Pops and clicks in recordings

[FJ92]

Hello,

I got a new PC about three months ago. To this day I haven't been able to solve pops and clicks that are being printed on my files while recording.

I am running a Scarlett Focusrite 2i4
Windows 7
SSD
16 GB RAM
i7 5820k

Things I have tried:
1. Different USB ports
2. Different USB cable
3. Multiple different Focusrite drivers
4. Every buffer setting on both the device and Pro Tools
5. SSD health
6. Other hardware health
7. Reinstalling Pro Tools
8. Trashing preferences

I'm at the end of my rope. My older, weaker PC never had an issue with the same OS, Pro Tools version and interface. I'm rather clueless by now. I've tried every solution on the first page of Google and called both Focusrite and Avid, who weren't able to help.

[JFreak]

Pops and clicks are usually indication of an interface clocking problem

[FJ92]

Originally Posted by JFreak

Pops and clicks are usually indication of an interface clocking problem

How would I go about fixing this?
As far as I understand, the Focusrite only runs off an internal clock. I saw some guides of people using Digidesign 003s and they had some extra options in their PT menus that I don't have in terms of clocking.

[JFreak]

New driver version?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[FJ92]

Originally Posted by JFreak

New driver version?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Both the newest driver and the beta driver don't change anything, unfortunately.

[Darryl Ramm]

What sample rate is the session at?

In Pro Tools playback engine make sure that "ignore" errors is *not* checked. And leave it that way and see if any AAE crashes happen.

Saying things like "SSD" does not say much useful. Do what is really expected here and post a SiSoft Sandra report (start at the "help us help you" link up the top of each DUC web page). You are unlikely to get much useful help until there is a Sandra report posted, make that your first priority.

Run that report with all disk drives attached.

Once you have that report indicate on which of the reported disk partitions contain the audio/session files and which ones contain your VI samples.

What exact version of Pro Tools 11 11.?.? Pro Tools 11 HD?

Double check **every** systems optimization has been done. Every last thing, no matter how annoying, disabling USB power management, disable WiFi, Bluetooth, Ethernet etc. Remove all unneeded USB and other peripherals, etc. at least until you get the system stable.

What other standard troubleshooting steps have you done? I don't see many of those things listed in your posts. things like Temp. remove all their party plugins? etc. clearly say exactly each thing that you have tried.

Still stuck, if your PC sound card supports ASIO then try using that as the playback engine. If it does not support ASIO then install ASIO4ALL and try using that as the playback engine. The goal is just to test with any other interface than the Focusrite.

[FJ92]

All sessions are at 24, 48.
Playback engine is not ignoring errors.
http://imgur.com/oSh8g5A <- Sandra report. I screenshotted both halves and put the together in Paint...

Everything is running on C
PT 11.3 (the newest version) native
The only things plugged in are my mouse, keyboard, interface and iLok when I try to record.

I'll give ASIO a try.

[Darryl Ramm]

I'm not going to try to pick through that hard to read "Sandra report". You need to read the instructions and post a Sandra report as instructed exactly there. Copy and paste text here, not a screenshot. It's all very clear in the instructions you are not following. Again "help us help you" up top of this page.

Search on DUC for the many thousands of previous Sandra reports, you need to post the same as that.

"Everything is running on C": You need a dedicated audio/session drive. Avid support did not go over this with you? Really?

You need to get a dedicated audio/session drive. This may not be causing your current problem, but you *have* to get this system set up half decent as a part of any troubleshooting. When you post a legible Sandra report it will be clearer what drives to recommend... but if you have internal space/a spare SATA connection then another Samsung 840 Evo would be a good choice.

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by FJ92

Everything is running on C

Major or minor?

Sorry, I'm just having a late night preparing a backing track for my wife's grandma funerals

[FJ92]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

I'm not going to try to pick through that hard to read "Sandra report". You need to read the instructions and post a Sandra report as instructed exactly there. Copy and paste text here, not a screenshot. It's all very clear in the instructions you are not following. Again "help us help you" up top of this page.

Search on DUC for the many thousands of previous Sandra reports, you need to post the same as that.

"Everything is running on C": You need a dedicated audio/session drive. Avid support did not go over this with you? Really?

You need to get a dedicated audio/session drive. This may not be causing your current problem, but you *have* to get this system set up half decent as a part of any troubleshooting. When you post a legible Sandra report it will be clearer what drives to recommend.

I've tried running it off an external SSD and the drive but it didn't change anything. I've never had a problem running sessions off of the same drive before on any previous computers or laptops so I don't think that this is the issue. I ran a diagnoses of all my drives yesterday and they were all healthy as well.

ASIO plays back Pro Tools but there is no sound. The problem persists with any sample rate.

