Audio Clipping/Output Problems

[bfondon]

Hello everyone,

I recently upgraded my DAW to Pro Tools after using Garageband to record for a few years. My MacBook crapped out, so I thought I would try the Pro Tools subscription on a new PC (HP Envy, Intel Core i7 - 16 GB RAM) as an upgrade.

Right now, I mostly just record drum play-alongs to existing tracks. I imported the audio track into Pro Tools 12, and had the audio run through my interface (an audiobox 1818vsl). Even with the headphone volume maxed out on the interface, the track is barely above a whisper. When I turn up the db of the track within Pro Tools, it quickly begins clipping out and distorting badly, and still isn't loud enough to track a full drum kit to.

The strange thing to me is that the volume is fine ( and doesn't clip) if the interface isn't set up in my playback settings, and I'm just listening directly from the computer's output.

In GarageBand, you could just set the interface as the audio input, and the computer as the output, allowing me to plug headphones straight into my computer to easily monitor my own drum tracks and play along to whatever song I was recording. Pro Tools is a lot more complicated than that, and I haven't been able to easily figure it out, or find any videos/threads on the matter. I have the feeling this is probably an easy fix, but I'm at my wits end. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

[sw rec]

COMPLETE system specs, please:
http://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=300050
First guess, though....which drive are you recording to?

[bfondon]

Sorry about that, complete details and Sandra report below. I'm not sure on the drive....Setup>Disk Allocation shows my c: drive, do I find that out somewhere else? Thank you for your patience! This is really my first hobby that relies heavily on computers, so still learning a lot.


Computer - HP Envy w/ Intel Core i7-6700 CPU @3.40GHz
RAM:16GB
System Type: 64 bit Operating System, x64 based processor
OS: Windows 10 Home
DAW: Pro Tools 12
Presonus Audiobox 1818 vsl, via 2.0 USB

Sandra Report:

ID
Host Name : DESKTOP-NOLOSIN
Workgroup : WORKGROUP

Computer
Model : HP 750-124 103C_53316J G=D
Serial Number : MXX62*****
Chassis : HP Desktop
Mainboard : HP 2B47
BIOS : AMI (OEM) A0.16 03/17/2016
Intel vPro : 11.00.01.1001
Total Memory : 15.9GB DIMM DDR3

Processors
Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700 CPU @ 3.40GHz (4C 8T 3.91GHz, 3.9GHz IMC, 4x 256kB L2, 8MB L3)

Chipset
Memory Controller : HP Core (Skylake-D QC) Host Bridge/DRAM Registers 100MHz, 2x 8GB DIMM DDR3 1.87GHz 128-bit, Integrated Graphics

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Micron 16KTF1G64AZ-1G9P1 8GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-14900U DDR3-1868 (13-13-13-34 5-47-15-7)
Memory Module : Micron 16KTF1G64AZ-1G9P1 8GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-14900U DDR3-1868 (13-13-13-34 5-47-15-7)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : Hewlett Packard HP 27es
(1920x1080, 27.2")
Video Adapter : Intel(R) HD Graphics 530 (24CU 192SP SM5.2 1.15GHz, 768kB L2, 128MB DDR3 1.87GHz 128-bit, Integrated Graphics)

Graphics Processor
OpenCL GP Processor : Intel(R) HD Graphics 530 (192SP 24C 1.15GHz, 512kB L2, 6.4GB DDR3 1.87GHz 128-bit, Integrated Graphics)
Compute Shader Processor : Intel(R) HD Graphics 530 (192SP 24C 1.15GHz, 768kB L2, 128MB DDR3 1.87GHz 128-bit, Integrated Graphics)
OpenGL Processor : Intel(R) HD Graphics 530 (192SP 24C 1.15GHz, 768kB L2, 128MB DDR3 1.87GHz 128-bit, Integrated Graphics)

Storage Devices
Seagate ST2000DM001-1ER164 (2TB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm) : 2TB (C:) (D:)
hp HLDS DVDRW GUD0N (139.8MB, SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW) : 133MB (E:)

Logical Storage Devices
Windows (C:) : 2TB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Seagate ST2000DM001-1ER164 (2TB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm)
Recovery Image (D:) : 12GB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Seagate ST2000DM001-1ER164 (2TB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm)
Windows RE tools : 980MB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Seagate ST2000DM001-1ER164 (2TB, SATA600, 3.5", 7200rpm)
AudioBox Family_ (E:) : 133MB (CDFS, 2kB, Read-Only) @ hp HLDS DVDRW GUD0N (139.8MB, SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : HP Sunrise Point-H LPC Controller
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : T2 86-13
Audio Device : HP Sunrise Point-H HD Audio
Audio Codec : Realtek Semi 0867
Audio Codec : 32768 0000
Disk Controller : HP Sunrise Point-H SATA controller [AHCI mode]
Disk Controller : HP Sunrise Point-H PMC
USB Controller 1 : HP Sunrise Point-H USB 3.0 xHCI Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel ICH SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : EPSON XP-620 Series (360x360, Colour)
Printer : Send to Microsoft OneNote 16 Driver (1200x1200, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer v4 (600x600, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft Print To PDF (600x600, Colour)
Printer : HP ePrint (600x600, Parallel, Colour)
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)
Printer : EPSON XP-620 Series (360x360, Colour)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network) (Ethernet)
Network Adapter : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller (Ethernet)
Wireless Adapter : Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165 (802.11n (HT), AES-CCMP, 72.2Mbps)

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 10 Personal 10.00.10586
Platform Compliance : x64

[sw rec]

Looks like you only have one hard drive...for this to work right, you should be recording to a qualified secondary, dedicated hard drive. 7200 rpm, and for the latest incarnations of Windows, use USB 2 or 3 if you're going to use an external. Stay away from green and blue drives, and don't even think about a 5400 rpm drive. I'd highly recommend a Western Digital BLACK drive (with no power-saving protocol.) Just make sure it's 7200 rpm. The forum is full of reports like yours, trying to force the system drive to do too much. From the original system recommendations:

"IMPORTANT! You MUST use a secondary hard drive (not your main OS drive) for recording and playback of audio in Pro Tools. Recording or playback from the OS drive is known to be problematic and the cause of many different error types. If you are using your system drive and encountering errors, the first thing you should do is get a compatible drive."

Other thing that comes to mind, make sure Windows is not using your interface (what kind of interface?) as the default sound device, and make sure your sync source is set to "internal."