Everything distorted/crunchy when trying to record...

[mistydubs]

For some reason my Pro Tools has suddenly started to making recording input super distorted/crunchy as soon as I enable it.

Everything else seems to be working perfectly fine (the backing track WAV file plays fine) and I've changed the mic input, as well as tried to record via Direct Input with my keyboard - that again creates this crunchy effect.

I have the 48V button pressed in and the track is set to mono...the knob is about half way in so that's not the cause of the distortion. Besides, it doesn't sound like normal distortion but more like a conflict.

I've tried the Mic in another sequencer to record and it does work so the mic/cables all seem fine...I'm at my wits end, please help!

Currently running:

Intel Core2 Quad CPU Q6600 2.40Ghz
3gb RAM
Windows XP
2x Hard Drive (150GB system drive + internal 465GB data drive)

Thanks a lot.

[jmbakula]

I'm having the same problem with my Digi 002. Started as soon as I upgraded to the latest version of PT. I have to back out of PT, restart my interface and reboot PT. Even then the problem occurs after not too long...

[tjkili]

I believe this might be a clock problem...try changing the clock settings in the Hardware options page from internal to something else and then back to internal.
Might provide you with a quick workaround....

[ripsta415]

try changing your playback engine settings.

Try messing with these options. It worked for me and i'm sure it'll work for you too. So every time you open PT and you get that crappy playback or when you record, try messing with the playback options. Once you do that go back to playing the track and 80% of the times it works. If it doesn't keep messing with the 3 bottom options. Change the samples higher as well as the CPU limit. Hope this works.

H/W buffer size - 1024 Samples or Higher
Host Processors - 4 Processors
CPU Usage Limit - 80% or higher

Leave this option like this.

DAE Playback Buffer: Size - 300 ms Level 4 & Cache Size - Large

[mistydubs]

@tjkilli - I actually tried changing the internal clock to S/PDIF and back but as soon as I switched it I got blue screened and the computer rebooted, I'm not keen to repeat that gem of an experience.

@ripsta - just spent half an hour changing as many combos as I could and still the same effect unfortunately.

I've restarted 3 times and still no luck, can I downgrade to 8.03 safely? Would that even help?

[jmbakula]

@tjkili

I tried changing the clock settings under hardware... there are three choices, but I can only select "Internal"

[albee1952]

You should all go read the sticky threads, especially
Help us help you - what you need to know before posting! and
General Troubleshooting - Pro Tools LE on Windows

Try trashing prefs and database files as that solves lots of odd system behavior.

[mistydubs]

Hi Albee,

Apologies, I'm relatively new to this so I appreciate the help. Trashed the preferences, deleted the databases, used the vast majority of the suggestions for improving performance/optimization...still that infernal crackling. In fact its even spread to playing normal audio files, which is what used to happen with my initial install of PT LE (think it was 8.01).

Sandra report below:

SiSoftware Sandra

Computer
Model : Gigabyte G31MF-S2
Workgroup : MSHOME
Host Name : m-d39a370d2be74
User : Bojtos

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz
Speed : 2.4GHz
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 4MB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 16-way, 64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing

Computer
Mainboard : Gigabyte G31MF-S2
BIOS : Award (Phoenix) F1 01/07/2008
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 : 3GB DIMM DDR2

Chipset
Model : Giga-Byte P35/G33/G31 Processor to I/O Controller
Front Side Bus Speed : 4x 267MHz (1GHz)
Total Memory : 3GB DIMM DDR2
Channels : 2
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 401MHz (802MHz)

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Corsair CM2X2048-6400C5 2GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5-5-5-18 3-22-6-3)
Memory Module : Corsair CM2X1024-6400 1GB DIMM DDR2 PC2-6400U DDR2-800 (5-5-5-18 3-22-6-3)

Video System
Video Adapter : Radeon X1950 Pro (PS3.0, VS3.0 594MHz, 512MB 648MHz, PCIe 1.00 x16)

Graphics Processor

Storage Devices
MAXTOR STM3160215AS (160GB, SATA300, 3.5", NCQ, 2MB Cache) : 149GB (C:)
SAMSUNG HD501LJ (500.1GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 16MB Cache) : 466GB (E:)
TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S202H (ATA66, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : 669MB (D:)

Logical Storage Devices
System (C:) : 149GB (NTFS) @ MAXTOR STM3160215AS (160GB, SATA300, 3.5", NCQ, 2MB Cache)
Martin (E:) : 466GB (NTFS) @ SAMSUNG HD501LJ (500.1GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 16MB Cache)
Audio CD (D:) : 0bytes (CDFS) @ TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S202H (ATA66, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : Giga-Byte 82801GB/GR (ICH7) LPC Interface Controller
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : ITE IT8718F
Audio Device : Giga-Byte 82801G (ICH7) High Definition Audio
Audio Device : Creative Labs E-MU E-DSP Audio Processor
Serial Port(s) : 3
Parallel Port(s) : 1
Disk Controller : Giga-Byte 82801G (ICH7) Ultra ATA Storage Controller
Disk Controller : Giga-Byte 82801GB/GR/GH (ICH7) Serial ATA Storage Controller
USB Controller 1 : Giga-Byte 82801G (ICH7) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 2 : Giga-Byte 82801G (ICH7) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 3 : Giga-Byte 82801G (ICH7) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 4 : Giga-Byte 82801G (ICH7) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 5 : Giga-Byte 82801G (ICH7) USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller
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 : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)

Network Services
Network Adapter : 802.11g USB2.0 WLAN Dongle - Packet Scheduler Miniport (Ethernet, 36Mbps)
Wireless Adapter 1 : 802.11g USB2.0 WLAN Dongle - Packet Scheduler Miniport (TKIP, 36Mbps)

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

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

[browniespeaks]

re read the optimization settings... disable your network adapters and give it a try again.

[sw rec]

If you are indeed sending a KEYBOARD output to a DI input, you're overloading the input stage substantially.