Got the Sandra properly this time:

SiSoftware Sandra

ID
Host Name : Felix-PC
Workgroup : WORKGROUP

Computer
Model : MSI MS-7885
Serial Number : To be fille***********
Chassis : MSI Desktop
Mainboard : MSI X99A SLI PLUS(MS-7885)
Serial Number : To be fille***********
BIOS : AMI (OEM) 1.80 03/20/2015
Intel vPro : 9.01.25.1005
Total Memory : 15.9GB DIMM DDR3 DDR4

Processors
Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-5820K CPU @ 3.30GHz (6C 12T 3.4GHz/3.6GHz, 3.4GHz IMC, 6x 256kB L2, 15MB L3)
Socket/Slot : FC LGA2011

Chipset
Memory Controller : MSI Xeon (Haswell-E) DMI2 100MHz
Memory Controller : Intel Xeon (Haswell-E) Integrated Memory Controller 0 Target Address, Thermal & RAS Registers 100MHz, 16GB DIMM DDR3 DDR4 2.13GHz 64-bit
Memory Controller : Intel Xeon (Haswell-E) Integrated Memory Controller 1 Target Address, Thermal & RAS Registers 100MHz

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Corsair CMK16GX4M2A2400C14 8GB DDR4 PC4-19200U DDR4-2400 (15-15-15-37 4-52-17-6)
Memory Module : Corsair CMK16GX4M2A2400C14 8GB DDR4 PC4-19200U DDR4-2400 (15-15-15-37 4-52-17-6)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : ACR XB270HU
(2560x1440, 27.2")
Monitor/Panel : Samsung S24D391
(1920x1080, 23.5")
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (13CU 1664SP SM5.0 1.18GHz/1.52GHz, 1.8MB L2, 4GB 7GHz 256-bit, PCIe 3.00 x16)
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (13CU 1664SP SM5.0 1.18GHz/1.52GHz, 1.8MB L2, 4GB 6GHz/7GHz 256-bit, PCIe 3.00 x16)

Graphics Processor
CUDA GP Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (1664SP 13C 1.18GHz/1.52GHz, 1.8MB L2, 4GB 6GHz/7GHz 256-bit)
OpenCL GP Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (1664SP 13C 1.18GHz/1.52GHz, 208kB L2, 4GB 6GHz/7GHz 256-bit)
Compute Shader Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (1664SP 13C 1.18GHz/1.52GHz, 1.8MB L2, 4GB 6GHz/7GHz 256-bit)
OpenGL Processor : GeForce GTX 970/PCIe/SSE2 (4GB)
OpenGL Processor : GeForce GTX 970/PCIe/SSE2 (4GB)

Storage Devices
Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB (500.1GB, SATA600, SSD, SED) : 466GB (C:)
Seagate ST3000DM001-1ER166 (3TB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm) : 3TB (D:)

Logical Storage Devices
System Reserved : 100MB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB (500.1GB, SATA600, SSD, SED)
BFD (D:) : 3TB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Seagate ST3000DM001-1ER166 (3TB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm)
Hard Disk (C:) : 466GB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB (500.1GB, SATA600, SSD, SED)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : MSI Wellsburg LPC Controller
Audio Device : MSI Wellsburg HD Audio Controller
Audio Codec : Realtek Semi High Definition Audio
Audio Device : Gigabyte GM204 High Definition Audio Controller
Audio Codec : nVidia nForce4 Intel Edition CPU to PCI Bridge
Disk Controller : MSI Wellsburg 6-Port SATA Controller [AHCI mode]
USB Controller 1 : MSI Wellsburg USB xHCI Host Controller
USB Controller 2 : MSI Wellsburg USB Enhanced Host Controller #2
USB Controller 3 : MSI Wellsburg USB Enhanced Host Controller #1
USB Controller 4 : MSI VL805 USB 3.0 Host Controller
USB Controller 5 : MSI ASM1142 USB 3.1 Host Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel ICH SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller 2 : Intel SNB/IVB/HSW-E XMB Ch 0 SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller 3 : Intel SNB/IVB/HSW-E XMB Ch 1 SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Intel(R) Ethernet Connection (2) I218-V (Ethernet)
Wireless Adapter : NETGEAR WNA3100M N300 Wireless Mini USB Adapter (802.11g (ERP), AES-CCMP, 130Mbps)

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 6.01.7601 (Service Pack 1)
Platform Compliance : x64


edit: I also upgraded to the newest Focusrite beta driver and tried that again. It worked fine for one minute and then got worse again.
edit 2: Eureka: it works on my sister's HD. I don't know what that means but I can record what I need for now.

Thanks for being patient with me :)