Troubleshooting: buzzy static in playback only, iLok ghosting

[SammyMack]

Hey, folks. I'm running 11.3.1 on a MacBook Pro (2012) with Yosemite 10.10.5.

Some buggy things have been happening the past week and I don't know if they're related. I searched the forum and don't see anything that seems to explain it yet. Looking for diagnosis and suggestions. Here are the symptoms:

-I'm getting a buzzy static in playback while I'm mixing a session. The buzz is not in the original file. And when I bounce the session, the buzz is not present in the final file.

-A couple of times, I've gotten the "Authorization Wire Exception... Couldn't open an iLok due to a USB error" message mid-session. I get just one error box at a time--not the cascade everybody was getting when we had to update the iLok software (which I did already). Unplugging and replugging the iLok helps sometimes, but sometimes I have to reboot.

Do you think these are separate issues? Is my iLok sputtering to an end? Something else?

Thanks,
Sammy

[musicman691]

What audio interface are you running?
Your MBP - USB3 ports? If so those have been known to have issues with iLoks. The usual remedy is to use a powered USB port between the computer and iLok.

[SammyMack]

Thanks for responding so quickly.

By audio interface, do you mean my iLok? It's second gen. And yes, USB3. Bummer.

Any recommendations on powered USB ports? Are all the brands kind of the same?

[Darryl Ramm]

Much more info needed.

And not iLok, what audio interface? i.e. what playback engine do you have selected in Pro Tools. What make/model monitors or headphones do you have connected to that interface?

Does this happen on headphones?

If an aggregate device what exactly is in that aggregate (is Audio Midi Setup)

Post a screenshot of the Pro Tools Setup>Playback Engine dialog.

*Uncheck* "ignore errors" on that dialog screen.

Can you record this noise and post here or try to describe it better. Make sure it's not GSM cell phone interference (search the Web for examples of that).

Is you system fully optimized? have you tried any standard troubleshooting ("help us help you" up the top of every DUC web page). You should not be posting here until you have have checked optimizations, trashed prefs and maybe tried a few other things.

[SammyMack]

Thanks, Darryl, answers to your questions here:

And not iLok, what audio interface? i.e. what playback engine do you have selected in Pro Tools.
--Ah, I see what you mean. Pro Tools Aggregate I/O. Screen shot attached.

What make/model monitors or headphones do you have connected to that interface? Does this happen on headphones?
--Using Sony MDR7506 studio headphones and yes, I hear the sound through them, plugged into the laptop. And it's happened in playback on the built-in speakers on the laptop. The buzz does not occur in the headphones on other machines or with other software.

If an aggregate device what exactly is in that aggregate (is Audio Midi Setup)

Post a screenshot of the Pro Tools Setup>Playback Engine dialog.
--See attached.

*Uncheck* "ignore errors" on that dialog screen.
--Just did. Thanks.

Can you record this noise and post here or try to describe it better.
--It's a constant crackling buzz that sounds like a radio getting a bad signal. I can hear what the voices are saying but the static is like a bad sound floor. I only hear it in playback while I've got a session open for mixing. There is no buzz on anything played back outside of Pro Tools (iTunes, anything through Chrome, preview, etc.). And I can't seem to capture it because anything I bounce out of Pro Tools comes out totally normal without the buzz.

Make sure it's not GSM cell phone interference (search the Web for examples of that).
--It's definitely not cell phone interference. I know what that sounds like and this isn't it. It starts and stops with playback. And it's not in the source soundfile when played outside of Pro Tools. (I record all my sound in the field and import it later--I don't record anything directly into Pro Tools.)

Is you system fully optimized? have you tried any standard troubleshooting ("help us help you" up the top of every DUC web page). You should not be posting here until you have have checked optimizations, trashed prefs and maybe tried a few other things.
--Thanks for pointing this out. I've done a bunch of these things, but I'll make sure I'm not missing anything. I cobbled together tips from other posts I read before posting here--good to know it's all in one place.

[Darryl Ramm]

Aggregate IO clock drift is one suspect....

Good leave ignore errors unchecked now.

Uncheck dynamic plugin processing (not going to be be related, but you should have it unchecked anyhow).

Try setting the IO buffer to as large as it will go and leave it there for now.

Does that fix the problem?

Select "Built-In Output" as the playback engine and try again.

[FabricioKrasovski]

Hello, I am having problems like this eighter...

"Authorization Wire Exception"
"Pro Tools 12 cannot run, because an error occured"
"ILok2 result frame is an invalid size"

During the playback I have this message and cannot run untill I restart Pro Tools. I use the iLok2 directly in the Mac Mini USB3

MAC MINI (Late 2014)
Version 10.11.1
OS X El Capitan
3 GHz Intel Core i7

Interface:
Behringer X32 via USB

Please, can you help me ?

Thanks

[The Weed]

iLok in USB 3 is the likely culprit. Try a powered USB 2.0 hub, or a USB 2.0 port if you have one. Also, make sure you have the latest iLok Manager.

[Darryl Ramm]

When did this start happening? What if anything changed?

Uninstall/reinstall latest ILM. Try a hub as suggested.

Still problems beyond that suspect the iLok is faulty and try moving licenses to another one (I'd get an iLok 3).

[FabricioKrasovski]

Originally Posted by The Weed

iLok in USB 3 is the likely culprit. Try a powered USB 2.0 hub, or a USB 2.0 port if you have one. Also, make sure you have the latest iLok Manager.

Thank you! I will try to do this in my powered USB 2.0 hub.
As soon as I have the result I will let you know.

Thanks