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  #21  
Old 11-10-2018, 01:57 PM
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Default Re: CPU spikes? NO! ***sigh*** yes.

Remember to test another usb port and cable as daryl said before testing another interface .
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  #22  
Old 11-10-2018, 02:00 PM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is online now
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Default Re: CPU spikes? NO! ***sigh*** yes.

Quote:
Originally Posted by thepontif View Post
Yeah. The intermittency of it certainly suggest and interface problem, so maybe I’ll just buy a cheapie.
I keep meaning just test with built in audio... the other interface you have now.
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  #23  
Old 11-10-2018, 02:11 PM
PatriotsBiker PatriotsBiker is offline
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Default Re: CPU spikes? NO! ***sigh*** yes.

I've had at least two times when all started working well after uninstalling ASIO4ALL.

So, one thing that never, ever fixed anything for me until a couple months ago is that Trasher app for Windows. The link is located around here somewhere. The only thing I need to do after booting up is open the app, click the, "Plugins Database" checkbox and click the "Trash Files/Folders Ticked Above".

After that, I open PT, which will take forever this first time, and then everything is fine and dandy. Oh, I do retart PT again because the system usage looks like it's using something like 25% of the memory. Not sure if that's a problem or not, but reopening PT gets it back to normal.

So, that is all well and good until the next day. I haver to repeat the process. Sometimes I can go a few days, but normally I have to do it daily.

Two things trumps this. If Windows, fir whatever reason, wants to run a security definition update, it will bitch and spike. Simple fix. I enable the internet connectivity and run Windows Update. I normally have to do this on Mondays or Sunday Nights.

And fwiw, realtek had an update recently on my laptop. Don't know about my music machine. I will look tomorrow.
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  #24  
Old 11-10-2018, 04:06 PM
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Default Re: CPU spikes? NO! ***sigh*** yes.

Unbelievable crap is sold by office supply stores as USB and firewire cables.
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  #25  
Old 11-10-2018, 06:05 PM
thepontif thepontif is offline
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Default Re: CPU spikes? NO! ***sigh*** yes.

Thanks for the input (about my output) everyone.

1) I'd never even heard of ASIO4ALL until this episode
2) after installing it, using the UFX I get intermittent normalcy...it'll be distorted and weird, then I'll change buffer to 256 (at 88.2) and it's WORSE, then back to 128 and it's totally normal
3) every once in a while the regular RME driver will start to work. But if I close and reopen the session, it'll be haywire again.
4) using ASIO4ALL with the on-board Realtek sound card works fine at all buffer settings. Sometimes I see a little spike, but I've yet to hear any distortion. Of course, the on board audio only goes to 48k so I can't run the 88.2 session, but I converted it to 44.1 for troubleshooting purposes. Also created a session with 39 instances of Dverb and all was clean.
5) I ordered a PreSonus interface...$100 deal. I need a portable interface with MIDI for some upcoming gigs anyway, so I just got it. I'll try that and see.

An update on the symptom, though. At it's very worst, play back happens in little spurts...like the tape is stopping and continuing repeatedly...but irregularly. When what I THOUGHT was distortion is really really bad, the playback speed is greatly reduced...and as the distortion subsides a little (it varies some over time) the playback begins to speed back up. Then if the distortion gets super heavy again, the playback slows down again.

This tells me that what I think is distortion is little dropouts that stretch the signal out. It sounds like a ring modulator. Low frequencies are indiscernible.

Given that it works consistently with the onboard audio and ASIO4ALL, and intermittently with ASIO4ALL and the UFX, I'm really feeling like it's an interface thing. Perhaps power supply noise. The last time the interface gave me trouble the output died completely. Turned out to be a capacitor in the power supply I replaced for $0.50. This may be similar. Electrolytics don't last forever. I'm gonna crack it open and see. I'll let you guys know.

Last edited by thepontif; 11-10-2018 at 06:26 PM.
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  #26  
Old 11-11-2018, 04:58 AM
PatriotsBiker PatriotsBiker is offline
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Default Re: CPU spikes? NO! ***sigh*** yes.

Quote:
Originally Posted by thepontif View Post
Thanks for the input (about my output) everyone.

1) I'd never even heard of ASIO4ALL until this episode
2) after installing it, using the UFX I get intermittent normalcy...it'll be distorted and weird, then I'll change buffer to 256 (at 88.2) and it's WORSE, then back to 128 and it's totally normal
3) every once in a while the regular RME driver will start to work. But if I close and reopen the session, it'll be haywire again.
4) using ASIO4ALL with the on-board Realtek sound card works fine at all buffer settings. Sometimes I see a little spike, but I've yet to hear any distortion. Of course, the on board audio only goes to 48k so I can't run the 88.2 session, but I converted it to 44.1 for troubleshooting purposes. Also created a session with 39 instances of Dverb and all was clean.
5) I ordered a PreSonus interface...$100 deal. I need a portable interface with MIDI for some upcoming gigs anyway, so I just got it. I'll try that and see.

