Playback distorted / fuzzy... won't go away

[dan0082]

Hi, I've had PT11 for a while now and have been using it without any problems, other than some pops and clicks when I record on a mic (I've primarily been using virtual instruments so far). I was going to troubleshoot the pops and clicks issue sometime in the future, but ran into a much more severe issue today that may or may not be related. When I play back or play a virtual instrument live, the sound is extremely fuzzy / distorted. I've searched all over other forums, but couldn't find anything that seemed related to my issue, or that ultimately concluded with any type of solution, so I thought I'd try here.

I had this problem in the past (and even posted on this forum about it) with PT10 and on a completely different, older PC, and in that case I could just change my Buffer setting and/or CPU setting back and forth and the issue would temporarily be resolved. Now, on this new PC with PT11, I can't get the issue to go away no matter what I try (and the CPU setting changes are no longer an option in PT11 Setup->Playback Engine). On my old PC with PT10, the issue seemed to pop up randomly... With my new PC and PT11 the issue hadn't happened a single time in several months until today. This time, the issue seemed to appear after I plugged in my mic to record some audio (something I hadn't done in quite some time with this new PT11 system, as I was using virtual instruments), while the session was open. I was able to record the audio via the mic, but noticed pops and clicks on playback. I was then doing a couple things on the MBox to try to troubleshoot the popping and clicking (can't remember exactly, but tried turning phantom power on/off, tried unplugging/replugging XLR to make sure it was secure, etc), and then all of the sudden my playback turned completely fuzzy / distorted. Ironically, I built the new, more powerful PC I'm using now with PT11 in hopes that this fuzzy playback issue would be behind me!

I'm running PT 11.2.1 and the latest MBox 3 drivers (Oct 2014) on Windows 7, with Windows and PT installed on drive C and my sessions saved to drive D. Both drives are SSD. I'm using several virtual instrument plugins including Native Instruments and EZDrummer. All plugins are full versions; no trial versions being used. It should also be noted/emphasized that playback has been working fine for months on this system and with the exact same install of PT11 up until today (I only installed the newest version of PT11 and newest MBox3 drivers after the problem started today), even with several virtual instruments running.

Here are things I've tried so far to solve the fuzzy / distorted playback issue, to no avail:

1) Restarted PT11.
2) Unplugged MBox 3.
3) Restart of PC.
4) Installed latest PT11.2.1 software and the latest MBox 3 drivers.
5) Changed Buffer size to a high and then low value and vice versa.
6) Matched the "preferred buffer size" in the MBox control box with whatever setting I currently had in PT11 itself (I'd never manually set the Buffer in the MBox Control Panel in the past, but saw it today as a suggested fix on a forum).
7) Created a brand new session from a default, pre-packaged template that came with PT11 (i.e. no third-party virtual instruments, no recorded audio, etc).

None of the above things fixed the distorted playback issue, even temporarily.

You can see my Sandra report below, but computer resources do not seem to be the issue: I'm using ~15% of RAM and ~10% of CPU, even with a fully-loaded session with many tracks of virtual instruments running.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, as I am completely stuck without some way of curing this distorted playback issue. As I said, unlike with the similar issue I had on a different PC running PT10, I can't even temporarily make the issue go away now.

Thank you,
Dan

---------------------------------------
SiSoftware Sandra

ID
Host Name : Desktop2
Workgroup : WORKGROUP

Computer
Model : OEM System Product Name
Serial Number : System Ser**********
Chassis : Desktop
Mainboard : ASUS P9X79 LE
Serial Number : 1402222********
BIOS : AMI (OEM) 4608 12/24/2013
Total Memory : 32GB DIMM DDR3

Processors
Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4930K CPU @ 3.40GHz (6C 12T 3.9GHz, 3.9GHz IMC, 6x 256kB L2, 12MB L3)
Socket/Slot : FC LGA2011

Chipset
Memory Controller : ASUS Core (Ivy Bridge-E) DMI2 100MHz
Memory Controller : ASUS Core (Ivy Bridge-E) Integrated Memory Controller 0 Target Address/Thermal Registers 100MHz, 4x 8GB DIMM DDR3 1.87GHz 256-bit

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : F3-1866C9-8GXM 8GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-14900U DDR3-1866
Memory Module : F3-1866C9-8GXM 8GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-14900U DDR3-1866
Memory Module : F3-1866C9-8GXM 8GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-14900U DDR3-1866
Memory Module : F3-1866C9-8GXM 8GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-14900U DDR3-1866

Video System
Monitor/Panel : Toshiba TSB-TV
(1920x1080, 37.9")
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 (6CU 1152SP SM5.0 1.07GHz/1.29GHz, 512kB L2, 2GB 6GHz 256-bit, PCIe 2.00 x16)

