a certain key. Looking at the wave form up close, you would see a sharp transient.

2. Fast Digital Envelope settings. What is your envelope's attack time set to? An attack time of 0ms can cause a sharp transient which results in a click - raising the attack to ie: 3 or 4 will soften this. If your sound loses any punch you can use SPL Attacker/Transient Designer or Logic's envelope plugin to get it back.

3. Voice stealing. What kind of polyphony is your MIDI data requiring? If you have really long release times, realize that takes a voice until the note is released, if you are playing a large piece, that can eat polyphony.

There are also 2 places to set voices on the STS series samplers - one "global" voice setting in the Device pulldown at the top, and one per program. Double check both of those.

When you just play a few notes on your keyboard, do you still get clicks?

_________________
<a href=http://infinitevortex.com>Infinite Vortex Audio</a>

[ This Message was edited by: subhuman on 2002-01-23 09:10 ]

eliam · Post by **eliam** » Wed Jan 23, 2002 7:48 pm

My samples are clean, my attacks are slopes, my polyphony is not too loaded...

When I play on my keyboard, I don't think that there are problems. Clicks occur when I have Logic running, even if I have only a piano loaded in my STS.

Seq latency parameters? I'll try this out. We may have something here...

[ This Message was edited by: eliam on 2002-01-23 19:51 ]

gemboy · Post by **gemboy** » Thu Jan 24, 2002 1:00 am

Disable USB port and everything make cyclic control on the port.

borg · Post by **borg** » Fri Jan 25, 2002 3:47 am

i use pulsarII on a mac G3 450Mhz, running cubase 5.1. i've just started experimenting with audio recording, and i encounter more or less the same problems: i played the guitar through A8 convertor into celmo's blues machine , routed it to pulsar mixer (insert: masterverb, monitor out to analog dest), then via bus 1/2 to asio dest 1L/1R. asio inputs in cubase activated. 44,1Hz, 16bit, pulsar master.
when playing everything seems ok, even during recording. when i play back the recording (with asio source 1L/1R connected to a channel in pulsar mixer) i hear these cracks pop up once in a while. they're not on the recorded data, i think (no visible peaks in the wave).
i know electricity is not in mint condition in my place, so i'll start experimenting with that (pull the plug of the fridge,...)
maybe i should use asio2 modules? i'll try a higher latency as well. i hope to do these different set ups tonight and tell you the results later on. in the meantime, it wouldn't hurt to hear your opinion.

alfonso · Post by **alfonso** » Fri Jan 25, 2002 3:02 pm

check also your agp card settings!
disable bus mastering if you find it in the settings, disable any 3d or game related feature. it's very important to save pci bandwidth and memory resources.
ciao, alfonso

pazpatu · Post by **pazpatu** » Wed Jan 30, 2002 10:24 am

Hello,
Think I've found something... :
I also here these "Clicks" on my STS 4000. I'd rather call them "Ptt". I've noticed they are more present on long notes.
In fact, I think it's a problem with loops...
when a sample is assigned at multiple notes (for example, sampled at C3 but played from B2 to C#3), the end of the loop doesn't remain with the same length...
That's why I hear those "ptt" when the loop goes to the start point.
Don't know if I'm clear, but I'd like to find a solution !!

Thanks in advance.

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Wed Jan 30, 2002 10:44 am

Try crossfading the end of the sample, sometimes it's cut poorly which gives a sharp transient at the end of a loop (sudden drop in volume).

Also, make sure you have the polyphony set correct for BOTH the program AND the sampler itself - long notes take a voice until you don't hear them any longer (ie: they take a voice EVEN in the 'release phase')

eliam · Post by **eliam** » Wed Jan 30, 2002 12:22 pm

I know what you mean...

In my case, the clicks seem to appear randomly, and since piano samples aren't looped, this cannot cause noises when only my piano samples are playing...

I don't know what's wrong with my system... but I have to get it fixed very soon, for I cannot make a clean demo of my work for now, and my recordings risk to be spoiled.

pazpatu · Post by **pazpatu** » Wed Jan 30, 2002 12:28 pm

Thanks Sub but the loop is perfect when played at the right pitch. If the sample is "transposed" in the keygroup, looping is not correct...
I would like to find a solution...
A question : when the sample is played higher or deeper than the right pitch, does the loop move inside it?
Thanks in advance

pazpatu · Post by **pazpatu** » Wed Jan 30, 2002 12:32 pm

Eliam,
Are you sure your piano samples are not looped ?
I own a few pianos samples and they are all looped...

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Wed Jan 30, 2002 12:33 pm

eliam - I emailed you asking about your IDE drivers, and what version you had and never heard back - if you're using any OS older than WinME, you definitely need to have the proper chipset/IDE drivers installed or it will really hurt your performance.

Email me back if you want the specifics.