An update on the symptom, though. At it's very worst, play back happens in little spurts...like the tape is stopping and continuing repeatedly...but irregularly. When what I THOUGHT was distortion is really really bad, the playback speed is greatly reduced...and as the distortion subsides a little (it varies some over time) the playback begins to speed back up. Then if the distortion gets super heavy again, the playback slows down again.

This tells me that what I think is distortion is little dropouts that stretch the signal out. It sounds like a ring modulator. Low frequencies are indiscernible.

Given that it works consistently with the onboard audio and ASIO4ALL, and intermittently with ASIO4ALL and the UFX, I'm really feeling like it's an interface thing. Perhaps power supply noise. The last time the interface gave me trouble the output died completely. Turned out to be a capacitor in the power supply I replaced for $0.50. This may be similar. Electrolytics don't last forever. I'm gonna crack it open and see. I'll let you guys know.
I'm no sure what made me think of this, but IIRC, a machine's default audio settings (48k, 24bits) and your interface's settings are supposed to match within the Windows Sound app inside CP.
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  #27  
Old 11-12-2018, 07:06 PM
thepontif thepontif is offline
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Default Re: CPU spikes? NO! ***sigh*** yes.

Went around and around with Jeff Peterson at RME today. I'll spare you the gory details, but where I landed is as follows...

Playback through PT is unusable, but playback from any other source, like iTunes, Media Player (whatever Win10's version of that is called) is totally clean. I attributed that to the lighter CPU load they require.

So then I had an idea...I used RME Totalmix to route the output of WDM back into an aux input in PT. Anytime that audio passed through PT is was wrecked...distorted badly. Even if PT was not playing.

Then I remembered that my Berklee MacBook has PT12 on it, so I loaded the RME software on it and got beautiful clean playback from that computer with 40 extra instances of DVerb installed in the session for load.

So in short, all of the audio on my main computer that passes through protools is wrecked. Everything else is fine.

I'm still seeing CPU spikes that NEVER stop the playback, which I can't explain, but those spikes ONLY register in PT. Not in any other CPU monitor.

Any thoughts on whether this could still be a video card issue that's freaking out ONLY PT? If so, recommendations on a replacement video card?

I have to fly to Boston tomorrow to teach until Wednesday night, so I'm not gonna get anything accomplished on this until Thursday. But I can order a video card whenever.
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  #28  
Old 11-13-2018, 09:29 AM
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Default Re: CPU spikes? NO! ***sigh*** yes.

Just some things to do:

Have you run LatencyMon to find out if there is anything causing interrupts?

Also, disable all the RME instances in Control Panel>Sounds, both Playback and Recording, leaving the onboard sound card for Windows sounds/audio. (Actually you should turn off Windows sounds.)

If your video card has HDMI, go into Device Manager and Disable the Audio portion of the video card.

Pro Tools will latch onto any audio it can find.

Uncheck "Ignore Errors" in Playback Engine.

RME's drivers allow changing the sample rate from within Pro Tools, but not the Buffer. Raise the Buffer in the RME's software to 1024 and see if that eliminates the pop and clicks. Lower the Buffer until you hear pops and clips.
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  #29  
Old 11-13-2018, 11:56 AM
thepontif thepontif is offline
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Default Re: CPU spikes? NO! ***sigh*** yes.

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Weed View Post
Just some things to do:

Have you run LatencyMon to find out if there is anything causing interrupts?
--Yes. It ran for 20 minutes with no errors.

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Weed View Post
Also, disable all the RME instances in Control Panel>Sounds, both Playback and Recording, leaving the onboard sound card for Windows sounds/audio. (Actually you should turn off Windows sounds.)
--Tried that to no avail. It's done in the RME control panel..."number of WDM devices." Set it to zero but no joy.

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Weed View Post
If your video card has HDMI, go into Device Manager and Disable the Audio portion of the video card.
--haven't done that. Sounds promising-ish

Pro Tools will latch onto any audio it can find.

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Weed View Post
Uncheck "Ignore Errors" in Playback Engine.
--ok

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Weed View Post
RME's drivers allow changing the sample rate from within Pro Tools, but not the Buffer. Raise the Buffer in the RME's software to 1024 and see if that eliminates the pop and clicks. Lower the Buffer until you hear pops and clips.
Ok. Higher buffer sizes do eliminate the pops and clicks, but too much latency for tracking. And it's always been solid at 128samples at 88.2. So I'm still aiming for the performance I'm accustomed to.

Thanks for the info! I'll try this stuff on Thursday when I get home.
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  #30  
Old 11-13-2018, 12:27 PM
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Default Re: CPU spikes? NO! ***sigh*** yes.

128 at 44.1 has been the HD standard value for native processing, why would you want to track "faster" than that?
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