Cracking Noise During Playback

[openoyster]

Hello everyone... I am new to this board... and to Pro Tools in general. Here's my problem:

I am using a POD X3 to record guitar tracks to Pro Tools via an Mbox 2. After I lay down a few tracks of distorted electric guitar, I start hearing a cracking noise during playback. But here's the thing... the noise goes away when I solo the individual tracks. It only appears when I listen to all of the tracks play back at once.

I went through the manual and performed all of the things listed under "How to optimize for a Mac." Also, since I am using a SPDIF cable to connect the POD to the Mbox, I made sure to set the clock to "SPDIF" when I record and switch back to "internal" when I play back through the monitors connected to the Mbox.

I've tried adjusting my buffer times and such during playback, but that doesn't help. Also, I'm not using any plug-ins right now on the guitar tracks... all of the effects processing is being done on the POD. Another thing... just looking at the waveform, there are no visual spikes or anything that would suggest clipping.

Thanks for any help you can offer!!


PS: Here's what my chain looks like right now:

Guitar>>>POD X3>>>Mbox 2>>>Mackie MR5 Monitors

I am running Pro Tools LE version 7.4.2 on a 2.4 ghz iMac with 4gb RAM

[OddsAre]

create a Master fader and see if you are clipping the master. When you drop the volumes down on the individual tracks does it go away? Is it a constant crackling, or a once in a while quick crackle?

[openoyster]

Wow.. thanks for the quick response.

Like I said... I'm new to this and did not have a master fader track. Once I added one, I could see how the sum of all the tracks was making the master volume clip. So... after lowering the individual tracks... the cracking went away.

Thanks!

[OddsAre]

no problem, glad it helped. The Master Fader is a wonderful thing! Think about if you would have 48 tracks stacked up. It adds up quick. That's why it is good practice to keep your recording levels down going into Pro Tools. With 24 bit resolution you can afford to keep your inputs lower and still benefit from the low noise floor. A good place to have your input meters on a given track would be about half way up. Don't buy into the "gotta go as hot as possible without clipping" garbage.

Here is a good read from a post earlier today about gain structure and how analog gear relates to the digital world of Pro Tools. I know you are running the POD into Pro Tools digitally using S/PDIF so that is slightly different and the POD is setup to output hotter. The stuff in this post is more about using external analog mic pres.

http://duc.digidesign.com/showflat.p...part=1#1296172


Good luck to you.

[scarface]

Hey guys, i've recently started using pro tools again after some years of... well getting some other poor person to record my music. i bought myself an mbox 1 running on my laptop(sony vaio core2 duo 3gb ram if this info helps) with windows vista. when recording straight into the mbox it sound fine on a pre record listen but playing back it becomes distorted and crackles! any help on this would be appreciated>

Thanks guys.

[rockerazo]

I have a similar problem, I have a Mac Pro 13 inch laptop >>PT 7.4 No problems in Mac , and no problems with the other programs in Windows (yes now you can open windows in a Mac) ===BUT!! everytime I play any sound file in PT 7.4 i hear this crackling noise ( I use a USB M-Audio Premobile sound card) i already tried all the upgrades from the M-Audio page, i unchecked already the RTA checking from the playback engine and nothing seems to work????
Can anybody help me out here pleaseee!! :-( It is very frustating that I can not use my pro Tools in Windows :-(