playback cuts out with plenty of CPU power left, have to change playback engine

[jmac146]

Hey all, I've had a major headache of a problem with my somewhat larger PT sessions.

I just got new SSD Hard drives and my computer has been running excellent. However, my PT session will start to skip, then sound will simply just cut out completely - but the track is still playing. This happens on ANY Playback Engine setting. I get no error message at all, just the sound will stop and the only way to get it back is to swap the playback engine to a different sample value.

I've tried all combinations of the checks within the playback engine and the same issue happens regardless.

CPU, Disk, and Memory usage are all WELL below the max (CPU only at 10% when it will start happening, and I see no red spikes or anything show up).

Tried searching for this in the forums and online but didn't know what to "search" for since it's kind of an oddball error I'm getting. I literally never get error messages anymore, just this stupid sound skipping/cutting out, and even every once in awhile it will start playing in "slow motion" and sound like a monster. this again goes away after changing the playback engine sample size.

Thoughts??? I can send specs if someone tells me how to or what to send. Thanks for any help!!

[TOM@METRO]

Perhaps start here,

This will tell you how to present your system specs.

http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=300050

[jmac146]

Thank you for the help. I have attached my sandra report. Let me know if you see anything that sticks out... Appreciate it!

SiSoftware Sandra

ID
Host Name : Justin-PC
Workgroup : WORKGROUP

Computer
Model : GigaByte EX58-UD5
Chassis : GigaByte Desktop
Mainboard : GigaByte EX58-UD5
BIOS : Award (OEM) F12 03/11/2010
Total Memory : 12GB DIMM DDR3

Processors
Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 920 @ 2.67GHz (4C 8T 2.83GHz/3GHz, 2.16GHz IMC, 4x 256kB L2, 8MB L3)
Socket/Slot : FC LGA1366

Chipset
Memory Controller : Gigabyte X58 I/O Hub 2x 2.43GHz (4.86GHz)
Memory Controller : Gigabyte Core Desktop (Bloomfield) UnCore 2x 2.43GHz (4.86GHz), 3x 4GB DIMM DDR3 1.08GHz 192-bit

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Corsair CM3X2G1600C8 2GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600 (9-9-9-24 5-34-10-5)
Memory Module : Corsair CM3X2G1600C8 2GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600 (9-9-9-24 5-34-10-5)
Memory Module : Corsair CM3X2G1600C8 2GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600 (9-9-9-24 5-34-10-5)
Memory Module : Corsair CM3X2G1600C8 2GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600 (9-9-9-24 5-34-10-5)
Memory Module : Corsair CM3X2G1600C8 2GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600 (9-9-9-24 5-34-10-5)
Memory Module : Corsair CM3X2G1600C8 2GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-12800U DDR3-1600 (9-9-9-24 5-34-10-5)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : ACI ASUS VN248
(1920x1080, 24.0")
Monitor/Panel : LG E2360
(1920x1080, 23.1")
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 v2 (7CU 336SP SM5.0 1.57GHz, 384kB L2, 1GB 4GHz 192-bit, PCIe 2.00 x16)
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 v2 (7CU 336SP SM5.0 1.57GHz, 384kB L2, 1GB 4GHz 192-bit, PCIe 2.00 x16)

Graphics Processor
CUDA GP Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 v2 (336SP 7C 1.57GHz, 384kB L2, 1GB 4GHz 192-bit)
OpenCL GP Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 v2 (336SP 7C 1.57GHz, 112kB L2, 1GB 4GHz 192-bit)
Compute Shader Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 v2 (336SP 7C 1.57GHz, 384kB L2, 1GB 4GHz 192-bit)
OpenGL Processor : GeForce GTX 460 v2/PCIe/SSE2 (1GB)
OpenGL Processor : GeForce GTX 460 v2/PCIe/SSE2 (1GB)

Storage Devices
WDC WD5001AALS-00L3B2 (500.1GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, 32MB Cache) : 466GB (E:)
Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB (500.1GB, SATA300/600, SSD, SED) : 466GB (W:)
Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB (250GB, SATA300/600, SSD, SED) : 233GB (C:)
LITE-ON DVDRW LH-20A1H (ATA66, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : N/A (D:)