Graphics Processor
OpenCL GP Processor : GeForce GTX 760 (1152SP 6C 1.07GHz/1.29GHz, 512kB L2, 2GB 6GHz 256-bit)
Compute Shader Processor : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 (1152SP 6C 1.07GHz/1.29GHz, 512kB L2, 2GB 6GHz 256-bit)
CUDA GP Processor : GeForce GTX 760 (1152SP 6C 1.07GHz/1.29GHz, 512kB L2, 2GB 6GHz 256-bit)

Storage Devices
Samsung SSD 840 EVO 1TB (1TB, SATA600, SSD) : 932GB (C:)
Samsung SSD 840 EVO 1TB (1TB, SATA600, SSD) : 932GB (D:)
ASUS DRW-24B1ST i (SATA, DVD+-RW, CD-RW) : N/A (E:)

Logical Storage Devices
System Reserved : 100MB (NTFS)
Storage (D:) : 932GB (NTFS) @ Samsung SSD 840 EVO 1TB (1TB, SATA600, SSD)
System (C:) : 931GB (NTFS) @ Samsung SSD 840 EVO 1TB (1TB, SATA600, SSD)
Optical Drive (E:) : N/A @ ASUS DRW-24B1ST i (SATA, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : ASUS Patsburg LPC Controller
Audio Device : ASUS Patsburg High Definition Audio Controller
Audio Codec : Realtek Semi High Definition Audio
Audio Device : EVGA GK104 HDMI Audio Controller
Audio Codec : nVidia GeForce 6800 Ultra [NV40.0]
Audio Codec : 1 0001
Serial Port(s) : 1
Disk Controller : ASUS Patsburg 6 Port SATA AHCI Controller
Disk Controller : ASUS Asmedia 106x SATA Controller
USB Controller 1 : ASUS Patsburg USB2 Enhanced Host Controller #2
USB Controller 2 : ASUS Patsburg USB2 Enhanced Host Controller #1
USB Controller 3 : ASUS ASM1042A USB 3.0 Host Controller
USB Controller 4 : ASUS ASM1042A USB 3.0 Host Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel ICH SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller 2 : Intel SNB/IVB/HSW-E XMB Ch 0 SMBus
SMBus/i2c Controller 3 : Intel SNB/IVB/HSW-E XMB Ch 1 SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Send to Microsoft OneNote 15 Driver (1200x1200, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)
Printer : Canon MG6100 series Printer XPS (600x600, USB, Colour)
Printer : Canon MG6100 series Printer (USB, Colour)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller (Ethernet, 1Gbps)

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

Windows Experience Index
Current System : 7.8

[briaboy]

I'm having exactly the same problem. Distortion in Pro Tools 10 and 11 (on separate machines) runing OSX Mavericks (and yes, I know Mavericks doesn't support PT 10 but it still works for now...). Plus I have an external HD running the sessions. Distortion appears when using any and all plugin instruments (both Avid and 3rd party), and even when only using ONE plugin at a time. Avid really need to get some serious free customer support going here.

[dan0082]

I was hoping this was a fairly common problem (since it's happened to me on two completely different systems with two different versions of Pro Tools), but that doesn't seem to be the case...

[briaboy]

Originally Posted by dan0082

I was hoping this was a fairly common problem (since it's happened to me on two completely different systems with two different versions of Pro Tools), but that doesn't seem to be the case...

Have you had any luck solving this yet? I certainly haven't...

[chanlon25]

I'm having the exact same problem here - fixed by toggling buffer setting, which is a terrible workflow.

PT 11.2.2
OS X.9.4
Mac 2x2.6 Intel Core
UA Apollo Interface

[Southsidemusic]

Same here on Apollo Quads and Apollo 16

Crackle and pop dist and goes away when changing buffer size

Really stupid problem to have IMHO

This came after updating from 11.1.3

Christopher

[americanslidol]

I've been having the same issue. Been having to close the entire session and re-open. Seems especially apparent when I add certain Waves plugins. It's killing me. Dead.

[bcwiz]

Had this a couple times today on playback, no plug-ins just raw tracks. Toggle "ignore errors...' and went away. However when 'ignore errors..' was enabled there was no audio even though meters were showing levels. Quit and relaunch and there's sound. Weird. Definitely something wrong with that.
PT11.2.1 with RME UFX.
I hate going into a session thinking that this kind of crap is going to happen.
I recently upgraded from PT10 thinking it was safe after a year and a half.

[Intransit]

Originally Posted by bcwiz

I recently upgraded from PT10 thinking it was safe after a year and a half.

I'm wondering if we'll ever have a fully working version again. Some bugs from day one still remain, things that worked fine in PT for years before 11. New bugs appear every time they fix something else. Cubase just got VCA faders. Wish I could just jump ship. So sick of all this. Holding off on the 11.2.2 because of all the new issues I've been reading. And now we're supposed to 'subscribe' to all this. haha… I really wish Avid would go under already and non public company would buy them.

[dankin]

Keeping "Ignore Errors during playback" turned off seems to keep this from happening on my system. If I have it turned on I will almost always get the distorted ring modulator effect happening at some point during the session. I agree it sucks that PT 11 still has issues like this.