Strange buzzing, help please!
 

Hi guys, I'm finding bugs in my new system, has anyone else encountered a "buzzing" noise whilst trying to record?

Warming up on my guitar to record, so I have the track armed, it'll be fine, but every now and then the signal will start to buzz/distort. The only way to get rid of it is to restart pro tools, some times it'll stay away for the session, but other times it'll start again within 5 minutes. Can anyone advise please?

Running PT 8 LE, Mbox Mini 2, Windows 8.1

Re: Strange buzzing, help please!
 

Help us Help You - READ THIS Before Posting!
Have a read there and then consider that you are using an unsupported OS/PT combo, not to mention possible hardware issues galore. Also, buzzing can be induced into a cheap USB cable, or into the guitar cable. If its a laptop, pull the AC adapter and see if that makes any difference too.

Re: Strange buzzing, help please!
 

As albee1952 said. Also listen for outside noise when it begins to buzz. It happens to me sometimes. I live in an old building with old wiring.

[emoji332]

Re: Strange buzzing, help please!
 

(Sandra below)

So far, I've tried changing up the sample rate/processors in the Playback options, it seemed to be working at first (disabled the ignore errors tab got rid of some pops and clicks) But coming back to it today with a fresh head, I decided to have EZD2 just play a couple of loops to see if it was after a certain length of time this buzz would come in.

Now playing through again sounds fine at the start then a few bars in the only way I can describe so that it makes sense the sound goes from normal clear cutting to almost an 8bit"esque" sound.

I did try unplugging this laptops charger, but it did not make a difference. I'm sure it's something in the settings I've missed or when I upgraded to 8.0.5 (was on 8.0.1 on my old system) something has gone wrong.



SiSoftware Sandra

ID
Host Name : Laptop
Workgroup : WORKGROUP

Computer
Model : Acer Aspire E5-571 SharkBay System
Serial Number : NXMLTEK0264***********
Chassis : Acer Notebook
Mainboard : Acer EA50_HB
Serial Number : NBV9M110014***********
BIOS : Insyde V1.13 09/04/2014
Total Memory : 12GB DDR3 SO-DIMM

Processors
Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-4005U CPU @ 1.70GHz (2C 4T 1.7GHz, 1.7GHz IMC, 2x 256kB L2, 3MB L3)
Socket/Slot : FC BGA1168

Chipset
Memory Controller : Acer Core (Haswell ULT) DRAM Controller 100MHz, 2x 6GB DDR3 SO-DIMM 1.6GHz 128-bit, Integrated Graphics

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Kingston ACR16D3LS1KFG8G 8GB DDR3 SO-DIMM PC3-12800SO DDR3-1600 (11-11-11-29 5-40-13-6)
Memory Module : Samsung M471B5173DB0-YK0 4GB DDR3 SO-DIMM PC3-12800SO DDR3-1600 (11-11-11-29 5-40-13-6)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : ChiMei Generic PnP Monitor (1600x1200, N156BGE-E41
, 15.3")
Video Adapter : Intel(R) HD Graphics Family (20CU 160SP SM5.0 950MHz, 1.4GB DDR3 1.6GHz 128-bit, Integrated Graphics)

Graphics Processor
OpenCL GP Processor : Intel(R) HD Graphics Family (160SP 20C 950MHz, 1.4GB DDR3 1.6GHz 128-bit, Integrated Graphics)
Compute Shader Processor : Intel(R) HD Graphics Family (160SP 20C 950MHz, 1.8GB DDR3 1.6GHz 128-bit, Integrated Graphics)

Storage Devices
WDC WD10JPVX-22JC3T0 (1TB, SATA600, 5400rpm, 8MB Cache) : 932GB (C:)
Seagate ST1000LM025 HN-M101ABB (1TB, USB3/SATA300, 2.5", 5400rpm, 16MB Cache) : 932GB (F:)
MAT[bleep][bleep][bleep][bleep]A DVD-RAM UJ8HC (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW) : N/A (D:)

Logical Storage Devices
Acer (C:) : 915GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD10JPVX-22JC3T0 (1TB, SATA600, 5400rpm, 8MB Cache)
SAMSUNG (F:) : 932GB (NTFS) @ Seagate ST1000LM025 HN-M101ABB (1TB, USB3/SATA300, 2.5", 5400rpm, 16MB Cache)
Recovery : 600MB (NTFS)
Push Button Reset : 16GB (NTFS)
Optical Drive (D:) : N/A @ MAT[bleep][bleep][bleep][bleep]A DVD-RAM UJ8HC (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : Acer Lynx Point-LP LPC Controller
Audio Device : Acer Lynx Point-LP HD Audio Controller
Audio Codec : Realtek Semi 0283
Disk Controller : Acer Lynx Point-LP SATA Controller 1 [AHCI mode]
USB Controller 1 : Acer Lynx Point-LP USB xHCI HC
USB Controller 2 : Acer Lynx Point-LP USB EHCI #1
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel ICH SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer v4 (600x600, Colour)
Printer : HP Photosmart 5520 series (600x600, Colour)
Printer : HP Photosmart 5520 series Class Driver (600x600, Colour)
Printer : Foxit PhantomPDF Printer Driver (300x300, Colour)
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)

Scanners and Cameras
Scanner : Microsoft HPFD435D (HP Photosmart 5520 series) (Scanner, USB)

Peripherals
Media Player : Samsung M3 Portable (931.51GB)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller (Ethernet)
Wireless Adapter : Broadcom 802.11n Network Adapter (802.11n (HT), AES-CCMP, 72Mbps)

Power Management
Battery No 1 : SANYO 0x32334134314C41 55.94Wh/4.33Ah

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 8.1 Home 6.03.9600
Platform Compliance : x64

Windows Experience Index
Current System : 5.3

Re: Strange buzzing, help please!
 

Just to add to this, I think I've just solved the problem, I've dropped my processors down from 4 to 2 (same as my last system) and moved my h/w buffer size to 512.

Been playing for a little bit set up with EZD2 running with playing and recording my guitar over the top, and it doesn't seem to be buzzing anymore. If this fails though I will update!

Re: Strange buzzing, help please!
 

You will be lucky to get any decent performance out of this computer. Here are some details that are NOT part of a supported Pro Tools computer:
intel i3 cpu(its a "budget" processor where you need a "power" processor)

Integrated graphics(used to be a complete "show stopper" for Pro Tools. Maybe not so bad today, but still...)

Mis-matched RAM sticks(I am a firm believer in identical sticks, as in same brand, same model, same part number)

5400 rpm drives(you CAN use a 5400 rpm drive for system, aka Drive C:, but session need to be recorded to a 7200 rpm or faster, or a fast SSD drive)

So, at the very least, get a fast drive for your sessions and cross your fingers:o

Re: Strange buzzing, help please!
 

This, maybe a dumb question, but I'll ask anyhow, is it possible to upgrade these parts mentioned in your post? The memory is expandable to 16gb too so if I got hold of two matching I should be able to upgrade that, but so far as the processor goes is it possible to upgrade that on a laptop?

Thanks :)

Re: Strange buzzing, help please!
 

You can probably get by with it in my opinion. You're going to be stuck with the graphics, nothing you can really do there. But you could buy another 8GB stick that matches the 8GB RAM you have already, and get an external 7200rpm drive for your recording drive.

I'd think the buzzing noise is probably more to do with a ground problem, but since it is intermittent probably not.

Joel