Clicking and Popping Noise

[Funkle]

Im doing some recording using the mbox2 involving guitar/bass into the DI inputs of the mbox. It seems to handle everything fine until i started adding more and more tracks. At first the clicking and popping was only when i was recording with the h/w buffer size at 64, and would then go away for playback when i set the h/w buffer size at the max, 2048. I have roughly 12 audio tracks for guitars, all using the Eleven free plugin. Is there any way to get this to stop? It makes it fairly hard to mix while its popping and clicking all the way through. Also, it is apparently only clicking/popping during playback on the BASS track i just recorded. However the clicking seemed to start during record, at h/w buffer 64, when i got to around 10 guitar tracks. All other tracks seem fine with the h/w buffer size at max. Im running Pro Tools 8 on PC. Sorry i dont have computer specs =/ Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Benoni]

Originally Posted by Funkle

Im doing some recording using the mbox2 involving guitar/bass into the DI inputs of the mbox. It seems to handle everything fine until i started adding more and more tracks. At first the clicking and popping was only when i was recording with the h/w buffer size at 64, and would then go away for playback when i set the h/w buffer size at the max, 2048. I have roughly 12 audio tracks for guitars, all using the Eleven free plugin. Is there any way to get this to stop? It makes it fairly hard to mix while its popping and clicking all the way through. Also, it is apparently only clicking/popping during playback on the BASS track i just recorded. However the clicking seemed to start during record, at h/w buffer 64, when i got to around 10 guitar tracks. All other tracks seem fine with the h/w buffer size at max. Im running Pro Tools 8 on PC. Sorry i dont have computer specs =/ Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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[Funkle]

SiSoftware Sandra

Computer
Model : Gigabyte EP45-UD3P
Workgroup : WORKGROUP
Host Name : kyle
User : Administrator

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz
Speed : 2.67GHz
Cores per Processor : 4 Unit(s)
Threads per Core : 1 Unit(s)
Type : Quad-Core
Integrated Data Cache : 4x 32kB, Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way, 64 byte line size
L2 On-board Cache : 2x 2MB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 8-way, 64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing

Computer
Mainboard : Gigabyte EP45-UD3P
BIOS : Award (Phoenix) F7 01/13/2009
Bus(es) : X-Bus PCI PCIe IMB USB FireWire/1394 i2c/SMBus
Multi-Processor (MP) Support : No
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (APIC) : Yes
Total Memory : 3.25GB DIMM DDR2

Chipset
Model : Giga-Byte P45/P43/G45/G43 DRAM Controller
Front Side Bus Speed : 4x 333MHz (1.33GHz)
Total Memory : 4GB DIMM DDR2
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 400MHz (800MHz)

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Kingston 2G-UDIMM 2GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5-5-5-18 3-23-6-3)
Memory Module : Kingston 2G-UDIMM 2GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5-5-5-18 3-23-6-3)

Video System
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 (128 SP 436MHz, 512MB DDR3 2x280MHz, PCIe 2.00 x16)

Graphics Processor

Storage Devices
WDC WD5000AAKS-00A7B0 (500.1GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 16MB Cache) : 466GB (D:)
WDC WD5000AAKS-00A7B0 (500.1GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 16MB Cache) : 466GB (C:)
SanDisk Cruzer 8GB (USB) : 7GB (G:)
Seagate ST3500830AS (500.1GB, USB/SATA300, 3.5", NCQ, 8MB Cache) : 466GB (F:)
ATAPI DVD A DH20A4P (ATA66, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : 226MB (E:)
RYV B49E30HY3K5Y (SCSI, BD-R, HD-DVD-R, DVD+-R-DL, CD-R) : N/A (H:)