Logical Storage Devices
Music-1 (E:) : 466GB (NTFS, 4kB) @ WDC WD5001AALS-00L3B2 (500.1GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, 32MB Cache)
Music-2 (W:) : 466GB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB (500.1GB, SATA300/600, SSD, SED)
System Reserved : 100MB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB (250GB, SATA300/600, SSD, SED)
Hard Disk (C:) : 233GB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB (250GB, SATA300/600, SSD, SED)
Optical Drive (D:) : N/A @ LITE-ON DVDRW LH-20A1H (ATA66, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : Gigabyte LPC Interface Controller
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : ITE IT8720F
Audio Device : Gigabyte HD Audio Controller
Audio Device : Gigabyte GF110 High Definition Audio Controller
Audio Codec : nVidia 0016
Audio Codec : nVidia 0016
Audio Codec : nVidia 0016
Disk Controller : Gigabyte 4 port SATA IDE Controller
Disk Controller : Gigabyte 2 port SATA IDE Controller
Disk Controller : Gigabyte JMB36X PCIE-to-SATAII/IDE RAID Controller
USB Controller 1 : Gigabyte USB UHCI Controller #4
USB Controller 2 : Gigabyte USB UHCI Controller #5
USB Controller 3 : Gigabyte USB UHCI Controller #6
USB Controller 4 : Gigabyte USB EHCI Controller #2
USB Controller 5 : Gigabyte USB UHCI Controller #1
USB Controller 6 : Gigabyte USB UHCI Controller #2
USB Controller 7 : Gigabyte USB UHCI Controller #3
USB Controller 8 : Gigabyte USB EHCI Controller #1
FireWire/1394 Controller 1 : 13330 XIO2213A PCI Express to 1394b OHCI with 3-Port PHY
FireWire/1394 Controller 2 : Gigabyte TSB43AB23 1394a-2000 OHCI PHY/link-layer Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel ICH SMBus

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

Network Services
Network Adapter : Realtek RTL8168D/8111D Family PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.20) (Ethernet, 1Gbps)
Network Adapter : Realtek RTL8168D/8111D Family PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC (NDIS 6.20) #2 (Ethernet)

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

[jmac146]

Anyone else out there have this issue?

I tried disabling every one of my "playback devices" besides my Mbox Pro, and haven't run into the issue yet but haven't had much time to play around to see if that might be the cause.

[Darryl Ramm]

Make sure Windows sound or other apps are not trying to use your interface.

Is your system fully optimized? Every last thing done no matter how inconvenient. Do them all now/check again.

Are the Mbox Pro drivers up to date?

What sample rate are you working at? Set the buffer size to 1024 and leave it there while troubleshooting. Once things are perfectly stable try reducing it.

Make sure "ignore errors" is *not* checked in the playback engine dialog, and report any exact AAE errors.

There is nothing obvious wrong in the Sandra report.

Both FireWire controllers are TI chipset so should be OK. Try each one. With just the interface on the bus, and try with different firewire cables/adapters.

Still problems, do all the usual stuff. Trash prefs. Try with a new empty session. Try temp. moving all third party plugins files out of the plugin folder (and leave them removed while doing other troubleshooting).

Stop looking at the CPU meters they won't tell you anything useful.

[jmac146]

Thanks for reviewing and the info Darryl! If I start running into issues again I'll dive into your list. Appreciate it -

[jeam25]

Hi !

I must add that you can change memory timings in the Bios and get some good improvement too !

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003BYRLE0...echData=1&th=1

1600MHz, 8-8-8-24, 1.65V

[albee1952]

How did you load up your new C: drive SSD? Was it a fresh install of everything, or loaded from a drive image from your old C: drive? If it wasn't a fresh install of everything, 2 things are worth a look. #1-is it possible that you have some plugin that needs to be re-authorized that might "blank out" in demo mode? #2-do an uninstall of Pro tools(include the HD driver and prefs and database files). Uninstall Pace 64 bit support. After a reboot, run the Pro Tools installer using the right-click>Run as Admin option(standard procedure for windows these days). The installer will re-install Pace and you will need to reset your prefs.