Logical Storage Devices
Hard Disk (C:) : 466GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD5000AAKS-00A7B0 (500.1GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 16MB Cache)
Hard Disk (D:) : 466GB (NTFS) @ WDC WD5000AAKS-00A7B0 (500.1GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 16MB Cache)
Handout_pdf's_2560 (E:) : 226MB (UDF) @ ATAPI DVD A DH20A4P (ATA66, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)
Optical Drive (H:) : N/A @ RYV B49E30HY3K5Y (SCSI, BD-R, HD-DVD-R, DVD+-R-DL, CD-R)
Removable Drive (G:) : 7GB (FAT32) @ SanDisk Cruzer 8GB (USB)
External (F:) : 466GB (NTFS) @ Seagate ST3500830AS (500.1GB, USB/SATA300, 3.5", NCQ, 8MB Cache)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : Giga-Byte LPC Interface Controller
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : ITE IT8718F
Audio Device : Giga-Byte HD Audio Controller
Disk Controller : Giga-Byte 4 port SATA IDE Controller
Disk Controller : Giga-Byte 2 port SATA IDE Controller
Disk Controller : Giga-Byte JMB36X PCIE-to-SATAII/IDE RAID Controller
USB Controller 1 : Giga-Byte USB UHCI Controller #4
USB Controller 2 : Giga-Byte USB UHCI Controller #5
USB Controller 3 : Giga-Byte USB UHCI Controller #6
USB Controller 4 : Giga-Byte USB EHCI Controller #2
USB Controller 5 : Giga-Byte USB UHCI Controller #1
USB Controller 6 : Giga-Byte USB UHCI Controller #2
USB Controller 7 : Giga-Byte USB UHCI Controller #3
USB Controller 8 : Giga-Byte USB EHCI Controller #1
FireWire/1394 Controller 1 : Giga-Byte TSB43AB23 1394a-2000 OHCI PHY/link-layer Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel 801xx/63xx SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : HP Officejet 6000 E609n Series (1200x1200, Colour)
Printer : Send To Microsoft OneNote Driver (300x300, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)
Printer : HP Officejet 6000 E609n Series (1200x1200, USB, Colour)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Realtek RTL8168C(P)/8111C(P) PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC #2 - Packet Scheduler Miniport (Ethernet, 100Mbps)
Network Adapter : Realtek RTL8168C(P)/8111C(P) PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet NIC - Packet Scheduler Miniport

Power Management
Mains (AC) Line Status : On-Line

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 3)
Platform Compliance : x86

[Funkle]

hope that helps

[Benoni]

What does your CPU meter say in pro tools. (Window> System Usage) 12 instances of Eleven is alot. try printing some of the tracks and disabling and hiding the tracks with Eleven on them. that way you still have processed sound, but you are not using so many instances of Eleven.

What is your Playback Engine set to for CPU? try changing it to 3 cores.

[albee1952]

Yes indeed. Eleven(and every amp simulator) is a cpu hog. Running more than 3 instances will drag most any system down. Route your guitar tracks with GR inserted to new AUDIO tracks and record them, and then right-click on the originals and select Hide and Make Inactive. Making them inactive means that those tracks won't use ANY system power at all(but they are still available if you need to come back and say, choose a different amp model). Hiding them just takes them off the screen so you can keep things looking tidy and efficient.

I would also keep that USB drive disconnected (keep any un-needed stuff of the USB bus so your Mbox isn't sharing the bus). Hopefully, you are not recording to that drive as USB drives are not supported or recommended. Look inside your computer case as you may have room for more internal drives, which give the best performance, AND cost the least

[Shan]

Originally Posted by Funkle

Im doing some recording using the mbox2 involving guitar/bass into the DI inputs of the mbox. It seems to handle everything fine until i started adding more and more tracks. At first the clicking and popping was only when i was recording with the h/w buffer size at 64, and would then go away for playback when i set the h/w buffer size at the max, 2048. I have roughly 12 audio tracks for guitars, all using the Eleven free plugin. Is there any way to get this to stop? It makes it fairly hard to mix while its popping and clicking all the way through. Also, it is apparently only clicking/popping during playback on the BASS track i just recorded. However the clicking seemed to start during record, at h/w buffer 64, when i got to around 10 guitar tracks. All other tracks seem fine with the h/w buffer size at max. Im running Pro Tools 8 on PC. Sorry i dont have computer specs =/ Any help would be greatly appreciated.

12 instances of Eleven free should not be a problem, even at a buffer of 64. My own Q6600 can do this using only 58% of the CPU at a buffer of 64. Session sample rate will definitely affect the amount of plug-in instances you can run. What is your session sample rate?

Another situation that can affect the amount of plug-in instances is the type of track. Are your audio tracks mono or stereo?

If your mixing, set your buffer at 1024, not 2048. Also, limit your Open-Ended record Allocation to 5-10 minutes: Setup > Preferences... > Open-Ended Record Allocation > Limit to: 10 minutes. That will give your system a noticeable performance boost when your CPU usage is running very high. Playback/Record etc will respond faster.

Shane

[Funkle]

My cpu meter is about 65%. I have it set to 3 cores right now.

Just set my sample rate to 1024 and still getting the popping.

If I hide the tracks will I still be able to hear them and adjust them for playback/mixing?

[Benoni]

Originally Posted by Funkle

My cpu meter is about 65%. I have it set to 3 cores right now.

Just set my sample rate to 1024 and still getting the popping.

If I hide the tracks will I still be able to hear them and adjust them for playback/mixing?

well no, you need to print those tracks to audio first as Albee described.
or you could copy the dry guitar track to another track, copy the settings from Eleven to the AudioSuite version and process the track.

[Funkle]

excuse my "newb-ness" but how do I "print" the tracks?